Safeguarding Hong Kong against foreign interference

Recent events in China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ( have been closely watched by the international community.

MANY Zimbabweans may wonder what happened in Hong Kong. In May, the Hong Kong SAR Government proposed to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance.

This was meant to close legal loopholes and reinforcing judicial co-operation between Hong Kong and other judicial jurisdictions of China in order to jointly fight against crimes and deny criminals a safe haven.

However, some members of Hong Kong opposition and radicals took this as an excuse to provoke confrontation.

Notwithstanding the subsequent suspension of the amendment exercise by the Hong Kong SAR Government, the violent radicals escalated their activities to extremes.

They smashed their way into the Legislative Building and the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong SAR with iron bars.

They wantonly vandalised public facilities, obstructed public traffic and illegally stored dangerous goods and offensive weapons.

They attacked the police with extremely dangerous tools, leaving 171 police officers injured. They tarnished the national emblems and national flags.

The group even invaded the Kong International Airport, causing flights cancellations, leaving passengers stranded and the airport almost paralysed.

Those scenes have been witnessed, through international media, by people around the world.

Such violent behaviours have already overstepped the line of peaceful demonstration and freedom of expression.

They gravely trampled on Hong Kong’s rule of law, threatened local people’s safety, property and violated the principle of “One Country, Two Systems”. Such things cannot be tolerated.

The US and some other individual countries, instead of condemning the violent law-breaking radicals, blatantly criticised the Chinese Government and even tried to smear the professional, civilised and constrained law enforcement of Hong Kong Police.

Some American faces and even US national flag could be seen among the violent demonstrators in Hong Kong.

It makes people wonder what the US is doing up there and what is their intention by so doing.

Their real intention has nothing to do with human rights, freedom or well-being of Hong Kong people, but to mess up Hong Kong, sabotage the “One Country, Two Systems”, turn Hong Kong into trouble for China and eventually to contain China’s development.

Since Hong Kong’s return to the motherland on July 1, 1997, the practice of “One Country, Two Systems” have made universally recognised achievements.

The policy of “One Country, Two Systems” and Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy has been faithfully implemented.

Hong Kong has maintained its status as an international financial and trade centre as well as a free port.

Hong Kong’s GDP aggregate in 2018 has reached twice of that in 1996 and it has also been ranked as the freest economy in the world for 25 consecutive years.

Hong Kong residents enjoy unprecedented democratic rights and extensive freedom rarely seen around the world.

The index of rule of law of Hong Kong ranks among the top globally.

Over the past 22 years, the mainland of China provided strong backing for Hong Kong’s development.

The Central Government put in place Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Mainland and Hong Kong.

It opened Bond Connect between Hong Kong and the mainland, implemented Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, providing greater convenience for Hong Kong to open wider and maintain competitive.

With the strong backing of the Central Government, Hong Kong stood the test of 1997 Asian financial crisis and 2008 global financial crisis.

It is proven that “One country, Two systems” is the best institutional arrangement to maintain the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.

The Central Government of China will unswervingly continue to implement this system literally and essentially.

Hong Kong affairs are entirely China’s internal affairs that brook no interference from any country, organisation or individual.

The Chinese Government will never allow any foreign forces to have a hand in Hong Kong affairs or mess it up.

China’s determination to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests and uphold Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability is rock solid.

Though China and Zimbabwe are geographically apart, what happened in Hong Kong may not be unfamiliar to Zimbabweans especially when some members of US Congress, once again, proposed the so-called Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which cannot but remind people of the notorious Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001. It is an old trick for the US to use sanctions to interfere in other countries’ internal affairs in furtherance of its own interests.

It claims it cares about human rights of Zimbabwean people, but what has it done for the improvement of the well-being of Zimbabweans in the last 20 years?

China has been doing whatever it can to support Zimbabwe improve people’s livelihoods, including building schools, hospitals, drilling boreholes, providing food relief, renovating its infrastructure, among other developmental activities.

We support each other’s development on the basis of equality and mutual respect.

We never lecture or order each other on what to do and what not to do.

We support each other in our respective efforts to independently explore a development path that suits our own national conditions.

China will never interfere in other countries’ internal affairs and it strongly opposes such practice internationally, because foreign forces that interfere in the internal affairs of other countries are doomed to fail and they will lift a rock only to drop it on their own feet.

The author is Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe. The wrote this article for The Sunday Mail.