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by Mediterraneo10
2610 days ago
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> Hong Kong, through the UK, has legal redress in international law The UK has gradually lost interest in ensuring that Hong Kong’s Basic Law is respected. For the UK, fighting for Hong Kong would jeopardize its relationship with the mainland, which is much more important in terms of business and trade. Plus, mainland China has become more assertive and its leadership claims that China is rising back up again after the colonial era kept it down – an era in which the UK played no small role, both in the Opium Wars and in holding Hong Kong as a colonial possession. That means that if the UK tries to really fight for Hong Kong, it will be attacked for acting like a meddling colonial power again. The UK is just too sensitive to the propaganda campaign that China could throw at it. |
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I agree. When I say through the UK, I mean through the UK’s standing in international law. That gives Hong Kong the ability to petition various bodies and sue in certain courts. It also gives legitimacy to e.g. the U.S. taking it on as a cause.
TL; DR There are ways for Hong Kong to make an overt treaty violation costly to Beijing. Unless Beijing is concerned about an imminent threat to its legitimacy and power, it’s unlikely to find those costs worth incurring.