WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump was assailed Tuesday for his hands-off approach to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, avoiding criticizing Beijing even as Chinese troops massed on the border to the territory.

Critics on both sides of the political spectrum accused Trump of abandoning longstanding US policy to support democratic movements and giving Beijing a green light to intervene in one of the world's most important financial and trade centers, a semi-autonomous Chinese region.

As protestors battled police in Hong Kong's airport Tuesday, partially shutting down air traffic, Trump appeared ambivalent, telling journalists the situation was "very tricky."

"I hope it works out for everybody including China. I hope it works out peacefully, nobody gets hurt, nobody gets killed," he said.

Shortly afterward, Trump tweeted that US intelligence confirmed that Beijing had sent troops to the Hong Kong border.

"Everyone should be calm and safe!" Trump wrote, retweeting a video of People's Liberation Army trucks in the Chinese city of Shenzhen.

But the US leader had no words in support of the protestors as Hong Kong experiences its largest crisis since the British handover of its former colony to China in 1997.

After more than four months of protests, his administration has mainly called for both sides to avoid violence, while denying Beijing's accusations of US interference.

"Trump favors both sides in Hong Kong protests. Hardly a profile in courage," said Nicholas Burns, a former senior US diplomat now at the Harvard University Kennedy School.

"The only side the US should be on is democratic rights for the people of Hong Kong."

The protests, which began in March and have intensified since then, are against a move by the Hong Kong government to allow the extradition of criminal suspects to China, which opponents view as an incursion into Hong Kong's more transparent justice system.

But they have come as Chinese President Xi Jinping's and Trump's governments have plunged ever deeper into a wrenching battle over trade that is dragging down the economies of both, with no sign of a resolution.

In late July Trump praised Xi's approach to the protests, one day after organized triad gangsters attacked protestors, sending 45 to hospitals.

"China could stop them if they wanted," he said.

"I think President Xi of China has acted responsibly, very responsibly," he said.

Days later, he blasted China's trade policies but, regarding the Hong Kong protests, said Beijing "doesn't need advice."

"That's between Hong Kong and ... China, because Hong Kong is a part of China," he said.

Thomas Wright, a foreign policy expert at the Brookings Institution, accused Trump of essentially giving Xi "a green light" to intervene in the territory.

In a tweet Wright called it the "Worst foreign policy decision of his presidency."

His stance on Tuesday contrasted with those of top legislators in Congress.

"30 years after Tiananmen Square all Americans stand with the peaceful protesters in Hong Kong. These protests highlight the moral authority of their demands for Freedom and Democracy," he wrote.

Another Republican, Marco Rubio, rejected the view that the protests were an "internal matter" of China's.

"Given their history of repression, Chinese troops massed on border is cause for grave concern," Rubio wrote.

Democrats meanwhile more directly attacked Trump for what one, Representative Jim McGovern, called "dangerous" language that "invites miscalculation."

"Warn Beijing of serious consequences if it cracks down on peaceful protesters," he told Trump.

Senator Chris Murphy said US support for democracy activists in other countries has long been extremely important.

"It's also hard to overstate how devastating it is when they risk it all to speak up for these 'American' values, and America is silent," he wrote on Twitter.

"This is not foreign policy," he said. </s> Washington, Aug 13: Amid massive protests in Hong Kong, US President Donald Trump has tweeted that China is moving troops to the border with Hong Kong.

Trump said that US intelligence has warned that China is moving troops to the border with Hong Kong, amid intensifying anti-government protests in the semi-autonomous financial hub.

"Our Intelligence has informed us that the Chinese Government is moving troops to the Border with Hong Kong. Everyone should be calm and safe!" Trump said in a tweet.

Earlier on Tuesday, Hong Kong's airport authority suspended flights for a second day as protesters staged another rally at the busy international travel hub.

Authorities announced on Monday afternoon the cancellation of all remaining arriving and departing flights from the airport after more than 5,000 black-clad pro-democracy protesters staged a peaceful rally at the building.

