Observer: Gross interference in Hong Kong affairs doomed to fail
By Zhong Sheng
People's Daily app
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The White House signed the so-called Hong Kong Autonomy Act into law despite solemn representations from China.

China strongly condemns and opposes such gross interference in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs. The US, maliciously denigrating the national security legislation for Hong Kong and threatening to impose sanctions on China, has seriously violated international law and the basic norms underpinning international relations.

No matter how external forces try to exert pressure, they cannot shake China's resolution and will to safeguard sovereignty and security and uphold Hong Kong's stability and prosperity. The US attempts to thwart implementation of the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) are doomed to fail.

The so-called Hong Kong Autonomy Act is an evil act, which reveals US politicians’ ignorance of and prejudice against the "one country, two systems" principle. The so-called "rights" and "freedoms" they assert they are upholding are just their "rights" to contain China's development through chaos in Hong Kong, and the "freedom" to meddle in China's domestic affairs.

The act’s approval and the decision to make it a law, which were completed after the proclamation and implementation of the national security law for HKSAR, fully exposed the hegemonic attitude of the US toward Hong Kong affairs.

The legal basis of China's governance over the HKSAR lies in the Chinese Constitution and the Basic Law of the HKSAR, not the Sino-British Joint Declaration, whose essence is China's resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong.

After Hong Kong's return to its motherland, the principles and policies proposed by the central government of China in the declaration concerning Hong Kong have all been included in the Hong Kong Basic Law, and they have also been comprehensively and effectively implemented. The alleged China's violation of international obligations is a fallacy. 

Since the protests over the proposed amendments to the HKSAR’s extradition bill in June 2019, the radical violent crimes have threatened the life and property safety of the Hong Kong residents, and are way beyond the boundary and limits of legal freedoms and rights.

The national security law for Hong Kong targets a very narrow category of criminal acts and activities that endanger national security and protects the safety and rights and freedoms the vast majority of the Hong Kong residents enjoy in accordance with the law

By making and implementing the national security law for Hong Kong, China has provided strong institutional and legal guarantees for the long-term stability of the "one country, two systems" principle. The legislation is an effective remedy to Hong Kong's governance, and will be sure to bring orders back to the SAR.

However, some US politicians called the chaos and violence "a beautiful sight to behold" and blatantly supported the anti-China forces while blamed the national security law for eroding the city’s autonomy, which exposed American hypocrisy. 

China is firmly determined in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, implementing “one country, two systems” fully and faithfully, and opposing foreign interference in Hong Kong affairs. Time will tell that the national security law will offer solid institutional guarantees for Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability.