National security law for HK a mirror to West

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continued to troll Beijing on Wednesday via Twitter by congratulating Hong Kong's "pan-democrats" for their "successful" illegal primaries.

The Chinese central government has promulgated national security legislation in Hong Kong to prevent, suppress and impose punishment for offenses of "secession, subversion, organization and perpetration of terrorist activities and collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security in relation to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region." The bold legislation has prompted the Western anti-China "coalition" to throw a hissy fit.

Perhaps the United Kingdom still considers Hong Kong to be a "treaty port" where Western agents, "press soldiers", missionaries, dubious NGOs and powerful foreign interest groups can roam at will. This Western sense of entitlement has to do with the city's "colonial" past. Hong Kong was the last Western stronghold where the Western imperialists (who had conspired to divide and conquer China) could retreat into after China had liberated Shanghai, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen and Ningbo from foreign occupation.

The concentration of Western intelligence services and propaganda organs in Hong Kong is unparalleled in Asia (relative to population size). The Anglo-American hold on power extends to many public spheres－media, schools, universities, publishers, banking, finance and think tanks. The anti-China "coalition" regularly fabricates fake heroes, saints and martyrs to propagate the Western cause, who shamelessly condone terrorism and separatist movements in the Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions. The "coalition" has also radicalized and recruited some naive Chinese students as "freedom fighters" for the Western crusade.

Some Hong Kong elites who cooperate with their Western masters are love-bombed and showered with attention, with the most prominent anti-China "activists" getting a chance to meet US presidents, travel the world and speak to TV channels.

Under British colonial rule, some Hong Kong residents were brainwashed into believing they were not really Chinese, but "Hongkongnese" or Cantonese, "special" and "better" than ordinary Chinese－a group of chosen people－and therefore they should try to have a separate country of their own. They were also introduced to white supremacy and the notion that, since the white man had colonized the region, Hong Kong residents were "white by association", more privileged than their Chinese mainland compatriots.

The UK government alone issued over 350,000 British passports to local residents before returning Hong Kong's sovereignty to China. Now the incumbent British prime minister wants to top that with 3 million more passports.

How did it come to this? And how will it end?

Universities teach Western supremacy. Media outlets spread anti-China misinformation, non-stop. Politicians need Western approval. No business can thrive without passing Western gatekeepers. Just take one institution out of many: the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondent Club. If China had a law similar to the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (enacted in 1938), all members of the Hong Kong FCC, with very few exceptions, would have to register as foreign agents. But in Hong Kong such laws don't (yet) exist, although the FCC's main activity seems to be aimed at destabilizing China.

It is understandable that the UK outfit－led by the last British governor and rabid colonialist Chris Patten－sees the national security law as the end of British privilege and entitlement in the territory: the "drought of normal" seems unacceptable to those who once reigned supreme.

The Western anti-China "coalition" sees whatever China does as a political affront against Western hegemony and inimical to the Western global narrative. Which is rather unfortunate because, from July 1 onward, orchestrated subversive activities in the city, no matter whether committed by local residents or foreign agents, might be investigated and the suspects brought to book in a mainland court.

It would be too much to expect the West to abandon its hostility toward China. But by promoting its national security, Beijing has taken a firm step toward ending the riots and violent protests, and restoring law and order in Hong Kong, as well as given Western historians an opportunity to reflect on the West's devastating legacy and double-standard toward the people and economies of other countries.

The author is a commentator on Sino-Western political affairs. The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.