The National People's Congress shocked Hong Kong and the world as it passed the National Security Law in merely a week. The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promptly announced that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China. President Trump said that Hong Kong now operates under one-country-one-system and sanctions for Hong Kong and China will soon follow. China and the U.S. have drawn their weapons, and Hong Kong issues sparked the “clash of titans”.

The Vice Premier of the State Council Han Zheng said, since October last year, Beijing has already begun preparing to enact the National Security Law in Hong Kong. In recent months, they saw the incompetence of the HK government and the Pro-Beijing camp, and that they might not be able to recapture the control in the upcoming LegCo election in September. That is why Beijing wanted to pass the law quickly while all the western countries are still troubled by the Wuhan virus and economic problems.

From the arrest of the founding members of the Democratic Party in April to ignoring the threat of U.S. sanctions in May, the National People's Congress hastily passes the law, showing their determination in preventing global interference and smothering the sparks of HK independent movement. China showed no shame or fear.

However, Beijing probably did not expect the U.S. would respond so quickly and would indeed make use of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act to impose the most severe sanction: the removal of Hong Kong's special status. The sanction measures were announced, but up till 1st June, Beijing has not yet responded to Pompeo's report regarding Hong Kong's status.

President Trump's speech on Friday deviates from his usual style, where he talked about freedom, democracy and showed sympathy for Hong Kong. His speech clearly targets the western liberals and Hongkongers. He indicated that sanctions are coming, showing his stand to the “enemy”, but he did not reveal too much details. But it is expected that after Hong Kong's special status is revoked, there will be impacts on tariff, travel, and money flow. It is up to the U.S. to decide how great the impacts will be. However, they can be regarded as part of the U.S-China trade war. And the more impactful financial war between the two is yet to come.

Beijing indeed adopted a similar strategy as the U.S. on the move on imposing the national security law: lots of details, such as who to arrest, how severe should the convicts be punished, can be adjusted accordingly to the agenda, just like the U.S. sanctions. The severity of the sanctions and the details of the law are like chips on the gambling table. Instead of American agricultural products, it is now Hongkongers’ benefits and gains that are to be negotiated.

Hong Kong protesters have the spirit to “to fight at all costs”. If Beijing tries to control Hong Kong's protests by increasing political pressure, that will result in Hong Kong's freedom, rule of law and autonomy being destroyed. Then Hong Kong's status as an international financial centre will be affected. When that happens, western countries will impose sanctions against China, and in turn undermining China's profit. When China’s economy is affected, there will be an opportunity for political change.

For those who support the idea “to fight at all costs even when it results in mutual destruction,” the establishment of the National Security Law is regarded as Beijing’s move towards mutual destruction. However, things did not become easier, as for Hong Kong protesters, the outcome is no longer under their control. The levels of U.S. sanctions or China political pressure will result depending on international negotiations which will hardly be affected by Hong Kong street protests. How to continue the fight will be a difficult question for Hongkongers.

The enactment of the National Security Law represents the rule of Beijing has officially begun. When the Law was processed and drafted in Beijing, protesters knew no matter how hard they try, Beijing's decision will not budge. They also know that the government will not even pretend to listen or attempt to maintain the positive image Hong Kong had in the past. Things are completely different compared to a year ago when 1 million protesters went on the streets to protest against the Extradition Bill. In the past few days, high-ranking politicians openly endorsed the National Security Law and tried to downplay the serious effect it imposes for Hong Kong's freedom. Those politician's credibility are already severely tarnished, as for them to clarify the specifics of the National Security Law is simply unconvincing.

On the other hand, the Hong Kong Police Force changed tactics in recent months. They used mass arrest in hope to stop peaceful protests. For example, on 27th July, the legislative council performed the second reading of the National Anthem Bill. Netizens rallied for a peaceful protest against the bill near the LegCo, but thousands of riot police locked down Admiralty in the morning, preventing the protesters from reaching the LegCo. On that day, around 400 citizens were arrested in which 40% of them were students. A photo showing the arrest of a teenage girl being in her high school uniform circulated online and infuriated the crowd.

As the US-China conflicts began, protesters had to seek new directions and positions for the Hong Kong movement. Some think that protesters should avoid public exposure to prevent meaningless sacrifices, while others think that protesters should continue to demonstrate to the world Hongkongers’ perseverance. In this challenging time, Hong Kong protesters will have to contemplate on how to fight on against the CCP.

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