As much spin as Hong Kong’s despised Chief Executive wants to put on her “piles of cash” predicament, her situation is a reminder for the United Kingdom that sanctions – not just strongly worded-statements and stern warnings – are required when dealing with the likes of Carrie Lam and her fellow Chinese Communist Party(CCP) puppets.

When Lam complained that she cannot open a bank account and “has piles of cash at home” in a HKIBC interview, it highlighted the effectiveness of the United States’ Magnitsky-style sanctions slapped on her and fellow officials like former Hong Kong Police Commissioner Stephen Lo and current boss Chris Tang.

Lam’s typically tone-deaf take on her situation was embarrassing for her and her CCP overlords but it is the real-world effects – like her son Joshua being forced to withdraw from a prestigious US college – that are the sting in the tail. The sanctions provide consequences for actions.

Lam’s surreal HKIBC interview was 12-months to the day since Donald trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which remains the most notable of the direct actions taken to punish China’s political pawns for attacks on Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms.

Other foreign governments – particularly the UK, who arguably are most morally obligated as its Sino-British Declaration is being trampled – should follow suit and match actions with words if they are serious about holding China to account.

Statements condemning China’s latest political atrocity may temporarily boost morale of protesters and draw attention to their fight, but do not effect real change. Sanctions with serious financial ramifications are the only way to make officials second-guess their next move.

Accusing Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing politicians of moral culpability means little to a morally bankrupt official. The only way to hurt those who care more about property than people is to hit them in the hip pocket.

The United Kingdom has been vocal in its criticism of the National Security Law(NSL) and when pro-democracy legislators were pressured into resigning. The UK has also been pro-active on matters of national security and intelligence within its borders, and in forming strategic alliances to combat the threat of an aggressive China.

Yet it has not yet been as direct as the United States when it comes to holding officials to account.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group inquiry into violations of human rights and humanitarian principles was a welcome move from those who had witnessed or suffered police brutality, but it only raised awareness.

The UK’s offer to allow nearly three million Hongkongers to live and work in England in light of the NSL also raised China’s hackles but it seemed like it skipped a step. Shouldn’t the country that set up and signed on the “one country two systems” deal that is currently being trampled be fighting harder?

That same sense of inevitability was there this week when UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab called the NSL “a clear and serious breach of the Joint Declaration” and then discussed the possibility of withdrawing British judges from the Court of Final Appeal.

This move feels like surrender. The argument that British judges lend an undeserved legitimacy to the judiciary system now stymied by the NSL is understood, but their withdrawal would leave Hongkongers at the mercy of a mainland-style court system.

The UK has the option of Magnitsky-style sanctions after passing the UK Magnitsky Act in 2018, allowing travel restrictions and asset freezing where possible.

The gross violations of human rights – and violations of Basic Law – by Hong Kong Police Force as outlined in the APPG enquiry make it clear that serious action is required.

The US hit 11 officials with sanctions but there are plenty of candidates the UK could consider for its own sanctions, including former chief executive CY Leung and British-born Assistant Commissioner Rupert Dover.

The UK has the means, but talk is cheap, and it will come down to whether or not the UK are willing to suffer their own inevitable consequences of taking direct action.

As for Carrie Lam, perhaps she needs to learn how to load an Octopus card.

(Michael Cox is a journalist and Hong Kong permanent resident currently based in Australia. He has previously written for the South China Morning Post, The Age (Melbourne) and Australian Associated Press.)

We invite you to join the conversation by submitting columns to our opinion section: [email protected]

Apple Daily reserves the right to refuse, abridge, alter or edit guest opinion columns for accuracy, length, clarity, and style, and the right to withdraw and withhold columns based on the discretion of our editorial page editors.

The opinions of the writers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial board.

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play