solely rely on people like him to
protect the national flag.
“Authorities need to strict-
ly punish those who violate
the law,” Lam told the Global
Times.
Tian Feilong, an associate
professor at Beihang Univer-
sity in Beijing and an expert on
Hong Kong studies, believes
that after a series of violent
and illegal activities opposing
national sovereignty and insult-
ing the Chinese national flag,
the protesters and opposition
groups in Hong Kong are los-
ing public support.
More and more Hong Kong
people have realized that “there
will be no good end for the city”
if the majority still tolerate or
even support the protesters
to provoke and challenge the
whole country, he said.
“Public opinion is shifting
constructively” Tian said. “The
authority of the government
and police will be recovered if
more people get reasonable and
become aware of the potential
serious consequences.”
A Hong Kong resident who
requested anonymity told the
Global Times that those who re-
mained silent “did not object to
peaceful demonstrations at the
beginning, but as the protests
escalated, many citizens started
to voice their opposition.”Conflict prevented
Experts noted that after the
city was almost paralyzed by
the so-called three strikes cam-
paign on Monday, it seemed
relatively calm, with a potentialconflict in North Point not oc-
curring on Tuesday after a clash
on Monday night.
A video obtained by the
Global Times showed on Mon-
day night, a group of black-clad
protesters fighting with metal
rods and hurling objects at a
dozen men with bamboo poles
who took whacks at the protest-
ers. The protesters chased them
into a building and broke an
apartment window.
There was speculation riot-
ers would seek revenge around
4 pm on Tuesday at North
Point. The Global Times re-
porter saw the police take pre-
cautions by maintaining order
at the nearby subway station.
Some stores had already closed.
North Point is considered
home to many Hong Kong
citizens who moved from East
China’s Fujian Province.
Lo Man Tuen, permanent
honorary president of the Hong
Kong Federation of Fujian As-
sociation, told the Global Times
that some compatriots from
Fujian were forced to defend
themselves after being hit.
“The rioters have seriously
affected the normal life and
security of Fujian communi-
ties and other people,” Lo said.
“Hong Kong is ruled by law
and we Fujian communities
will never use violence against
violence.”
Police should punish the
violence and peace should be
returned to the city, Lo said.
Hong Kong police arrested
148 suspects for attacking po-
lice, illegal assembly and hiding
offensive weapons during the
Monday protests that left sevenpolice officers injured.
On Tuesday, Xu Luying,
a spokesperson of the Hong
Kong and Macao Affairs Of-
fice of the State Council, de-
nounced violence and strikes
undertaken by Hong Kong op-
position and rioters.
The so-called three strikes
campaign was by no means a
normal expression of demands,
but extremely violent criminal
behavior aimed at messing up
and destroying the city, Xu said
at a press conference.
The strikes were criminal
acts that severely jeopardized
public order, hurt public inter-
ests and damaged national dig-
nity, she said.
Yang Guang, another office
spokesperson, said that “With
firm and steady support of the
central government and the
support of all Chinese people,
including Hong Kong compa-
triots, the Hong Kong govern-
ment and Hong Kong police
have the full ability to bring
violent criminals to justice and
restore social order and peace.”
Yang also warned the law-
breakers not to mistake re-
straint for weakness. “Do not
underestimate the power of jus-
tice in Hong Kong to safeguard
the region’s stability and do
not underestimate the strong
resolve of the central govern-
ment and all Chinese people
to safeguard the prosperity and
stability of Hong Kong, as well
as the fundamental interests of
the country,” he said.weakness continued Tuesday.
The yuan’s daily fixing rate
weakened by 458 basis points
to 6.9683 against the dollar
Tuesday. In China’s spot for-
eign exchange market, the yuan
is allowed to rise or fall by 2 per-
cent from the central parity rate
each trading day.
A few hours after Trump
tweeted, “China dropped the
price of their currency to an
almost historic low. It’s called
‘currency manipulation,’” on
Monday, Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin announced
the currency manipulation des-
ignation in a statement on the
Treasury’s website.
Mnuchin will engage with
the IMF to “eliminate the un-
fair competitive advantage cre-
ated by China’s latest actions,”
according to the statement. The
IMF has yet to comment.
