Washington needs to wake up and smell the coffee: China Daily editorial

A bipartisan, bicameral group of US lawmakers introduced a bill on Thursday, calling for sanctioning dozens of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region officials for allegedly violating "human rights" and undermining the "rule of law".

The proposed "Hong Kong Sanctions Act" would require the US president to decide within 180 days of its passage whether or not to sanction 49 Hong Kong officials, judges and prosecutors under US laws — which is another case of the United States' long-arm jurisdiction. Ironically, most of the 49 targeted people are judges and prosecutors who the US lawmakers claim are allegedly responsible for the continuing persecution of so-called "pro-democracy" activists in the SAR. Among them are the chief justice, other judges and the police commissioner of Hong Kong.

However, the bill, intended to further tarnish the image of Hong Kong, will not deter the Hong Kong SAR authorities from implementing the National Security Law for Hong Kong. Neither the central government in Beijing nor the SAR authorities will tolerate foreign interference in China's internal affairs. And the specific purpose of the National Security Law for Hong Kong is to prevent foreign interference in the country's internal affairs.

To be sure, this is not the first time Washington is resorting to its geopolitical playbook to interfere in China's internal affairs. In May, the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China issued a report in an effort to deter the SAR from using the National Security Law for Hong Kong against so-called "pro-democracy" activists. But neither Beijing nor Hong Kong will bow to such long-arm jurisdiction.

Echoing Beijing's long-standing opposition to such practices, Hong Kong officials have already condemned the US' "bullying". "The Hong Kong SAR turns its nose up at these so-called 'sanctions' without any fear of intimidation," said a statement issued by the SAR government. "These despicable and shameless behaviors reflect the hypocrisy and barbarity of these politicians that have sinister intentions. I once again condemn them in the strongest possible terms," said Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu.

The US has to wake up to the inconvenient new reality that Hong Kong, despite being a special autonomous region, is an integral part of China, and the National Security Law is a part of the region's statute and necessary to administer the region without any interference by foreign forces.

Washington's long-arm jurisdiction, since the very beginning, has been a tool to maintain the US' global hegemony, suppress foreign competitors, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, and even subvert the governments of other countries. But the days when the US could play such dirty tricks and succeed are history.