In stating that the central authorities took new actions in the period from March 2021 through March 2022”directly threatening US interests in Hong Kong”, the US State Department got to the nub of its complaints in the 2023 Hong Kong Policy Act Report released on Friday.
Those interests, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlined in his statement that day were the dissent and the undermining of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of people in Hong Kong that the United States promoted with its support of radical elements in the special administrative region.
In attempting to discredit the successful practice of “one country, two systems”, the SAR’s national security law and Hong Kong’s new electoral system, the US is continuing to meddle in Hong Kong affairs, and slandering the rule of law, democracy, freedom and human rights in Hong Kong in an attempt to tarnish Hong Kong’s international appeal.
To begin with, the government of the US has no grounds to evaluate “conditions” of Hong Kong, or any other part of a foreign country, not to mention hinting that other countries should dance to its tune on Hong Kong.
The US practices relating to Hong Kong are grave violations of the principles of international law and basic norms governing international relations, as a spokesperson for the Commissioner’s Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the SAR said.
With patriots administering Hong Kong and the introduction of a national security law in the SAR, the space for Washington to interfere in China’s internal affairs has been squeezed and the juice of its sour grapes flows through the report.
Otherwise the report would not have ignored the positive changes the SAR has experienced during the period it covers, particularly the institutional causes behind the changes and their far-reaching influences.
Over that period of time and beyond, the SAR has witnessed a quick recovery from the social chaos fueled by the US, the economic stagnation resulting from this, and the US sanctions imposed on Hong Kong, as well as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Contrary to the US State Department’s claims, it is the successful practice of “one country, two systems”, the national security law and Hong Kong’s new electoral system that have restored peace and public order in the SAR and put it back on the right track for further prosperity.
By calling these progressive moves retrogressive, the US government has made it crystal clear that the “US interests” in the SAR conflict with those of Hong Kong and Hong Kong people. As such, what the rest of the report supplies is essentially nothing but a sequence of footnotes.
What the report makes clear is why the “presence” of the US in a country deserves vigilance. As the report details in relation to Hong Kong, its presence may take the form of proxies in various fields, including, not coincidentally, the judicial, administrative, educational and communication organs that are the “pillars” of democracy, human rights and security.
What China has done is to remove the US tumors that had been growing in Hong Kong and strengthened its institutional resistance to any reappearance.
Editorial, China Daily
