The West exploits but did not create the problems Hong Kong has
- Former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa may have singled out the US and Taiwan as “masterminds” behind the city’s unrest, but the social malaise and discontent driving it were already there and very much home-grown
Blaming foreigners, especially the US, for fomenting unrest has a long tradition in China, and we did the same during the Occupy protests of 2014. Back then, though, the Hong Kong government only complained about “foreign forces” or “foreign influences” rather than explicitly naming the US.
Other Asian leaders have also made foreigners the bogeymen, as when Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad singled out hedge fund raiders such as George Soros for causing the Asian financial crisis.
Such claims, from Mahathir to Tung, mistake effect for cause. None the less, however mistaken, misguided or self-serving, they don’t necessarily excuse the behaviour and responses of Western governments and financial raiders for exploiting other countries’ miseries and mishaps, and adding to their instabilities and speed of collapse. Yes, Soros made a killing from the crisis, but the weaknesses he and others exploited were there already in the debt-driven Asian economies.
Heavy sentences for rioting ‘will not solve Hong Kong’s political crisis’
I seriously doubt the Taiwanese government of Tsai Ing-wen or her independence-minded Democratic Progressive Party have been actively helping to organise or finance recent protests in Hong Kong.
PLA’s Hong Kong chief says troops ready to protect sovereignty
The US has a habit of interfering in other countries, including militarily imposed regime change. But in Hong Kong this time, there may be less than meets the eye.
A report in The Wall Street Journal said the White House had instructed US government officials to maintain a measured response to anti-government protests in Hong Kong “over fears that any public statements favouring demonstrators would derail US efforts to get a trade deal with China”.
Under suitable circumstances, there is no reason to think Washington won’t exploit Hong Kong, as it has with Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang, to gain leverage over Beijing. But the timing may mean the Americans want to back off, at least for now.
