Blinken Photo: VCG

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab blamed the Hong Kong police on social media for arresting leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (the Hong Kong Alliance) in accordance with the national security law for Hong Kong. Their rhetoric is nothing but a cliché. Their feeble statements show that they find themselves in a position to at least say something, but they are well aware that what they say doesn't mean anything.

Western countries, particularly the US and the UK, are keen to interfere in the internal affairs of developing countries. They see this as their political and cultural privilege and a way to claim their status as the center of the world. Western elites view this as their "spiritual welfare". Every year, they make up reports and rankings regarding human rights, religious freedom and press freedom to lead world judgment on these matters. Such moves have helped promote their national interests and for them are a pleasant thing to do.

But they have met with unprecedented resistance and suffered setbacks one after another when they did the same with China. The violent protests in Hong Kong can be argued as a "major battle" they have launched. But they have suffered a devastating defeat there. They were totally humiliated without gaining anything. 

Combined with the US tragic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the West's foreign interventionism seems in jeopardy comprehensively. US President Joe Biden said the US pullout marks "ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries." This is signals a fundamental frustration in foreign interventionism. 

The basis for foreign intervention is super strength. The essence of Hong Kong's problem is whether it accepts the governance of the central government after its return to China, or continues to be manipulated by the US and the UK, and even acts as a lever in the US' strategic game with China. Washington and London have severely underestimated the impact of China's rise on the game regarding Hong Kong. Their arrogant performances with their proxies in the city triggered a critical point where it turns into its opposite if pushed too far.

The national security law for Hong Kong was jointly forged by China's strength and will. It not only punishes anti-China forces such as the Hong Kong Alliance, but also fiercely hits back at forces from the US and the UK which support them. Obviously, this is a showdown. China's resolve displays its political confidence after the country becomes powerful. 

The US and the UK's political maneuver in Hong Kong was easily defeated in the face of the national security law for Hong Kong. This shows that Hong Kong is part of China and is under China's sovereignty. That the US and the UK want to politically and ideologically control Hong Kong is an illusion. Their influence is over in Hong Kong. If they still want to shed influence, they will be driven away.

They hatefully wanted to "destroy" Hong Kong, but found they couldn't make it. They are reluctant to see their interests in Hong Kong fade. Hong Kong's prosperity is closely associated with the Chinese mainland. Decision-makers in the US and UK have gravely realized that even if they give up their interests in Hong Kong, they cannot "kill" this city.   

The only thing left that Blinken and Raab could do is to cover up the predicament of their failure in interfering in Hong Kong. They can no longer change anything. Nor do they have any more cards to play. They do not want the world to see through their failures in an attempt to avoid the chain effect of losing face. So they raised their voices. They are puffing themselves up at their own cost. And they might do so more frequently in the future, pretending they still have influence in Hong Kong.

The changes that the national security law has brought to Hong Kong are an epitome of China-US rivalry and competition. History walks faster than the thoughts of some political elites in Washington. Many anti-China groups and those which aimed to destabilize Hong Kong have become history. The Hong Kong Alliance is becoming history. The five-point agenda of the group is the laughing stock of the times. Washington and London should keep up with the times. Hong Kong is a mirror that reflects external forces' ugly behavior of going against history.