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LettersChange in Hong Kong must come from within the city, not from the US
- US laws like the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act are unabashedly aimed at aligning policies in other territories with American wants and needs
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Michael Chugani asks “How can the United States enforcing its own laws be [construed as] interference?” The US is a democracy, with freedom of speech and expression. Ergo, there is nothing wrong with US politicians making statements or standing in solidarity with the protesters in Hong Kong (“National security law leaves too many unanswered questions to feel safe”, May 28).
What is worrying is that US politicians, too, are using their government’s power to influence and intervene in Hong Kong, under a humanitarian garb, to ensure that things here run the way they deem fit.
The US passed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act with bipartisan support and consensus because, if there is one thing that unites both parties in Washington, it is their compulsion to intervene in other nations’ affairs. Despite some good things built into this Act, isn’t it an attempt to leverage Hong Kong’s economic strength to foster policies that the US government prefers?
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An essential feature of the legislation is an annual certification by the US State Department on the social and political status of Hong Kong, and it is the department’s report that determines whether Hong Kong retains its “special” status. A negative report could have repercussions like the special status being revoked, because the political or commercial climate in Hong Kong does not suit the needs or wants of the US government.
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Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China, US determines
Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China, US determines
Take the US response to the national security legislation, for instance.
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