Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3033191/hong-kong-iraq-libya-and-syria-us-wears-mask-democracy-hide-its Letters
With Hong Kong – as with Iraq, Libya and Syria – the US wears the mask of democracy to hide its malign intentions
- US Congress’ Hong Kong bill is just the latest example of Washington meddling abroad in the name of democracy
- As with Iraq and Libya, the result would be disaster. China will defend its interests if the US forces it to
Anti-government protesters wave a US flag during a protest at Chater Garden in Central on October 14, urging the US Congress to pass the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act. Photo: Felix Wong
As the tension between the US and China rises, the fiasco sparked by Hong Kong’s extradition bill has come at a convenient time for the US. The country has long been exporting its culture and touting the benefits of democracy to the world.
Many countries attempted to replicate the US democratic system, but without much success. Today, both the Philippine and Malaysian leaders have moved away from the US as “big brother”. North Korea dances with US President Donald Trump to show negotiations can only take place on equal terms.
According to a Eurasia Group Foundation study, Germany and Japan show little enthusiasm for US democracy. The rise of China’s and Vietnam’s economies, both countries with a one-party system, raise questions over whether the US’ democratic system is appropriate for other countries.
From 1947 to 1989, the US tried to change other nations’ governments 72 times, through 66 covert operations and six overt ones. And after the cold war, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen have fallen prey to US intervention, each time with a glorified rationale, but with negative consequences. As of today, the people in these countries have struggled to thrive and their political system has been discombobulated.
The halo of the US as the world’s white knight is fading.
China’s roots go back thousands of years. Its people have thrived on sovereignty, stability and efficiency. In the 21st century, China is taking lessons from around the world, experimenting with how to improve its system in a sustainable way.
Under “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong has been a successful sandbox for the past 20 years. It gave China eye-opening lessons on enabling businesses to blossom to lift people out of poverty. It revealed how a poorly regulated open system invites foreign powers to create societal divisions. It forms a bridge with democratic countries, such as Germany, to tell the world China is changing.
Bearing the yoke of history and culture, China needs to conduct its own experiments and make changes to its system. To imagine overhauling the existing political system and building a new one is not only utopian, but also feeds into the US’ desire to browbeat China.
Closing off Hong Kong as the only ventilating aperture for China to make incremental and meaningful changes by passing the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act will throw China off-kilter and force it to defend itself and its people, particularly as the act itself stresses applying sanctions to Hong Kong but not protecting the rights of the people. The US once again wears the face of democracy to take the moral high ground it erected for itself to justify its indecorous intentions.
The US should not “force a tiger to jump over a wall”, as the Chinese saying goes, unless it wants a bloody brawl.
Dr Charles Ng, Kowloon Tong