Photo: GT

At a press conference early Saturday morning Beijing time, US President Donald Trump announced that the US "will take actions to revoke Hong Kong's preferential treatment as a separate customs and travel territory from the rest of China," because "China is abandoning the idea of 'one country, two systems' in favor of 'one country, one system.'"

Trump added the US would impose sanctions against the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong officials who, according to Washington, are involved in so-called eroding Hong Kong autonomy. The measures may include banning visas of Chinese students suspected of jeopardizing US national security. Besides, Trump also instructed his presidential working group on financial markets to study the various practices of Chinese companies listed on US financial markets.  

This press conference was full of lies. Trump arbitrarily fabricated the imaginary changes that the national security legislation for Hong Kong might bring about to the city. He peddled nonsense, saying that China will only have "one country, one system," while ignoring the huge differences in political systems, governance models, and social customs between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

At the same press conference, Trump also announced the termination of US relations with the World Health Organization (WHO), claiming "China has total control" over the organization. There is probably no other countries in the world, including US allies, which believe in such unfounded accusation. The Trump team is well aware that they were merely finding a scapegoat to conceal their incompetence in handling the novel coronavirus and inciting American's hatred against the outside world as a campaign strategy.

Washington is putting more bets in its gambling. But it is no longer as wealthy as before. It is sick in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic and the Trump administration's chips are not enough. 

How far would Washington go to impose sanctions against China? The US may need to calculate its loss first. Hong Kong is a contributor to tens of billions of US trade surplus each year and the city is closely connected with the interests of many big American companies.

Using a decoupling tactic to punish China is just the wishful thinking of some US elite as it only satisfies their arrogance toward China. The reality is the US only wants to decouple from China in the high-tech field, but it wants to sell as many US products as possible to China. Ideally, they want the final say over where they decouple from China and where they approach China.

China has already prepared for the worst. No matter how far the US goes, China will keep its company. If Trump 's plan continues, Washington will soon run counter to the interests of most Hong Kong people. Under the equal treatment of Hong Kong and the mainland by the US, the people of both sides will unite and harbor deep hatred against the American enemy.

The US will eventually lose the trust and favorable opinion of Hong Kong society. 

China-US relations have continued to decay and the COVID-19 pandemic has further weakened the willingness of Chinese families to send their children to study in the US. If the US closes the doors of its coveted universities to Chinese students, it will greatly reduce the assessment of high-quality American education in Chinese society. As a result, many children will abandon their plans to study in the US.

The US is mulling over sanctioning Chinese officials and strengthening the supervision of Chinese companies listed in the US stock market. It gives the impression that US sanction measures are large-scale and powerful. 

But the truth is the US can neither vanquish Hong Kong nor the Chinese mainland. After all, Washington's only trump card is nothing more than imposing tariffs on Hong Kong and hindering Hongkongers from obtaining US visas. Such high-handedness no doubt creates problems, but Hong Kong's future is bound with the country. Temporary twists and turns will not change Hong Kong's destiny.

The US swims against the tides of history. It withdraws from various international organizations and imposes arbitrary and blatant sanctions, which is only detrimental to itself. The extreme tactics of a superpower like the US are nothing less than chronic suicide.