The Chinese national flags and flags of the Hong Kong SAR flutter in Hong Kong. (Photo:Xinhua)

Ted Cruz, a US senator known for his anti-China stance, blocked a last-minute legislative attempt on Friday to give "special refugee status" to rioters fleeing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Ironically, by blocking the bill, Cruz is really "standing with Hong Kong" although when he said "standing with Hong Kong" he was trying to turn some misguided youth in the SAR against the motherland and home city. Now, when some of the rioters he encouraged are trying to flee to the United States, Cruz rushes to stop them.

Benny Tai Yiu-ting, one of the architects of the unrest in Hong Kong, had urged the rioters to "leave with a mission", but Cruz's move comes as a heavy blow to them. They might all try to leave, but where will they go?

The US is not the only Western country refusing asylum for the Hong Kong rioters. In July this year, the United Kingdom said it planned to grant "citizenship" to British National Overseas passport holders in Hong Kong, but at least two Hong Kong residents were denied political asylum on entering the UK, as reported in August. The UK's proposal to open channels for BNO passport holders in 2021 thus remains highly disputed.

Cruz's move and the incident in the UK should make it clear to those who were misled by their Western masters that they are of use to them until the time they remain in Hong Kong and create trouble there. Their Western patrons might pay them for that, but as soon as the rioters leave Hong Kong, they will no longer be of any use to their patrons and may even be looked down upon as people who have betrayed their own country.

This has been a very chaotic year but it is coming to an end. We will soon enter a new year full of hope. Hong Kong's fate is wedded to that of the mainland, and the youths in Hong Kong can share its prosperity only if they stay and do constructive work in the city.