The White House issued a Notice on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Hong Kong on Tuesday, alleging that "the situation with respect to Hong Kong, including recent actions taken by the People's Republic of China to fundamentally undermine Hong Kong's autonomy, continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States".
According to the notice, the "national emergency "then US president Donald Trump declared on July 14, 2020, will continue in effect beyond Friday for another year. This is the third time the US has extended the "national emergency with respect to Hong Kong" since 2021. Turning a blind eye to positive changes in Hong Kong over the past three years, the US move is intended to smear Beijing's efforts to bring order and stability to the city as an attack on "democracy", "freedom" and "human rights".
With the extension of its fabricated "national emergency", the US will continue to impose unreasonable unilateral sanctions on Hong Kong.
The US administration claims to care about Hong Kong. But the indifference it shows to the well-being of Hong Kong residents by imposing the baseless sanctions should have driven home how expendable the US considers Hong Kong to be as a piece in its geopolitical game.
Not to mention the ugly role it played in orchestrating and plotting the chaos in the city and the great lengths it has been going to in a bid to sabotage the implementation of the national security law for Hong Kong and electoral system reform in the city.
Choosing to continue the wrong policy serves no one's interests, except those of the China-bashers in Washington. As the spokesperson for the Commissioner's Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region pointed out, that only shows the frustration and "paper tiger" nature of the US side after it failed to disrupt Hong Kong and use Hong Kong to contain China. It makes clear to all how callous the US is in pursuing its goals.
China adheres to the principles of "one country, two systems", "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong", and "Hong Kong enjoying a high degree of autonomy".
Under the National Security Law for the HKSAR and with the new electoral system, the HKSAR government and all social sectors in the city are forging ahead to write a new chapter for the city's good governance.
The sanctions expose the true colors of the US' feathers, and will only serve to consolidate the Hong Kong people's determination to integrate the special administrative region into the nation's overall development.
Long gone are the days when external forces could hectoringly point a finger at China's internal affairs. Long gone are the days when outsiders could use pressure and sanctions to force the nation to tolerate the damaging of its national sovereignty, security, and development interests.
The US side should put a stop to its self-humiliating farce rather than repeating it year after year.