US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Monday met with the founder and chairman of Hong Kong media company Next Digital, Jimmy Lai (Lai Chee-Ying), who is regarded as holding radical views, to discuss the Hong Kong government's amendment to the extradition bill and Hong Kong's autonomy. The meeting was seen as US escalating its interference in Hong Kong affairs.
Around the same time, Hong Kong's politically confrontational singer, Denise Ho Wan-sze, spoke at the United Nations Human Rights Council. She vilified the "one country, two systems" framework and absurdly called on the Human Rights Council to remove China from the list. There was a lot of coverage in Western media.
Hong Kong society is capable of exercising the high degree of autonomy granted by the Basic Law. China has the ability to implement the "one country, two systems" policy and solve the problems arising in this process. Who gave the US the power to supervise the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong's "one country, two systems"? When Washington already sees Beijing as a strategic rival and puts pressure on China at the forefront of its strategic considerations, will the US have the well-being of Hong Kong at heart while it meddles in Hong Kong affairs?
Hong Kong's radical opposition forces are binding themselves with external forces. This also finds no basis in the Basic Law. To be precise, this is the act of selling the country and Hong Kong. It is a betrayal of Hong Kong's return to the motherland and an attempt by foreign powers to influence Hong Kong's affairs.
"One country, two systems" is based on the sincere goodwill of the central government and the whole of China toward Hong Kong. Its implementation is backed by the Constitution. Interference by external forces is disrupting China's constitutional system and challenging China's sovereignty.
The people of Hong Kong must clearly understand the strategic risks brought about by the external forces stirring up the situation in Hong Kong. We must not allow US hostility toward China to be brought into Hong Kong affairs as a lever to balance "one country" and to reinforce "two systems."
The amendment was initiated by the Hong Kong regional government, which also made the decision to revoke the amendment. Because this is more of an internal affair, Beijing has not intervened. This fully demonstrates Beijing's respect for the Basic Law. Washington and London, as outsiders, should respect the Basic Law of Hong Kong, the right of Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong and Beijing's governance over Hong Kong.
The failed amendment has been turned over. Let history discover and summarize the complex clues and implications of this. Hopefully, the vast majority of Hong Kong's population will soon calm down and return to normalcy in the city, moving away from overheated politics and putting the economy and people's livelihood back in focus. In particular, it is necessary to prevent the collusion between the extreme opposition and Western forces such as the US from becoming an ulcer of Hong Kong politics, which will put the future of Hong Kong in serious jeopardy.
