On March 18, People’s Daily, the mouthpiece newspaper of Chinese Communist Party, published an editorial titled, “Advice to the U.S. to put away the tricks of political intimidation.” The editorial was a counterattack against the State Department’s sanctions of 24 Chinese and Hong Kong officials one week after China’s ceremonial legislature approved a plan to reduce the number of Hong Kong lawmakers elected by the territory’s voters.
The article starts, “On March 17, the U.S. State Department issued a so-called statement denigrating the adoption of the relevant decision by China’s National People’s Congress to improve the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and threatening to impose financial sanctions on Chinese personnel. The U.S.’s bullying and interventionist behavior on issues related to Hong Kong is a serious violation of international law and basic norms of international relations. It represents a serious interference in China’s internal affairs and a full exposure of its sinister intentions to disrupt Hong Kong and obstruct China’s stability and development, which is disgraceful.”
The article continues, “The U.S. side is trying to resort to political intimidation by wielding the baton of sanctions, but this nasty behavior cannot stop the general trend of Hong Kong to move from chaos to order. In recent years, under the guise of “human rights,” “democracy,” and “freedom,” the U.S. side has been wielding the baton of sanctions and sparing no effort to back up anti-China and anti-Hong Kong forces. It is a vain attempt to create chaos in Hong Kong and undermine its prosperity and stability, but the facts prove that the so-called declaration of sanctions is just a piece of scrap paper. Since China enacted and implemented the Hong Kong national security law, the law and order in Hong Kong have been maintained, the human rights of Hong Kong residents have been effectively protected, the international community has become more optimistic about the prospects of Hong Kong’s prosperous and stable development, and the confidence of foreign investors in Hong Kong has increased.”
“Hong Kong is China’s Hong Kong, and how the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is designed and improved is purely China’s internal affair and no country has the right to say anything or interfere with it. Over the past few days, nearly 100 countries have reiterated their support for China’s implementation of ‘one country, two systems’ in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at the UN Human Rights Council, stressing that non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states is an important principle of the UN Charter and a basic norm of international relations, and that one should effectively respect China’s sovereignty and stop interfering in China’s internal affairs, including those of Hong Kong. This shows that the Chinese government’s position on Hong Kong-related issues is widely understood and supported by the international community.”
The article ends, “China’s determination to implement the ‘one country, two systems’ policy fully and accurately is unwavering, as is its opposition to any outside interference in Hong Kong’s affairs and China’s internal affairs. Any interference or slander will not shake China’s strong will to safeguard the national sovereignty, security, interest, prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, nor will it stop the firm pace of Hong Kong’s transition from chaos to order and China’s development and growth. In one sentence, the U.S. should put away its tricks of political intimidation as soon as possible.”
Source: People’s Daily, March 18, 2021
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2021-03/18/nw.D110000renmrb_20210318_2-03.htm