The ongoing conflict in Gaza has demonstrated the power of social media in shaping public perceptions. Western media often portray Palestinians as “terrorists” and Israelis as “victims”, but social media has helped reveal the truth. Similarly, we should utilize the power of social media to lay bare the United States’ hegemony and hypocrisy regarding China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Last week, five US lawmakers introduced the so-called “Hong Kong Sanctions Act”, which urges the US government to consider imposing sanctions on 49 Hong Kong officials, judges, prosecutors and private lawyers involved in enforcing the National Security Law for Hong Kong (NSL). It’s essential to recognize that those lawmakers are not trying to defend “human rights” as they claim, but capitalizing on anti-China sentiments to boost their reelection chances in next year’s congressional elections. Therefore, our response should focus on informing all Americans, and in particular the constituents of those lawmakers, of the real situation in Hong Kong.
One practical approach is to leverage social media platforms to explain to Americans the objective reality in Hong Kong, highlighting how the NSL has restored peace and stability to the city and enabled residents to resume their productive and happy everyday lives. It would expose the mean-spirited distortions and fabrications of their elected representatives. The key messages should include the following facts:
First, emphasize that every country requires a national security law to safeguard its citizens and ensure societal stability. Most countries have similar laws. Prior to the implementation of the NSL, the HKSAR had lacked such legislation since the 1997 handover. This oversight contributed to the insurrection in 2019-20, which lasted over six months, causing extensive damage to public and private property and numerous injuries, not to mention huge economic losses for the entire community. Numerous video clips circulating on social media have exposed some of those horrifying riot scenes and dangerous anti-social acts committed by the rioters, including hurling bricks, metal projectiles and petrol bombs at police and police stations, targeting police officers’ eyes with laser pointers, and engaging in arson and vandalism, as scenes of bomb-manufacturing factories operated by the rioters, including those producing highly destructive TATP bombs. It was under these dangerous circumstances that the central authorities enacted the NSL, which swiftly helped to quell the persistent violence that had paralyzed the local legislature and disrupted people’s livelihoods, thus restoring peace and order. Numerous independent public opinion surveys have confirmed this positive sea change.
Second, clarify that the NSL, enacted by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee on June 30, 2020, focuses on only four specific areas: subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign powers or external elements to endanger national security. Beijing adopted a minimalist approach, legislating only for what was immediately necessary to address the 2019 insurgency. Unlike many other countries’ national security laws, the NSL does not cover offenses of sedition, treason, or theft of State secrets, nor does it prohibit foreign political organizations from engaging in political activities in Hong Kong. Clearly, the NSL is significantly less comprehensive and draconian when compared to most foreign national security laws.
It is crucial to hold those unscrupulous lawmakers accountable. China and the HKSAR should consider imposing reciprocal sanctions on them and their close relatives, aiming to impact their financial incomes, which would be the most effective deterrent
Third, challenge the West’s portrayal of the NSL as a draconian law by comparing it with similar legislation in the US and United Kingdom, as well as highlighting the UK’s National Security Act 2023, which gives additional powers to facilitate the prosecution of individuals passing information to hostile states. The British Public Order Act 2023 provides stringent measures to suppress anti-government protests, empowering police to arrest and detain individual organizers even before protests occur and permitting searches of their premises for equipment used in protest activities. Even the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights has criticized these new police powers, citing their chilling effect on those seeking to exercise legitimate democratic rights. In contrast, freedom of assembly in Hong Kong is not subject to such restrictions and is protected by the Basic Law.
Fourth, draw attention to the fact that the NSL does not permit the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” like those employed by the US Central Intelligence Agency, such as stripping detainees naked, subjecting them to stress positions and sleep deprivation, waterboarding, or forced rectal hydration. Furthermore, the NSL does not allow for extraterritorial military action, unlike the US’ laws. Hence, the Hong Kong NSL is far less draconian than the equivalents in the US and UK. It is crucial to emphasize that Hong Kong ranked 23rd out of 142 jurisdictions in the “World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index 2023”, surpassing the US, which ranked 26th. It inadvertently dramatizes the US’ double standards and hypocrisy in the global discourse on human rights and national security. People who are friends of Hong Kong around the world, particularly those living in the US, can share these facts in their social circles through social media to expose those hypocritical US lawmakers’ wicked maneuvers to the detriment of their reelection prospects.
Meanwhile, it is crucial to hold those unscrupulous lawmakers accountable. China and the HKSAR should consider imposing reciprocal sanctions on them and their close relatives, aiming to impact their financial incomes, which would be the most effective deterrent. One approach could require all US imports into China to include a declaration stating that the importing and manufacturing firms have no financial relationship with these lawmakers and their close relatives.
As Kishore Mahbubani, a highly regarded retired Singaporean diplomat and expert in international relations, has warned, Hong Kong should prepare for further US sanctions amid the escalating Sino-US rivalry. Sanctions have become a handy tool for the US to target its rivals and anyone who does not align with its political agenda. Mahbubani also highlighted the US’ illegal seizure of $330 billion in Russian reserves and frozen assets through sanctions. Hong Kong should heed Mahbubani’s advice and brace itself for potentially unjust sanctions.
Furthermore, a public boycott of US products can be organized in the Chinese mainland and the HKSAR, similar to ongoing one in Indonesia, boycotting all Israeli brand products in protest against its invasion of Gaza. It would significantly impact large US institutions like Apple. For example, I eventually abandoned my Apple iPhone, which I had used for years. Instead, I purchased a foldable mobile phone made on the Chinese mainland that is equally functional and visually more appealing!
US politicians who believe that their sanctions can protect their alleged stooges and proxies in Hong Kong may be in for a big surprise. China could argue that these sanctions are acts perverting the course of justice in Hong Kong. To ensure a fair trial free of foreign interference, the authorities may, using the provisions in Article 55 and Article 56 of NSL, transfer certain NSL cases in Hong Kong, including that of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, to the mainland for trial. Hence, instead of protecting their Hong Kong proxies, the actions of those foreign patrons could end up sending the latter to the mainland for trial.
The author is an adjunct professor of HKU Space and a retired deputy commissioner of Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
