Hong Kong’s political tumult began to get off the ground in 2014 when China’s rapid rise in terms of overall national strength got on the nerves of Washington’s politicians who are worried about the United States losing the hegemony it has been enjoying. Washington has since stepped up its effort to contain China, and Hong Kong unfortunately has become one of the cards in the deck under its geopolitical strategy, given the city’s significance to China’s development. 

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government’s proposed extradition bill and some socioeconomic problems were used by CIA-sponsored NGOs in collusion with local political radicals, including separatists, as pretexts to instigate the 2019 “black-clad riots”, a typical “color revolution”, that turned Hong Kong upside down, split its social fabric, and caused great suffering to the people of Hong Kong.

At the crest of their madness, the leader of the anti-China forces in Hong Kong openly claimed, “We in Hong Kong are fighting for the shared values of the US against China. We are fighting their war in the enemy camp.”

The immediate and real threat to Hong Kong’s social stability, residents’ lives and well-being, as well as China’s national security, forced Beijing’s hand so that the central authorities had to take the bold and decisive actions to neutralize the insurrection in Hong Kong, which include the promulgation of the National Security Law for implementation in Hong Kong, and a major revamp in the city’s electoral system.

To the great disappointment of those anti-China Washington politicians, including US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who hailed the “black-clad riots” as “a beautiful sight to behold”, the Hong Kong-version “color revolution” was foiled; their proxies were removed from Hong Kong’s political establishment —  in particular from the Legislative Council; the subversives have been kept at bay; and most importantly, “one country, two systems” was saved from total destruction and is finally back on the right track.

Obviously, those China hawks in Washington have shifted their focus to their “Taiwan card” again for the time being after their “Hong Kong card” failed to work in their favor.

Pelosi’s provocative visit to Taiwan was intended to send a wrong signal to the pro-independence forces on the island — the Democratic Progressive Party authorities and other separatist elements — and gave them the illusion that the time is ripe for them to step up their “Taiwan independence” maneuvers.

But they could soon be knocked out of their illusion, as secessionists in Hong Kong have bitterly realized. What Hong Kong underwent over the past few years has sent an unequivocal message to all secessionists in both Hong Kong and Taiwan that the Chinese people will only become more united in the face of intensifying separatist activities and threats, and that no external intervention can put a stop to the process of China’s national reunification. Their stepped-up machinations will only strengthen Beijing’s and the Chinese people’s determination to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and accelerate the process of full national reunification. The People’s Liberation Army’s largest-ever military drills around the island of Taiwan and the ensuing sanction measures attested to that determination. These moves are a stern warning for anti-China external forces and Taiwan separatists of the serious consequences of their subversive plots, and should have brought home to them that the one-China principle is inviolable.

It was “easy come, easy go” for Pelosi, but the people of Taiwan are the ones to foot the bill, or the negative consequences, of her provocative move performed in collusion with the DPP authorities. Conceivably, there are economic losses to Taiwan over the Pelosi-trip incident. But these are negligible when compared with the potential consequences if the DPP authorities continue to go down the path of secessionism. The rapid economic development of the Chinese mainland over the past 40 years has created a huge market for Taiwanese businesses, many of which count the mainland as their largest market. Any confrontation between the two sides would wreak unimaginable havoc on Taiwan’s economy as well as residents’ livelihoods and overall well-being.

Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan has triggered a crisis in the Taiwan Straits that was no less severe than the one set off by the US trip of Lee Teng-hui, the then-leader of the island, in 1995. Both crises were caused by maneuvers of Washington in collusion with secessionists in Taiwan.

The people of Taiwan should open their eyes to the fact that the so-called “democratic alliance” is simply a fig leaf for Washington’s all-around ongoing geopolitical strategy to contain China, whose rise, Washington believes, is a threat to the United States’ hegemony over the world. The people of Taiwan must try to stop the DPP authorities’ recklessness as demonstrated in their willingness to sacrifice the people’s overall well-being in their attempt to promote a hopeless agenda (i.e., “Taiwan independence”). They must also say “no” to any new Washington moves to play its “Taiwan card”, lest they be further victimized.

The author is a Hong Kong member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Hong Kong New Era Development Thinktank.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.