The central government on Thursday issued a statement on behalf of the 1.4 billion Chinese people that strongly opposed the signing into law by US President Donald Trump of the so-called Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019. The statement, released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, maintains the US move is egregious interference in Hong Kong affairs, which are China's internal affairs. It is also in serious violation of international law and basic norms governing international relations. The Chinese government and the people firmly oppose such blatant hegemonic acts. However craftily they have decked out the legislation with flowery phrases, Washington politicians cannot hide the fact that it serves America's geopolitical interests; particularly, to contain China by turning Hong Kong into a subversive base against the country. The act's becoming law is a rude wake-up call to those who still believe Washington cares at all about the well-being of Hong Kong residents.

Anyone who has been following Hong Kong's socioeconomic and constitutional developments in the past 22 years should have no problem recalling that the central government has issued similar statements against US meddling in Hong Kong affairs before. And the excuses used by Washington for such interference have always been "freedom", "human rights" and "democracy". However, what Hong Kong residents in general have experienced as a result of US "support for human rights, freedom and democracy" so far are political crises, economic slowdowns, social unrest, mass emotional stress and even deaths.

The fact is, the US government has always been aiding and abetting all the unlawful behavior and illegal acts of opposition parties, including separatist groups, in the name of "universal values". And such support has never failed to inflict some kind of suffering on Hong Kong society. Ever since the protests against the SAR government's proposed national security legislation in line with Article 23 of the Basic Law in 2003, acts in violation of the Public Order Ordinance have become a norm in the city, with Washington and its allies publicly acting as cheerleaders.

What the US-led Western powers have done behind the scenes is hardly a secret either, as shown repeatedly in the staging of such costly political movements as "Occupy Central", also known as the "umbrella revolution", in the fall of 2014, and the much-worse "black revolution", which is not officially over yet. The reason is clear: Everything Washington has done in Hong Kong is aimed at weakening Beijing's overall jurisdiction over the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Its meddling will not stop until it has effective control over the HKSAR.

Even though the act has become law, there is no guarantee that violent and possibly lethal riots will not happen again in the days to come because the masterminds and organizers of the "black revolution" simply cannot be satisfied by just winning the District Council elections and securing passage of the bill. Now that they know this extreme kind of political extortion - through bloodshed and even death - actually works, it is only natural for them to step up their illegal campaign in pursuit of political objectives, including the ultimate goal - the governing power of the SAR.

(HK Edition 11/29/2019 page11)