The protests intensified after a Chinese official said "terrorism" was emerging in the city, while in Hong Kong authorities demonstrated water cannon for use in crowd control.

Why are people in Hong Kong protesting?

The protests in Hong Kong, which have now intensified into a pro-democracy movement, initially began in June in response to a proposed extradition bill. The bill would have allowed extradition from Hong Kong to mainland China. The proposed extradition bill has now been suspended, but the protests have evolved into a mass political unrest.

Hong Kong was under British rule for a long time and is significantly different from other Chinese cities. Hong Kong was handed over to China by the British in 1997 after 99 year lease ended. Hong Kong enjoys a special status under the principal "one country, two systems" which China and Britain agreed to just a few years before the island city came under Beijing's rule.

Other than foreign and defence affairs, Hong Kong enjoys a high degree of autonomy. Hong Kong has its own legal system and borders, and rights. People of Hong Kong want more autonomy to choose their leader or the chief executive. Hong Kong has a Legislative Council but all the 70 members of this lawmaking body are not elected by the people.The chief executive is elected by a 1,200-member election committee.

People of Hong Kong are demanding democracy as most seats of the Legislative Council that are not directly elected allegedly have pro-China lawmakers. </s> Zhang Baohui is Professor of Political Science and Director of Centre for Asian Pacific Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. He is the author of China's Assertive Nuclear Posture: State Security in an Anarchic International Order (Routledge 2015). The opinions expressed here are solely his.

Hong Kong (CNN) US President-elect Donald Trump shocked many by his admission on Twitter that he had talked to Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen.

The telephone exchange between the two breaks a long-standing tradition that had governed US-Taiwan relations for many decades and raised legitimate speculation about its implications for the future of China-US and Taiwan-US relations.

This phone call may not necessarily imply significant changes in the above relations under a Trump presidency.

According to Trump's Twitter message, it was Tsai who initiated the phone call. In fact, his message highlighted the fact by capitalizing Tsai "CALLED ME" to offer her congratulations.

Trump could be signaling to the world that people should not read too much into this telephone call. The audience of his message could include Beijing.

The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!

Based on the initial reaction by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, it seems that Beijing has opted for a low-key response. Wang instead criticized Taiwan for playing "dirty tricks" to manipulate Taipei-Washington relations.

Nonetheless, this phone call may offer important clues about how Trump may handle foreign policy decisions.

It seems to vindicate the widespread expectations that he will not be able to handle sensitive issues with diplomatic savvy.

Both cases imply that the world may need to get used to a less disciplined US president who is not bounded, or doesn't want to be bounded, by traditional diplomatic rules and norms that would have constrained another US president.

Indeed, less than one hour after his initial Twitter message, Trump sent another message showing his objection to the established rules and norms: "Interesting how the US sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call."

The conclusion here is that Trump's phone call with Tsai Ing-wen may not foretell major shifts in US relations with China and Taiwan.

It was more likely a reflection of Trump's personality and suggests that his presidency may be fraught with unintended diplomatic consequences triggered by his impulsive actions and words.

This scenario does not bode well for US-China relations, which have seen rising tension in the recent years.

Indeed, lack of strategic mistrust between them is driving their relationship in the direction of a new Cold War.

In this context, the worst thing that may happen involve actions or words by either party that further amplify their mutual strategic mistrust.

Trump therefore needs to learn to become a more disciplined and diplomatic savvy president when it comes to the highly sensitive trilateral relations between Beijing, Taipei and Washington.

The Taiwan Strait remains one of the most dangerous flashpoints in East Asia.

The revisionist inclination of a DPP government poses threat to the stability of both Beijing-Taipei relations and Beijing Washington relations.

In this context, the Trump administration should avoid sending the wrong signals to Tsai's government as that would only embolden her to pursue more revisionist policies, which will in turn heighten the prospect of direct military conflict between China and the United States.

