Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The European Parliament on Thursday adopted a so-called Hong Kong-related resolution, pointing a finger at Hong Kong affairs, discrediting China wantonly, calling for sanctions on officials from the Chinese central government and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, and even arrogantly urging China to abolish the national security law for Hong Kong. It also asked the EU to boycott the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. 

A spokesperson of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said on Friday that the resolution demonstrated the "arrogance, ignorance and shamelessness" of the European politicians. It must be said the conclusion on those politicians cannot be more precise.

The European Parliament will more look like a circus, with all kinds of anti-China figures taking turns to walk on stage, peddling their China-related proposals with lies and deceit. On July 8, 2021, the parliament also adopted a resolution on Hong Kong affairs. The newly adopted one is an updated version, with few new content, including calling a review of the EU's support for Hong Kong's seat at the WTO, accusing China of coercing and intimidating Lithuania. These politicians used to be mediocre on the political arena, but they have found the code to unlock more popularity - playing the anti-China card. So they play it in a more extreme and arrogant way. 

Over the past year, the European Parliament has successively put forward "anti-China resolutions" on issues of China's Xinjiang, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The number of resolutions related to Taiwan has reached a dozen. What does this reflect? First, it shows that anti-China politicians simply want to be against China. They don't understand or have no interest in understanding the real situation of Xinjiang, Taiwan and Hong Kong, nor do they care about the lives of people there. Second, it indicates that the European Parliament has degenerated into a place that gathers a cohort of radical anti-China politicians. They have created a production line of "anti-China resolutions." However, the so-called resolutions packaged by lies will be finally crushed by facts. If not, why do they have to put them forward one by one? 

Last March, China decided to impose sanctions on 10 individuals and four entities on the EU side that severely harm China's sovereignty and interests and maliciously spread lies and disinformation. Over a half of the individuals on the sanctions list are from the European Parliament. It's those "mouse dungs" that have spoiled a pot of porridge of the European Parliament. They are attempting to strengthen their presence and attract attention to improve their influence by showing an anti-China stance, while other members of the European Parliament are easily misled, making the parliament collectively blind. Poisoned by them, the European Parliament's understanding and basic judgment about China easily go wrong. 

These anti-China parliament members cannot hurt China, but they are becoming the black sheep of Europe. There are more than 2,300 European companies and 350,000 European citizens in Hong Kong. In 2020, China surpassed the US as the EU's largest trading partner, with trade worth 586 billion euros ($711 billion), of which total trade between Hong Kong and the EU reached 54 billion euros. Aiming at their own political interests, these anti-China politicians have agitated the European parliament to paralyze the process of the China-EU Comprehensive Investment Agreement. They would rather take the EU's interests as cannon fodder to be pawns of Washington's Indo-Pacific Strategy. They have wholeheartedly turned to the US, which makes people wonder whether they are MEPs in Brussels or members of US Capitol Hill.

In the European Parliament, there are also sober minds. Irish MEP Clare Daly bluntly pointed out in an exclusive interview with the Global Times that the MEPs who accused China of human rights issues are hypocritical - they don't really care about human rights issues. All they want is to gain geopolitical interests. They do not even care about human rights issues in Europe. As for Hong Kong, since the implementation of the national security law for Hong Kong and the improvement of the electoral system, Hong Kong has gotten rid of violence and turmoil. The crime rate has dropped significantly, and the number of companies stationed in Hong Kong reached 9,049 in 2021, which is a new record. In addition, the number of media outlets and media practitioners has increased. In a word, it is not their business to "care about" Hong Kong.

But in the end, they have no other way out than to digest those vicious anti-China "set meals" they themselves created. Because when playing the anti-China card, they are increasingly deviating from the practical interests of Europeans. No matter how hard they perform, all they will get will be the embarrassment for receiving few responses. They cannot stop China's development. Their curse on China will definitely backfire, turning into more severe mental torture.