Hong Kong’s political leaders on Sunday appealed to local residents to stand with the nation to counter increasing foreign interference in Hong Kong affairs by supporting the proposed national security law. 

The remarks came after some US Republican legislators claimed in a Wednesday report that the Chinese central government’s move to introduce a national security law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was the “end of the ‘one country, two systems’ framework”.

They also labeled China “a security threat” in the report and urged US President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Chinese officials — including some in charge of Hong Kong affairs.

Veteran political scholar Lau Siu-kai told China Daily the Trump administration will use aggressive tactics against China to get more public support in this year’s presidential election. This included exploiting the national security law planned for Hong Kong, he explained.

Lau, who is also the vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies — the nation’s leading think tank on Hong Kong affairs — urged Hong Kong people to stay united when safeguarding the nation’s interests. If national interests are undermined, Hong Kong’s future will also be affected, he warned. 

Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress — the nation’s top legislature — said that no matter what the United States was planning, it would not change the central government’s determination to enact the proposed national security law. 

Hong Kong will maintain its prosperity and continue to contribute to the nation’s development after the law is enacted. Efforts by US politicians to use the city as a pawn to contain China will fail, Tam told China Daily.

He hopes Hong Kong people realize that it is the central government that cares most about Hong Kong — not the US government.

Hong Kong lawmaker and former security chief Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee believes the central government will take strong retaliatory action against possible US sanctions.

She said Sino-US ties will deteriorate seriously in future. Ip warned that those Hong Kong people who have been backing the US on this issue will face serious consequences.

After China’s top legislature announced on May 21 that it will introduce a national security law for Hong Kong, many countries led by the US continuously expressed concern about it.

Trump even announced revoking Hong Kong’s preferential trade status and imposing sanctions on some Hong Kong officials.

The central government’s decision comes after months of violent protests and civil disorder, which have brought chaos to the city and damaged its economy.

The national security law will establish a legal framework to penalize subversion, terrorism, separatism and foreign interference in Hong Kong.