It is often hard to decide whether I should laugh or cry as I read the news. US President Donald Trump has sent federal agents to put down the violent protests in several American cities, such as Portland and Chicago, where demonstrations have been ongoing for over a month. This is the same president whose administration criticised the Hong Kong police who were engaged in running battles with rioters for over a year. Laugh or cry? The United States, Australia and the United Kingdom have been highly critical of the national security law passed by the Chinese government for Hong Kong. Never mind that these, and all other countries, have national security laws, which they rely on. America uses national security as an excuse to invade other nations, manipulate foreign governments and organise violent change of governments (Iran, Iraq, Ukraine of recent vintage, Chile and Cuba earlier), and silence whistle-blowers of American war and other crimes ( Edward Snowden , Chelsea Manning , Julian Assange ). It is even using national security today as the rationale for closing down the Chinese consulate in Houston. These countries have treated Hong Kong like Casablanca in World War II – a safe den for their spies. The national security law has put an end to that and so is condemned, and Hong Kong is punished . Laugh or cry? As for democracy, I don’t recall – in my 46 years of residence – the US, Australia or the UK shouting from the rooftops for democracy when we lived under the dictatorship of British governors. There were no local elections, no Legislative Council elections and no complaints from these or any other nations. Now that we have a reasonable modicum of democratic mechanisms, we are sanctioned. Laugh or cry? I think I will cry. George Forrai, Sydney