It's pathetic how the mainstream media is reporting on this. Almost dead silence. Beijing has effectively removed our free speech. Businesses have a feduciary obligation to increase shareholder value, and saying anything bad about Beijing can have huge economic consequences.
I think the most interesting event during all of the Hong Kong conflict was actually when the US congress first announced this bill. Within a day China responded with one of its casual opaque threats along the lines of "if congress passes this bill there will be consequences," which sounds a lot like when the CCP told Sweden there would be "consequences" for giving an award to a reporter against the state.
So yeah, I agree with you the pressure on free speech that China has imposed on governments - not only corporations - but the united states government tells a story about Chinese aggression.
Ultimately, China is far more vulnerable in this trade war than the US, so I expect more belligerence from China in the same way I would expect belligerence from a 7 year old boy when his toy is taken away.
Not just business leaders but the government has been co-opted to shill for China. The author of Stealth War [1] writes that many members of the US congress have been lobbying for the CCP through dockets and/or have tremendous conflicts of interests through business or personal relationships.
