Though the news feed has been quite busy lately, what with riots in the United States, emergency OPEC meetings, and a verbal spat between the US and China, the issue of Hong Kong is still developing and deserves to be discussed.
Recently, the Chinese parliament approved of a new security law which on the surface can help China deal with protests in Hong Kong, but in reality has the power to suppress any form of resistance against the Chinese Communist Party, or any desire for further independence.
This week the United Kingdom issued a rebuke to China, arguing that the new law violates the agreement that laid the foundation of modern-day Hong Kong, or the so-called “one country, two systems” type of autonomy the city has enjoyed. According to this rule, used for the previous UK colonies that joined China in the late 1990s, Hong Kong (and Macau) have their own governments, economic systems, and relations with foreign countries and do not need to follow China's Communist policies. Yet these two cities still remain part of China as political units.
China reacted poorly to the criticism coming out of the UK, claiming that the United Kingdom has no right interfering with China’s domestic political affairs. However, the UK ruled Hong Kong for over 150 years as a colony; it returned it to China in 1997 with a written agreement that Hong Kong will be allowed to remain a free, democratic territory at least until 2047.
But the new security law will change that. This legislation, which is expected to be completely ratified in the next three months, will make it illegal to criticize the Chinese government or to speak of independence, both issues that are likely to become more prominent as 2047 approaches. The UK is arguing that China cannot pass such a law before 2047 legally, or it would be breaking the Sino-British agreement about Hong Kong.
The US has also taken Hong Kong’s (and the UK’s) side, which means China is finding itself in a position to receive deep criticism and possibly sanctions from the West.
Though it is still unclear how things will play out, especially because China is still drafting the exact wording of the law, a response from the United States and the United Kingdom will come, and it will likely cause a major shift in China’s relations with foreign powers.
In the meantime, the people of Hong Kong continue to protest, while Chinese stock markets suffer the consequences.