There is no such issue as
exchange rate manipulation,
as the yuan exchange rate is by
nature determined by market
supply and demand, the Peo-
ple’s Bank of China (PBC), the
country’s central bank, said in a
statement on Tuesday.
“A capricious act of unilater-
alism and protectionism, it will
severely undermine interna-
tional rules and have material
impacts on the global economy
and finance,” said the PBC.
US stocks plummeted on
Friday after the Trump admin-
istration announced new tar-
iffs on China. The Trump ad-
ministration wanted to deflect
criticism against it by finding
a scapegoat like China, label-
ing the latter as a “currency
manipulator,” said Guan Tao,
a former senior official at the
State Administration of For-
eign Exchange.
“The US move is random
and groundless, which will not
be approved by the IMF,” Guan
told the Global Times Tuesday.
“China has never used and
will not use the yuan exchange
rate as a tool to deal with the
trade frictions,” said the state-
ment, reiterating the stance of
PBC governor Yi Gang the pre-
vious day.
“Labeling another country
a currency manipulator is un-
justified. The US doesn’t have
the right to make such a wan-
ton claim,” Dong Shaopeng, an
adviser of the China Securities
Regulatory Commission, told
the Global Times.
The US has been using this
to disrupt China’s economy and
financial system since 2004.
“It’s a groundless frame-up and
pure bullying act,” Dong said.
“Such a label is not consis-
tent with the quantitative crite-
ria set by the US Treasury itself
for the so-called ‘currency ma-
nipulator,’” PBC said Tuesday.
The US Treasury’s criteria to
judge whether its trading part-
ners are engaging in currency
manipulation include a mate-
rial current account surplus,
which has been lowered to 2
percent of GDP from the previ-
ous 3 percent.
China’s current account sur-
plus stood at 1.55 percent of its
GDP in the first quarter, lower
than the ratcheted-down num-
ber, according to Wu Jinduo,
head of fixed income at the re-
search institute of Great Wall
Securities, citing data from
China’s foreign exchange regu-
lator.
The criteria, essentially sub-
jective and vague, have turned
out to be another US weapon
together with its trade tariffs
threats, but the accusation ap-
pears to be failing, said Wu.Ulterior motive
In a note sent to the Global
Times on Tuesday, strategists
at DBS Group Research said,
“Naming China a currency ma-
nipulator could open the door
for US tariffs to eventually in-
crease to more than 25 percent
on Chinese goods.”
The Treasury announce-
ment on Tuesday will give rise
to market volatility, the PBC
said Tuesday, adding it will cut
into the recovery of the global
economy and ultimately hurt
US interests.
Global financial markets
have taken a hit from the US’
unruly moves.
Stock markets across the
Pacific recorded big losses. The
Dow lost nearly 800 points to
close below 26,000 points on
Monday, suffering its worst
trading day of the year.
China, for its part, was ad-
vised not to overreact, Wu said,
noting the nation should con-
tinue on its reform path.
In a fresh sign of China’s
unswerving push for financial
opening-up, global financial
messaging system SWIFT
launched a wholly foreign-
owned entity in Beijing on
Tuesday.
As China’s capital market
is about to be fully opened, the
launch of the wholly owned
entity is an inevitable outcome
which represents a significant
milestone in SWIFT’s global
development, Daphne Huang,
SWIFT’s head of China, told
reporters.
The new entity will denomi-
nate and pay products and
services in yuan, marking the
system’s acceptance of the yuan
as the third global currency fol-
lowing the US dollar and euro,
according to Huang, in a move
that would help the yuan move
a step further in international-
ization.2 Wednesday August 7, 2019
Page Editor:
liruohan@
globaltimes.com.cnTOPNEWS
Tolerating provocations
has ‘no good end’ for city
Police practice
Police officers take part in a drill to maintain social stability in the city of Shenzhen, South China’s
Guangdong Province, on Tuesday. The drill attracted wide attention as it features scenarios that
resemble the ongoing riots in the neighboring city of Hong Kong (See story on Page 3). Photo: ICUS accusation aims to disrupt
China’s economy, financial order
Currency, from Page 1HK, from Page 1