On June 16 and 17, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met the CCP Central Committee’s Politburo member Yang Jiechi in Hawaii. The two reportedly discussed issues including Hong Kong, Taiwan, the concentration camps in Xinjiang, trade and the coronavirus pandemic. No consensus was reached, except that both sides stressed that the commitments under the phase one Sino-US trade war deal would remain effective. David Stilwell, a senior US diplomat for East Asia, told reporters that China “could not be described as really forthcoming” in the meeting, and that the US would see whether there would be a reduction in China’s aggressive behavior. He also said the US looked forward to seeing China reconsider its plans to impose the new national security legislation on Hong Kong. China, however, was quick to dismiss such a prospect. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yang told Pompeo in the Hawaii talks that the US had to respect China’s position on key issues, halt its interference on matters including Hong Kong, and work to repair relations. In effect, China has sent a strong and clear signal to the world right after the talks, which have undoubtedly broken down, that it is determined to go ahead with the plan to impose the national security law in Hong Kong, which Beijing labels as a purely domestic affair of China.

On the same day the meeting in Hawaii was held, US President Donald Trump signed the Uyghur Human Rights Act of 2020 into law, which is a convincing rebuttal to John Bolton’s accusation that Trump had told Xi Jinping to proceed with building detention camps in Xinjiang. Trump later tweeted that the US could pursue a “complete decoupling from China”. Foreign ministers from the G7 are also calling on China to drop the national security law plan. Overall, the pace of a new Cold War is accelerating, and the Hong Kong issue is the catalyst.


With the breakdown of the talks in Hawaii, the tragic end of Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms is now the writing on the wall. In the ensuing 24 hours, things moved quickly, with China turning on the turbo mode and showing no hesitation to impose the controversial law on Hong Kong.


On June 18, China announced that the draft of the national security law was under escalated review by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC). The draft law now clearly defines the crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and “collusion with foreign and external forces” to endanger national security, as well the penalties. Application of the law would be limited to anti-national-security acts which take place in Hong Kong. The draft also features a revision to the crime involving foreign forces: the word “collusion” is added, whereas the resolution that the NPC approved on May 28 said the legislation would criminalise “activities of foreign and external forces to interfere in the affairs” of Hong Kong.

Certainly, these statements would not alleviate the concerns of any reasonable person. The aforementioned “crimes” are ill-defined and vague, and therefore are subject to arbitrary interpretation by the NPC. Replacing “intervention” with “collusion” will not do any good either. It implies that anybody, including foreigners, can be found guilty of “collusion”. For example, a US businessman can be accused of “colluding” with a UK ambassador when they discuss Hong Kong’s human rights issues. The concept of limiting application of the law to activities within Hong Kong is also not helpful as many activities nowadays are carried out online. If a person writes from the US an anti-CCP article, which is accessible to people in Hong Kong via mobile applications, social media or other means, the act of publishing the article can still be deemed an activity in Hong Kong from a criminal law perspective because its “criminal result” takes place in Hong Kong.


No reasonable person would or should believe that the CCP will stick to the literal meaning of any legal provision. It never believes in the rule of law, not even rule by law, but only in rule by power. For the CCP, law is only one of its many tools to exercise its authority and controlling power. Seeking or begging for clarifications from the CCP would yield nothing but humiliation.


As the iron curtain is fast falling on Hong Kong, it came as no surprise that on June 18, the government of Taiwan announced it has drawn up a plan to provide Hongkongers with humanitarian support, which includes the establishment of a new office to assist Hong Kong people with study, investment, seeking employment or emigrating to Taiwan. We are grateful to Taiwan for her heartfelt generosity.


On June 19, Pompeo told the online Copenhagen Democracy Summit that the US would in the future treat Hong Kong as a Chinese city rather than an autonomous one to the extent that China treats the territory as a Chinese city. The statement can be interpreted as a clear reiteration of Trump’s speech on May 29: that the US government would no longer recognize Hong Kong as a separate customs territory and would cancel the existing preferential treatment in favor of Hong Kong under the US-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992.


In other words, it has become obvious that the clock is ticking for Hong Kong, which is now at imminent risk of being completely decoupled from the free world. Like many of my fellow Hongkongers, I feel bitter pain and a strong sense of powerlessness. But we will not stop hoping and striving for a free, democratic and autonomous Hong Kong.

(Sang Pu, graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree of Master of Laws, is a political commentator and host of talk shows(including RFA) and qualified lawyer in Hong Kong, Taiwan and New York State. He has been writing on topics about Hong Kong, China, Taiwan , and international politics and economy at Apple Daily and other media since 2007.)

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