US sanctioning of Hong Kong is like a serial killer accusing a petty criminal
- If Washington is serious about human rights, and not in it for just cheap propaganda, there are other places with huge numbers of cases worthy of its attention
Sometimes, it’s difficult to take US politicians seriously, especially when it comes to Hong Kong. The same worn-out playbook used repeatedly to destabilise other societies and governments is again being applied to the city. Admittedly, it came close to success in 2019. The national security law has put an end to that. Now Washington is back for more.
Two parallel sets of legislation have been introduced in the Senate and the House of Representatives, to pressure the Joe Biden White House to sanction 49 local judges and prosecutors. I have no personal knowledge as to whether those legal officers are vile or virtuous individuals. All I want to know is, why is the functioning of the city’s judiciary and its officers any of America’s business? Who are those US politicians to sit in judgment of us?
Shouldn’t the world sanction the United States’ domestic abuses of its minority citizens by its police, justice and prison systems? There are plenty of grounds for that, as documented over many years by human rights organisations, and various international agencies, including those of the United Nations.
The latest US intimidation is called the Hong Kong Sanctions Act. If passed, the Biden administration will have to explain to the US Congress within 180 days why it will or will not go after those Hong Kong officials under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, and the Hong Kong Autonomy Act.
Those named include Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung and Sonny Au Chi-kwong, secretary general of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of Hong Kong SAR. So, including those previously sanctioned such as Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, Washington pretty much wants to go after the top echelons of the entire government in Hong Kong.
No doubt the bill’s congressional sponsors see it as a big threat to local officials; I suspect it’s considered more of a bad joke over here. The shock value of US sanctions is long gone.
Republican Senator Dan Sullivan said “since the 2019-2020 crackdown, the judiciary in Hong Kong has become an instrument of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] to target innocent civilians”. What? All cases involving some 10,000 individuals, all of whom are innocent and/or political prisoners? How would Sullivan know? Given the mayhem in 2019-20, I think quite a few of those cases involved rioting, arson, and/or serious assaults, perhaps even attempted murder – in any jurisdiction around the world, including that of the US.
As a comparison, hundreds of US citizens have been charged, jailed or facing charges for their protests in the January 6, 2021, “insurrection”. That was just one day, as opposed to almost nine months in Hong Kong! Clearly most didn’t think they were starting an insurrection or committing sedition; most thought they were defending the integrity of US democracy because their then president, and most of his Republican Party colleagues, told them the election was “stolen”. In their minds, most considered themselves American patriots. Maybe the world should sanction the heads of Capitol Police, the FBI and all the judges involved in the persecutions, no?
Somehow, the US political and media establishment has decided those involved weren’t patriots but “insurrectionists”, but those Hong Kong people who took part in the 2019-20 mayhem weren’t rioters but all were pro-democracy fighters.
Meanwhile, legislation co-sponsor Republican Congresswoman Young Kim cited the case of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying as an example of the Chinese government’s efforts to exert control on Hong Kong under the guise of national security.
I am sure however Hong Kong officials are treating Lai, it’s far better than the inhumane conditions Australian whistle-blower Julian Assange, who is reportedly dying, has been kept by Britain at the behest of Washington for exposing US war crimes.
In any case, if those US politicians have nothing better to do, they can always cite the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and related legislation to target the judicial officers of Israel and India, countries to which the US is close but which I am sure offer huge numbers of cases with full human rights implications under international law.
As someone once said, if you are only concerned with the human rights violations of your enemies, you are not concerned about human rights at all. What you are doing is to weaponise human rights and international law and to degrade them for the cheap and hypocritical purposes of propaganda and international-political antagonism.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung has likened those US politicians to the mafia and local triads. I don’t know, Mr Tang, I think that’s too insulting to mafia dons and triad bosses. I think it’s more akin to a serial killer accusing a petty criminal of murder.
