OPINION / EDITORIAL
Ted Cruz’s pernicious agenda in Hong Kong
Published: Oct 14, 2019 03:58 PM

Rioters set fire at Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, south China, Oct. 4. Photo: Xinhua



US Republican Senator Ted Cruz arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday to rally support for radical demonstrations that were losing steam. He dressed in black to mark "his solidarity with Hong Kong protesters." It is well known that the black shirt is increasingly associated with violence in Hong Kong, because almost all rioters are masked and dressed in black. For many, a person in black became synonymous with a thug. 

Cruz said he supported non-violence, but that was only a cover for his public support for violent demonstrations in Hong Kong. He came to Hong Kong with the intent to disrupt rational thinking in the city and fuel the fire.

Look at the people who Cruz is most interested in Hong Kong. They are Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, Anson Chan Fang On-sang and radical opposition figures whose names the Senator refused to disclose. It is not difficult to imagine how Cruz will encourage those people to continue to confront.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam called off the meeting with Cruz who immediately accused the chief executive of "weakness." Cruz's arrogance and conceit has breached diplomatic protocol that politicians deserve. There may be different levels of reception given to a visitor. The world does not grant US senators the privilege of meeting at the highest level. Cruz takes himself too seriously.

While Cruz was glorifying violence in Hong Kong, rioters vandalized property and attacked police in several parts of the city on Sunday. A police officer was attacked by a thug who slashed his neck from behind. Cruz, who was in Hong Kong, was not heard condemning the rioters' action. Instead, he falsely accused the Hong Kong police of repression. 

Cruz became one of the most prominent disruptive elements of Sunday's events in Hong Kong, giving a reason to some radical protesters to delude themselves amid flagging demonstrations. Cruz is definitely in the same league as Hong Kong's violent demonstrators. 

Cruz has created a political label for himself: anti-Chinese, anti-Communist and pro-Taiwan. With this visit to Hong Kong he wants to make political capital in the US and show himself to be more like a flag-bearer anti-China politician.

This is a blatant intervention in Hong Kong affairs, but Cruz has been an active voice among American politicians who accused China of "infiltration" and "trying to undermine US democracy." Hypocrisy has been programmed in this man. People like him even have the audacity to take the moral high ground.

Cruz came to Hong Kong with the sole purpose of destabilizing Hong Kong and making political capital out of it in the US. We think that if the US passes the so-called Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, people like Cruz should be blacklisted from visiting Hong Kong in the future and subjected to more sanctions. Their relatives should also be restricted in response to American moves.

Hongkongers who love the country should not be afraid of the US' anti-China forces. They may make some trouble, but they can't lead the way in the city. With the firm support of the central government, as long as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and the forces that love the motherland and Hong Kong act more resolutely, we will be able to keep accumulating achievements in stopping violence and curbing chaos. No matter how hard some American politicians try, they will eventually be pushed to the edge in Hong Kong.