For Beijing, vilifying 'foreign forces' is a useful strategy in Hong Kong

To hear committed loyalists tell it, Hong Kong is on the verge of insurrection and pan-democrats are poised to take over. Still, it's not the fault of most Hongkongers. They want nothing more than to live their lives in peace as part of the "silent majority". But if the majority is not to blame, who is?

Pro-Beijing loyalists have a ready answer: the fault can ultimately be traced to "foreign forces", the very same who have been trying to use Hong Kong as a base for overthrowing Chinese communism since its victory in 1949. Back in the day, of course, they really were. Today it's a different kind of political contest but Beijing has found a new use for the old arguments. Foreign forces are still targeting Chinese communism and they are now using Hong Kong's "dissident" democratic minority to promote their subversive schemes.

One recent commentary in Ta Kung Pao accused Britain of stepping up undercover efforts in Hong Kong after 1997. Unlike the United States, which specialises in hi-tech surveillance, the British have mastered the art of the personnel file. They keep information on well-placed individuals for long-term use … buying, turning and embarrassing … "casting a long line to reel in big fish".

A companion piece in Wen Wei Po the next day was more sweeping. It claimed that spies and moles run out of the British consulate here are busy at work in all of Hong Kong's key establishments including government departments, the judiciary, commercial organisations and the media.

The political purpose of this commentary was clearly stated. It came in the midst of a barrage of attacks from official sources. They were protesting about statements made by British and US officials in support of the campaign for genuine universal suffrage elections. It's all part of the "plot by US and British forces to seize power in 2017", that is, via the chief executive election. In fact, the entire democracy movement is explained as the product of that British-American conspiracy.

So what's going on? If diplomats were really behaving badly, a few well-publicised expulsions could set the record straight. It was also an open secret, among local journalists covering the story, that the entire diplomatic community distinguished itself during the last political reform debate in 2010 by uniting in (off-the-record) approval of the compromise climbdown that caused the Democratic Party so much trouble afterwards. Like Beijing, the outside world values Hong Kong first and foremost for economic reasons. Compromise is safe; confrontation frightens investors.