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Letters | Hong Kong protesters calling for the US and UK’s intervention must study history and politics harder

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Activist Denise Ho speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on September 18 about human rights in Hong Kong. Photo: AP
Protesters have been making increasing efforts to seek support from foreign countries, including but not limited to the United States and Britain. Their initiatives include asking those countries to use legislation to put pressure on China.
Britain sold opium to the Chinese and made a lot of money from this trade. The British also signed numerous unfair treaties with China, gaining significant economic advantages and even taking away part of China’s territory.

As for the Americans, it’s hard to think of any country that ended up in a better place after their direct involvement. There are, however, plenty of cases the other way round.

Moreover, it appears the US has been strategising for a confrontation with China on all fronts for a while. A 2016 Rand Corporation report titled War with China looks into the “various paths a war with China could take and their possible consequences”. Rand Corporation is a US non-profit global policy think tank offering research and analysis to the US armed forces.

I do not know whether the current situation in Hong Kong is part of the game plan. But what is certain is that the biggest winner of the Hong Kong protests will be neither Hong Kong nor China.

Every country has its agenda. It would be naive to believe that any foreign country would help another country out without first thinking about what it can gain from this.

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