Washington needs to wake up and smell the coffee

A bipartisan, bicameral group of US lawmakers introduced a bill on Thursday, calling for sanctioning dozens of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region officials for allegedly violating "human rights" and undermining the "rule of law".

The proposed "Hong Kong Sanctions Act" would require the US president to decide within 180 days of its passage whether or not to sanction 49 Hong Kong officials, judges and prosecutors under US laws — which is another case of the United States' long-arm jurisdiction. Ironically, most of the 49 targeted people are judges and prosecutors who the US lawmakers claim are allegedly responsible for the continuing persecution of so-called "pro-democracy" activists in the SAR. Among them are the chief justice, other judges and the police commissioner of Hong Kong.

However, the bill, intended to further tarnish the image of Hong Kong, will not deter the Hong Kong SAR authorities from implementing the National Security Law for Hong Kong. Neither the central government in Beijing nor the SAR authorities will tolerate foreign interference in China's internal affairs. And the specific purpose of the National Security Law for Hong Kong is to prevent foreign interference in the country's internal affairs.