Recently, US Senator Mitch McConnell published a commentary in the Wall Street Journal titled “We Stand with Hong Kong,” blaming Beijing for the chaos that has rocked the city for three months. The op-ed comes on the heels of a host of public statements by US lawmakers, demonstrating that Hong Kong has become a tool in their game against China.
In the article, McConnell said the turmoil is the result of Beijing’s systematic ratcheting up of its domestic oppression and its pursuit of hegemony abroad. He also wrote that every trading nation and democracy that values individual liberty and privacy has a stake here, saying their choice is not between the US and China but between a free, fair international system and the internal oppression, surveillance, and modern vassal system China seeks to impose.
By casting the Hong Kong problem as a frontline in a fight between a US-led world order and a rising China, US senators like McConnell have made it clear that they see the unrest in Hong Kong as an opportunity to stir up anti-China sentiment and spread the wings of Western-style democracy in Asia.