Observer: Playing 'Hong Kong card' gets US nowhere
By Chang Feng
People's Daily app
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The US on June 25 passed the so-called "Hong Kong Autonomy Act", attempting to hinder Hong Kong’s legislation on safeguarding national security through imposing sanctions.

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The passage of the act is a blatant interference in China's internal affairs and a serious violation of international conventions and norms governing international relations. It exposed the double standards and hegemonic logic of the US government. The trick will yield no success.

The Hong Kong citizens and the central government are in the best position to judge whether the city enjoys a high degree of autonomy and follows the “one country, two systems” principle.

The US, while signing numerous laws to safeguard its own national security, has been stigmatizing China for plugging its national security loopholes. The so-called sanctions by the US government are extremely insolent, unreasonable and shameless, and reveal the purpose of certain American politicians to hinder China’s development through destroying Hong Kong.

Certain American politicians have acted as “black hands” behind escalating violence in Hong Kong after the turbulence over proposed extradition bill amendments last June.

US Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, an instigator of Hong Kong riots and Joshua Wong Chi-fung, leader of a Hong Kong political group advocating "independence". The National Endowment for Democracy of the US fueled Hong Kong protests, and the US media distorted their reports on Hong Kong and created rumors.

The US claimed in its Country Reports on Terrorism 2019 that no terrorist incidents were reported in Hong Kong in 2019. However, it called the nationwide racial riots on its own territory terrorism.

Calling Hong Kong a “bastion of freedom”, the US has been attempting to replace the political system of the Chinese mainland with the “Hong Kong model”. What it intends to do is not to let Hong Kong enjoy “self-rule”, stability and prosperity, but to obstruct China’s development by destabilizing Hong Kong.

Such despicable acts are doomed to fail. The citizens of Hong Kong have already seen through the true colors of the US for a long time. A Hong Kong organization called the United Front Supporting National Security Legislation has recently launched an online petition in protest of external interference, which was signed by more than one million people.

In front of public opinion, people who try to use the “Hong Kong card" to suppress Chinese development will never succeed.

Any sanctions are double-edged swords. The US has 85,000 citizens, more than 1,300 companies, nearly 300 regional headquarters and more than 400 regional offices in Hong Kong. In addition, almost all major US financial companies operate in Hong Kong. The US trade surplus with Hong Kong has accumulated to $297 billion in the past decade, ranking first among its global trading partners. Once the country imposes sanctions, US trade and finance will be the first to suffer.

At present, COVID-19 is raging in the America and its economy is shrinking. Even so, the US administration is still making such stupid moves. The motives of US politicians are questionable. What exactly are they considering, the electoral benefits or the future of the United States?

Hong Kong’s unique status is given by the Basic Law, and it will not be changed by the US sanctions. The prosperity and stability of Hong Kong comes from the hard work of generations of Hong Kong citizens, as well as the strong support from the central government. The US sanctions cannot affect these “fundamentals”.

Only by plugging security loopholes with national security legislation, rooting out violence, punishing those clamoring for “Hong Kong independence” and advocating “mutual destruction,” improving the business environment and enhancing investor confidence can Hong Kong withstand any storm and further consolidate its status as an international financial, trade and shipping center.