Opinion | A fact sheet listing US 'criminal records' in Hong Kong affairs

By Edward Hei Leung, DAB Standing Committee Member

Our Foreign Ministry released a comprehensive fact sheet, listing 102 detail examples of US interference in Hong Kong affairs. The statement categorizes US actions into five dimensions: the enacting of laws against China and Hong Kong; imposing sanctions to obstruct Beijing's policies on the city, smearing the local government and police, and colluding with other countries to exert pressure. To me, 102 detailed examples, on one hand, indicate the continuous, blatant violations of basic norms governing international relations. On the other hand, it represents a remarkable drop of "stun grenades" into Sino-US relations, shortly after US climate envoy John Kerry said he would visit China again soon.

Why Hong Kong, but not Afghanistan?

In fact, be it intrusive or not, US normalizes what it does at the globe. To teenagers heavily influenced by colonial education, US is habitually conceived as the so-called world police. The western dominance, together with the US-led global order, is not only educated at schools, but also via cultural means like Marvel Comics in which the territory that usually face with alien attacks is US. Sad but true, the peace makers somehow refer to superheroes like Captain America and Ironman, two characters representing US leadership, both military and monetary. However, can you allow one single neighbor often if not always meddling your family affairs? Does US have this privilege either?

Back to the fact sheet, our Foreign Ministry gives a comprehensive list of US violations on international norms, with 102 detail examples in total. In particular, the list mentions 15 Hong Kong opposition activists, including Nathan Law 8 times, Martin Lee 6 times and Joshua Wong 5 times. They represent the city's destabilizing force colluding with foreign powers, since the turbulence over the amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance. Can any other countries accept 15 subversive politicians like Carles Puigdemont? Will Spain allow him to exert political influence in Catalonia again?

The naked truth is that US persistently attempts to play Hong Kong card, meanwhile ignoring what it did to Afghanistan. Unlike Hong Kong, Afghans suffers for America's mistakes. Starting from US invasion in late 2001, Afghans endure hunger, displacement, gun violence, to mention but a few. If US was truly a world police, why did it leave Afghans unprotected whereas put great efforts in Hong Kong affairs? Are the lives in Afghanistan cheaper than Hong Kong citizens? Or can it deny the fact that it contains China using Hong Kong?

Another milestone in the history of Chinese foreign policy

Aside from illustrating the continuity of US intervention, the fact sheet fully demonstrates Beijing's firm determination on its red lines amid Sino-US disputes. Can you imagine that China criticizes US current president openly and heavily? Even Mike Pompeo, Chinese government announced the sanction after he retreated from the post of Secretary of State. Yet, the fact sheet states that Biden called the closure of the opposition-friendly Apple Daily tabloid-style newspaper as "a sad day for media freedom" and a signal of "intensified repression by Beijing". Besides Biden, his Secretary of State Blinken was named nine times as well.

Half a year ago, we saw Yang Jiechi, Chinese top diplomat, airing our grievances to Blinken. "This is not the way to deal with Chinese people", Yang said in the Alaska summit. At early 2021, someone, particularly the Japanese, may question if it is too early for China to say these ambitious words. Now, the 8000-word fact sheet alongside the safe return of Meng Wanzhou clearly demonstrate the phenomenon in which the east is rising, meanwhile Japanese netizens criticize the country's surrender to US oppression 30 years ago.

China is no longer the nation who suffered from the invasion of Eight-Nation Alliance 100 years ago, meanwhile US is now encountering the confidence crisis after Afghanistan retreat, Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain challenges and two-party conflicts in White House, not to mention the possible shutdown of federal agencies. In light of this, is it the time we examine the efficiency and effectiveness of democratic system?

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