5. After it passed, Bush vetoed it, and she decried the move as a "slap in the face to the forces of democracy." She lobbied hard for votes and overrode the White House by a 390-25 margin. But it narrowly missed the two-third supermajority threshold needed in the Senate.
-
Show this thread
-
6. She still didn't give up. By keeping the issue in the media spotlight, she eventually compelled Bush to incorporate key elements of her legislation in a 1990 executive order. What an astounding victory for a young woman in a world dominated by powerful men.pic.twitter.com/WnomTAvu7r
2 replies 28 retweets 78 likesShow this thread -
7. In 1991, she visited
#Beijing with two fellow House members and personally went to Tiananmen Square, unfurling a bilingual banner mourning those who'd died there. News TV cameras captured the moment before Chinese cops arrived to rough them up. This picture is so iconic.pic.twitter.com/LAVuosPSMe
6 replies 35 retweets 98 likesShow this thread -
8. Her fight was unmistakably bipartisan, as she allied with "conservative anti-Communists and evangelical Christians alongside liberal activists and Bush critics." She even broke with President Clinton in her own party after he decoupled China's MFN status from human rights.
2 replies 24 retweets 64 likesShow this thread -
9. In sharp contrast to Clinton, she never believed economic reforms would automatically lead to sociopolitical liberalization in China. She was a leading crusader against its entry to the WHO, and continued to speak up throughout the 2000s even as she rose through the ranks.
1 reply 22 retweets 60 likesShow this thread -
10. Fast forward to the
#UmbrellaMovement of 2014. When Republicans@RepChrisSmith and Frank Wolf introduced the original Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, Pelosi, now the House Minority Leader, signed up as the lead Democratic co-sponsor.pic.twitter.com/KAYxaCZvMS
4 replies 28 retweets 83 likesShow this thread -
Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 😷 Retweeted Nancy Pelosi
11. I first met her when she came to Hong Kong in 2015. By then I'd already learned of her stellar record from her two good friends: Martin Lee and Anson Chan, Hong Kong's most prominent democracy advocates on the world stage.https://twitter.com/speakerpelosi/status/666795258747953152 …
Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 😷 added,
2 replies 27 retweets 80 likesShow this thread -
Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 😷 Retweeted Nancy Pelosi
12. Ever since, every single time I've gone to Washington, she has made time to meet me no matter how busy her schedule. She's always briefed about Hong Kong's latest, wasting no time to ask what's already in the news, so we can discuss how to move forward.https://twitter.com/speakerpelosi/status/799655824784326656 …
Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 😷 added,
3 replies 30 retweets 90 likesShow this thread -
13. Upon returning to the speakership last year, she appointed
@RepMcGovern, a longtime champion of#Tibet, to chair the@CECCgov. She also expedited an updated#HKHRDA in the House amid the massive#antiELAB demonstrations, despite various hurdles.pic.twitter.com/9C4YdIlDr0
2 replies 39 retweets 90 likesShow this thread -
14. In September, she invited me and other Hong Kong activists —
@nathanlawkc,@hoccgoomusic,@jeffreychngo,@BrianLeungKP,@samuelmchu — to shore up support for the bill in a joint press conference with key, bipartisan Congressional members.pic.twitter.com/fxfbPP03cb
7 replies 42 retweets 86 likesShow this thread
15. As the biography records: "She repeatedly spoke out against Beijing's brutal repression of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, even as the @NBA and other multinational corporations were cowed into silence."
-
-
16. "She personally whipped support for [...] imposing sanctions on the regime. The bill put many members of Congress in an uncomfortable position, but she insisted that every member's vote be recorded rather than letting it through on a voice vote. It passed, 417 votes to 1."
3 replies 39 retweets 117 likesShow this thread -
17. I can't possibly fit the many other stories here, not to mention her memorable speeches, statements, and behind-the-scene efforts to always do what's virtuous. The book is a great starting point. I hope future scholars will build on it to study this in closer detail! ENDS.pic.twitter.com/WWCs3xffvE
17 replies 78 retweets 185 likesShow this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.