War in the western Pacific is the last thing that Beijing and Washington wants to see.

It is therefore in the interest of the United States to continue to restrain Taiwan's revisionist tendency while simultaneously deterring Beijing from unilaterally changing the status quo by force. </s> This combo shows U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. First, he made a phone call to Ms. Tsai, going against protocol, and called Beijing a currency manipulator. Then he tweeted that China stole an Amercian drone in the South China Sea. He followed it up with another snide tweet that China can keep the drone. Repeatedly in recent weeks, Mr. Trump has been pinpricking the Communist giant. | Photo Credit: AP

In yet another swipe at China, United States President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday said that America should let the Communist giant keep the Navy’s unmanned underwater drone after Beijing agreed to return in an “appropriate manner” the device it had seized in the disputed South China Sea (SCS). The incident is among the most serious military confrontations between the two powers for decades.

(The U.S. lodged a formal diplomatic complaint and demanded the drone back. On Saturday, China slammed the U.S. for “making a fuss” over the seizure of its underwater drone and said it would return the device in an “appropriate manner.”

Defence Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Yang Yujun dismissed the U.S. allegations, insisting that China seized the underwater glider to ensure the safe navigation of passing ships.)

“We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back — let them keep it!” Mr. Trump tweeted, hours after Pentagon announced it had reached an understanding with China for the return of the drone.

The Pentagon had alleged that the drone was unlawfully seized by China on December 15 in the SCS while it was being recovered by a U.S. Navy oceanographic survey ship.

Mr. Trump’s latest tweet was the second time the President-elect had blasted China for the seizure.

Earlier, he said they stole it

Earlier, he accused China of stealing the American drone.

“China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters — rips it out of water and takes it to China in unpresidented [sic] act,” Mr. Trump tweeted, misspelling unprecedented.

He later reissued the tweet, correcting the spelling.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly infuriated China in recent weeks, questioning decades-old U.S. policy on Taiwan, making a phone call to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and calling Beijing a currency manipulator. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday on Twitter the United States should let China keep the U.S. Navy’s unmanned underwater glider that it seized in the South China Sea.

“We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back.- let them keep it!” Trump tweeted a few hours after the U.S. military announced it had reached an understanding with China for the return of the underwater glider.

According to the Pentagon, the drone was seized Thursday while collecting unclassified scientific data in the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety. The U.S. demanded the drone back, calling it an “unlawful seizure” in international waters.

China said its military seized the underwater glider to ensure the safe navigation of passing ships but would give it back.

It was not immediately known what effect, if any, the president-elect’s tweet would have on the agreement with the Chinese.

The evening tweet was the second time the president-elect injected himself into the controversy through Twitter on Saturday.

Misspelling “unprecedented,” he tweeted Saturday morning: “China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters – rips it out of water and takes it to China in unpresidented act.” He later reissued the tweet, correcting the spelling.

Relations already were tense between the U.S. and China following Trump’s decision to talk by phone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Dec. 2. He later said he did not feel “bound by a one-China policy” regarding the status of Taiwan, unless the U.S. could gain trade or other benefits from China.

