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
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.
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.
Why Hong Kong’s violent protests resemble a suicide mission
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.
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