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Opinion | China prisoner of its own propaganda in response to the US’ Hong Kong democracy act
- Welcome no more, US warships’ enforced absence denies China a barometer of its rival’s mood – all because of an insecurity seemingly gripping Beijing
- Chipping away at Hong Kong’s status in retaliation will only vindicate the US act
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Why you can trust SCMP
It was the 10-tonne truck that China had to have seen coming. The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, signed into law by US President Donald Trump last week, represents a powerful demonstration of political will by US lawmakers and the White House to hold Beijing to account for the erosion of the special administration region’s status under the “one country, two systems” framework.
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With unanimous passage in the House of Representatives and the Senate by voice votes, the bill was impervious to a presidential veto, which lawmakers had the numbers to override. Even if the White House was concerned that signing the act would hinder the possibility of a “phase one” trade deal with China, it calculated that signing was better.
It represented an important turning point in how the United States regards the situation, despite Trump saying that he trusted Chinese President Xi Jinping to “do the right thing” and that a “happy and enlightened ending to the Hong Kong problem” would be possible if Xi met the largely leaderless protest movement.
Opening the door to sanctions against mainland and Hong Kong officials complicit in human rights abuses, it drew a predictable response from the Chinese government, which said the US law represented “meddling” and retaliated by barring US warships from conducting port calls in Hong Kong and banning several US non-governmental organisations.
First, we should be realistic about the scope of Chinese sanctions applying to US port calls: the impact is largely symbolic.
The US Navy has already dealt with arbitrary, last-minute cancellations of port calls. It happened in August, when the Chinese government pulled permission for USS Green Bay and USS Lake Erie in case the appearance of American warships provoked pro-democracy protesters.
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Previously, the sale of military equipment to Taiwan led to the withdrawal of permission for USS Wasp to visit, and US criticism of Chinese behaviour in the South China Sea brought the cancellation of a visit by USS John C. Stennis.
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