China considers the self-governing island its own territory to be recovered by force if it deems necessary. </s> WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has warned China that carrying out a Tiananmen Square-style crackdown on Hong Kong pro-democracy protests would harm trade talks between the two countries, in comments that followed a huge, defiant march through the streets of the global finance hub.Hong Kong has been rocked by more than two months of protests and clashes between police and hardcore activists who fear the semi-autonomous city's freedoms are under threat from Beijing.On Sunday, rally organisers said some 1.7 million people turned out for a peaceful march under a sea of umbrellas, defying police orders and stark warnings from China to end the protests.The American president cautioned that any violent effort by China to quell the unprecedented protests would damage trade negotiations."I think it'd be very hard to deal if they do violence, I mean, if it's another Tiananmen Square," Trump told reporters in New Jersey on Sunday. "I think it's a very hard thing to do if there's violence." Trump's comments came as Washington and Beijing look to revive pivotal high-level talks aimed at ending their trade war.The trade dispute between the US and China has been blamed for setting world financial markets on edge amid signs of a possible global economic slowdown.Phone calls between the deputies from two sides are planned for the next 10 days and, if those are successful, negotiations between more senior officials could resume, Trump's chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow said on Sunday.The demonstrations in Hong Kong have tipped into violence, with protesters paralyzing the city's airport last week and tarnishing a campaign that took pride in its peaceful intent.Communist Party-ruled mainland China has in turn sharpened its tone towards the dissidents, decrying the "terrorist-like" actions of a violent minority.State media has broadcast images of military personnel and armored personnel carriers in Shenzhen, across the border from Hong Kong, propaganda read across Hong Kong as intimidation.China deployed tanks to end student-led protests in the bloody 1989 crackdown in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, resulting in an estimated death toll between several hundred to over a thousand.If such a situation was repeated in Hong Kong, "I think there'd be... tremendous political sentiment not to do something," Trump said, referring to the trade negotiations with China.Under a deal signed with Britain, China agreed to allow Hong Kong to keep its unique freedoms when the former crown colony was handed back in 1997.But many Hong Kongers feel those freedoms are being hacked away, especially since China's hardline president Xi Jinping came to power. Trump stopped short of endorsing the protesters, saying, "I'd love to see it worked out in a humane fashion," and calling on Xi to negotiate with the dissidents.Last week, China's state-run daily the Global Times said there "won't be a repeat" of Tiananmen Square in a rare reference to the crackdown."China is much stronger and more mature, and its ability to manage complex situations has been greatly enhanced," the newspaper wrote in an editorial.Analysts say any intervention in Hong Kong by Chinese security forces would be a disaster for China's reputation and economy.The political turmoil was sparked by widespread opposition to a plan for allowing extraditions to the Chinese mainland, but has since morphed into a broader movement for democratic rights in the semi-autonomous city.Sunday's march, billed as a return to the peaceful origins of the leaderless protest movement, was one of the largest rallies since the protests began about three months ago, according to organizers the Civil Human Rights Front </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said in an interview with National Public Radio that he knew in advance about the arrest of a top executive of the Chinese technology giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd [HWT.UL], according to an NPR reporter on Thursday.

Bolton said he did not know if the president was aware in advance of the arrest of Meng Wanzhou in Canada on Saturday, the day Trump struck a 90-day truce on trade in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Argentina, NPR reporter Steve Inskeep said in a tweet.

“I knew in advance. That is something we get from the Justice Department,” the tweet quoted Bolton as saying. </s> "We have registered our objection to China's unlawful seizure of a US unmanned underwater vehicle operating in international waters in the South China Sea. Through direct engagement with Chinese authorities, we have secured an understanding that the Chinese will return the UUV to the United States," Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said in a statement.

Details were not immediately available on when or how it may be returned.

Earlier Saturday, China's defense ministry said Chinese authorities had decided to return it, but criticized the US for having "hyped up" the issue. President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on the incident, calling China's action "unprecedented."

"Upon confirming that the device was a US underwater drone, the Chinese side decided to transfer it to the US side in an appropriate manner," Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Sr. Col. Yang Yujun said. "China and the United States have been communicating about this process. It is inappropriate -- and unhelpful for a resolution -- that the US has unilaterally hyped up the issue. We express our regret over that."

