A ship carrying the slogan of "celebrating the passage of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)" sails at the Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, south China, July 1, 2020.  Photo: Xinhua

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Hong Kong Autonomy Act. He also signed an executive order aimed at ending preferential treatment for Hong Kong. Trump talked tough during the White House news conference: "Their freedom has been taken away; their rights have been taken away. And with it goes Hong Kong… because it will no longer be able to compete with free markets."

Trump said Hong Kong will now be treated the same as the mainland, "no special privileges, no special economic treatment." But there is nothing special in the concrete measures released by the US side, leading some analysts to believe that the White House is bluffing as it wants to show a tough stance, but does not want to bear the losses together with Hong Kong.

If Hong Kong cannot survive without the US' "special privileges," then it is indeed dead. The Trump administration seriously resents Hong Kong. It wants to destroy the city's prosperity to vent its anger, but Beijing will not submit to Washington's pressure.

But did the US really give Hong Kong any "special privileges?" Washington is extremely selfish. It has promoted "America First," cut international aid, and has been calculating with allies in terms of trade policies and cost-sharing of US military bases. How can the US be willing to give "special privileges" to any country or region?

Hong Kong is a free port and backed by the mainland. Hong Kong's prosperity is because of its own efforts. The Hong Kong dollar's peg to the US dollar benefits the US. As a financial hub, Hong Kong has benefited US financing; as a free trade center, Hong Kong has contributed tens of billions of dollars to the US trade surplus every year. The US' so-called "privileges" for Hong Kong are all policy tools to maximize US interests.

The current US administration has an abnormal worship of its own power. It is also impulsive and aggressive. The Hong Kong question is a mirror of the US' extreme arrogance. But since the national security law for Hong Kong concerns China's core interests, China's firm resolve is unshakable. To what extent is the US willing to hurt itself to harm Hong Kong? No matter what card the US will play next, China will fight it to the end.

Labor, production and consumption are the most fundamental elements in the world economy. Everything else is attached to them. The essence of finance is to serve production and consumption. The US built a financial system centered on the US dollar during the peak period of its production capacity. The world has followed it, and China has also supported it. Now, the ability of the US' production has seriously declined, and the financial system is gradually dangling. If the US abuses financial sanctions and makes it a major geopolitical tool, then it is sounding the death knell of its own financial empire.

US suppression of China has impacted the core interests of 1.4 billion Chinese people. To defend the core interests, the hardworking and wise Chinese nation and the growing market will never succumb. Our political resilience, scale of society and other national potentials will support us in fighting for justice to the end.

Trump's arrogant words only show Chinese people the US administration's strategic malice against China, including Hong Kong. His words can neither scare China nor affect China's work in the city. Washington can keep playing petty tricks of ending Hong Kong's preferential treatment if it is not afraid of hurting itself.

China will continue to develop. Just look at how the US has been hit by the COVID-19, and how China has effectively controlled the epidemic. People will know China is capable of dealing with the spread of the US' geopolitical virus. Hong Kong, with the help of the country, can deal with the changes. Hong Kong, the "Pearl of the Orient," will continue to shine.