ABSTRACT
Hong Kong and in China. When Chinese representatives travel to the West, on the other hand, carefully worded US references to normative aspirations remain common. For example, when China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi travelled to the US in October 2014, US Secretary of State John Kerry stated publicly in Wang’s presence: “As China knows, we support universal suffrage in Hong Kong.”73
Such statements to the press should not be misunderstood as a promise for dedicated support, however. Instead, they form part of a diplomatic routine which, at least in part, serves to satisfy Western voters and journalists.
