HK High Court File Photo: VCG

The case concerning Hong Kong's illegal "primaries" suspected of violating the National Security Law (NSL) for Hong Kong was heard again at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on Thursday, where 29 defendants, including Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Joshua Wong Chi-fung and other anti-government secessionists, pleaded guilty of "conspiring to subvert state power."

A total of 47 rioters involved in "Lam chau," which means "self-destruct together," have been charged with conspiring to subvert state power in the case, which is widely regarded as the city's "largest national security case" and has drawn wide attention. Many of the names on the latest list of guilty pleas are familiar to the public - they were the "darlings" of the US and Western media during the "black-clad violence" in Hong Kong.  

The details of the case confessed by the 29 people are shocking. Behind the so-called "primaries," which were described by US and Western public opinion as "no different from any election in other democratic countries," there was a "massive and well-organized scheme" including using the "indiscriminate" veto power of the Legislative Council to paralyze the operation of the Hong Kong government and force the Chief Executive to resign, which aimed at triggering a "bloody crackdown on Hong Kong by the central government," and then using it to lobby foreign governments to impose political and economic sanctions on Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.

The evidence is irrefutable. The true face of those so-called democratic people who are anti-mainland and attempted to destabilize Hong Kong has been clearly revealed. They claimed to "defend Hong Kong," what they really calculated is how to trade Hong Kong for personal benefits. With the support of anti-China forces, they were very arrogant and rampant, thinking they could really make waves. They blatantly provoked Hong Kong's law, confronted the government and felt proud of "leading the way" for external forces. However, the sword of the national security law for Hong Kong has pierced their dreams. All their crimes will be held accountable and there is no question they will get all the punishments they deserve. 

As the minions were cut off one by one, some people started to get anxious. Early last year, before the trial even began for those people charged for "conspiring to subvert state power," there were voices in the US and the West claiming those people were "innocent" and demanded Hong Kong to free them. Washington also shouted the slogan "stand with the people of Hong Kong." But after these 29 people pleaded guilty, US and Western media collectively downplayed the content of the confession, even skipped it, but smeared Hong Kong's "unfair justice" with much efforts. To be honest, such sophistry that "when you talk about the law, I stress freedom; when you talk about evidence, I will put a label on you" is quite old-fashioned.

See how the "Beacon of Democracy" did. In June this year, the special Congressional committee investigating the "Capitol riots" held a hearing, defining the riots as an "attempted coup." Leading violent demonstrators were called "primary instigators" by the prosecutor. According the data provided by the US Department of Justice, some 850 participants related to the Capitol riots have been arrested and 330 of them have pleaded guilty, over 220 were sentenced. It's the same thing, and the US defined it as an "attempted coup," but it was a "beautiful sight to behold" in other countries. Why can't Washington politicians put down airs and have empathy and stand with demonstrators of their own country?

Analysts pointed out that 29 defendants pleaded guilty doesn't mean they really feel remorse. Some may use confession to exchange for commutation. Those forces who scheme to destabilize Hong Kong and their supporters have not given up completely, they're harboring an illusion that they still have a chance. The fight against them is likely to be a long-term one. However, any act of challenging the law will be squashed by the national security law for Hong Kong. Hong Kong has gone through the most difficult time, and a new situation of benign politics and good governance is unfolding. This general trend will fundamentally crush those attempts to confront the mainland and destabilize Hong Kong, making them vanish in the air like dust in the wind. 

Those who forget their own origins, betray the motherland and attempt to split the country will never end up with good results. Be them Hong Kong secessionists or Taiwan secessionists, they may be arrogant for a while, but they are doomed to be spurned behind their back wherever they go.  The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, however, will not stop because of them. When they wake up, what they will have to face is the net of the law.