The statement added that the US "has been frequently deploying ships and aircraft to conduct close-in surveillance and military surveys in waters facing China. China firmly opposes such acts and demands the US cease such activities. China will stay alert over relevant US activities and will take necessary measures to counter them." A message left with the State Department was not returned Saturday. Saturday morning, Trump tweeted, "China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act." China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2016 Trump initially tweeted that it was an "unpresidented" act, leading him to delete the message and retweet it with the correct spelling. The incident, the latest encounter in international waters in the South China Sea region, occurred earlier this week about 100 miles off the Philippine port at Subic Bay. The USNS Bowditch had stopped in the water to pick up two underwater drones. At that point, a Chinese naval ship that had been shadowing the Bowditch put a small boat into the water. That small boat came up alongside and the Chinese crew took one of the drones. The US got no answer from the Chinese on the radio when it said the drone was American property, a US defense official told CNN. As they turned away, the Chinese did come up on the radio and indicated they were returning to their own operations. US oceanographic research vessels are often followed in the water under the assumption they are spying. In this case, however, the drone was simply measuring ocean conditions, the official said. Cook earlier in the week said said China had "unlawfully seized" the drone, calling for its immediate return. Although it's unclear what the motivation was for the Chinese, the seizing of the drone comes on the heels of other provocative incidents that have happened since Trump received a congratulatory call from Taiwan's President, a violation of the US's agreement with China's "One China policy." China publicly voiced its disapproval of that incident and contacted the White House at the time. </s> CLOSE

In this undated file photo released by Xinhua News Agency, a Chinese H-6K bomber patrols the islands and reefs in the South China Sea. (Photo: Liu Rui, AP)

China’s Defense Ministry says it will return the U.S. Navy underwater drone it captured operating in international waters in the South China Sea, after it seized the device to ensure the “safe navigation of passing ships.”

Yang Yujun, a ministry spokesman, issued a statement late Saturday saying a Chinese navy lifeboat discovered the unknown device in the South China Sea on Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

China’s Defense Ministry said that, after verifying that the device was an American unmanned device, “China decided to transfer it to the U.S. through appropriate means.”

Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook confirmed that "through direct engagement with Chinese authorities, we have secured an understanding that the Chinese will return the UUV to the United States," he said in a statement using an acronym for the unmanned underwater vehicle.

China's defense ministry said it originally seized the drone “to prevent this device from posing a danger to the safe navigation of passing ships and personnel,” the statement said, according to AP. It added: "the Chinese lifeboat adopted a professional and responsible attitude in investigating and verifying the device."

President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on the incident earlier Saturday, accusing China of stealing the drone.

"China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act," Trump said in an early morning tweet.

Trump originally misspelled “unprecedented” as "unpresidented" but later deleted the tweet and reposted.

China steals United States Navy research drone in international waters - rips it out of water and takes it to China in unprecedented act. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2016

The incident comes amid renewed tensions between China and the U.S. after the election of Trump, who’s vowed to get tough on Chinese trade policies and stirred anger in Beijing after a 10-minute phone call with Taiwan President Tsi Ing-wen. It was the first by a U.S. president or president-elect since President Jimmy Carter acknowledged in 1979 China's position that Taiwan is part of “One China.”

In its statement, China also accused the U.S. of deploying “ships in China’s presence to conduct reconnaissance and military surveying. China is resolutely opposed to this and requests the U.S. stop such activities.”

The drone was launched by the USNS Bowditch, a civilian crewed oceanographic ship that is operated by the Military Sealift Command, off the coast of the Philippines. These types of drones, called gliders, typically collect unclassified data, such as water temperatures and salinity levels.

According to Cook, the drone is not armed and is used for gathering weather and temperature data. The incident occurred Thursday.

The Bowditch was about to recover the glider when a Chinese Dalang III class Chinese warship approached within 500 yards of the Bowditch, launched a small vessel and snatched the drone out of the water, the Pentagon said.

The boat brought the device back to the Chinese warship, which then headed away.

The Bowditch contacted the Chinese vessel by radio and demanded the return of the glider. The Chinese ship acknowledged the radio transmission but ignored the request to return it, the Pentagon said.

The U.S. government had issued a démarche, or diplomatic protest, over the incident, demanding its return.

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U.S. President Donald Trump tweets that U.S. intelligence informed him that China is moving troops to the border with Hong Kong.