‘Let Hong Kong Be Hong Kong’: US Consul General Hanscom Smith Bids Farewell

Hanscom Smith, the U.S. consul general to Hong Kong (Song Bilong/The Epoch Times)

“We want Hong Kong to succeed. Let Hong Kong be Hong Kong,” said U.S. Consul General Hanscom Smith in his Farewell Remarks this July as he leaves the land where the National Security Law and ‘patriots only’ sham elections have altered Hong Kong’s democracy and high degree of autonomy originally promised by Beijing.

“America’s vision for Hong Kong is simple:” We support a stable, prosperous Hong Kong that enjoys the high degree of autonomy Beijing promised in the Sino-British Joint Declaration,” said Smith

He criticized Beijing and the Hong Kong government for policies that “have changed to the detriment of Hong Kongers and Hong Kong’s status as a global hub,” and pledged that “U.S. policy toward Hong Kong has been consistent and will not waver.”

He said that “the United States recognizes that Hong Kong is part of China [and does not] support Hong Kong independence,” but asked Beijing to “honor the terms of the Joint Declaration” as “a strong, prosperous Hong Kong is in the best interest of mainland China, Hong Kong, and the United States.”

US Government Supports the One Country, Two Systems Rule and Hong Kong’s Autonomy

The Joint Declaration, the “One Country, Two Systems” framework, and the Basic Law “created the legal foundation for the city’s continued dynamism after 1997,” emphasized Smith.

The Sino-British Joint Declaration signed by the United Kingdom and China is a “legally binding agreement” and by signing this agreement, said Smith, China has the responsibility to “uphold, until at least 2047, freedoms of speech, of the press, and of assembly… [and] to maintain the independent judiciary and stated that laws then in force in Hong Kong would ‘remain basically unchanged.’”

Smith quoted then-Secretary of State Madeline Albright before the 1997 handover ceremony, “It is said accurately that Hong Kong is the glittering jewel in Asia’s economic emergence. But it owes its success not to the glitter of gold but to the gold of principle. The ability of journalists to tell it like it is, of legislators to raise their voices in dissent, of businesspeople to know that their agreements will be honored, and of residents to know that the courts are fair and the civil service accountable to all, not just a handful of powers that be.”

But in recent years, China has taken “step after step to dismantle and destroy Hong Kong’s freedoms and the ‘high degree of autonomy’ it was promised,” said Smith.

‘National Security Law Significantly Undermined The City’s Autonomy’

One way Beijing has significantly undermined Hong Kong’s autonomy is the National Security Law it imposed in June 2020, as it “fosters an atmosphere of fear and coercion through a vague definition of ‘national security.’”

“Its imposition is the most obvious sign of the PRC’s fundamental self-doubt. A responsive, representative government does not use fear, deliberate ambiguity, and autocratic judicial processes to rule its people.”

Smith calls the application of the law “broad, crude, and chilling.”

It has, ”thus far led Hong Kong authorities to arrest or detain over 100 activists, opposition figures, and ordinary people…Hong Kongers have faced criminal penalties merely for peaceful assembly, attempting to arrange a political primary, posting personal opinions on Facebook, hanging a poster outside an apartment, and even writing children’s books.”

“True patriotism is earned by winning the allegiance of free people, rather than futile efforts to legislate ‘patriotism’ and loyalty from above.”

The Chief Executive Election is a ‘Sham Election’

Smith mentioned the 2019 Hong Kong local election where “nearly three million Hong Kongers came out to vote–over 70 percent of registered voters–and delivered 388 out of 452 elected seats to pro-democracy candidates,” but “[China] once again refused to listen.” He called the disqualification of democratically elected District Councilors “a brazen attempt to ignore election results on vaguely defined grounds of ‘patriotism’ and ‘loyalty.'”

Since then, “Beijing has not allowed another broadly free and fair election to take place,” he said, “because it knows that Hong Kong residents support neither the NSL, nor the ongoing crackdown on all forms of dissent and free expression.”

Furthermore, the number of directly elected Legislative Council seats was also “slashed,” said Smith, “packing the body with appointed members and refusing to allow Hong Kongers a direct vote on more than three quarters of the legislature.”

“[China] stacked the Chief Executive Election Committee with pro-Beijing loyalists. And even then, Beijing only endorsed one candidate, leading to a sham election made all the more obvious as it was uncontested.”

‘Sharp and Growing Divide’

“There is a sharp and growing divide between Beijing’s promises and its actions, ” said Smith, “it seems increasingly clear that Beijing has decided not to keep its promises. It appears it no longer wishes to honor its obligations in the Joint Declaration, and no longer supports ‘One Country, Two Systems.’”

He urges Beijing “to foster true stability by restoring to the residents of Hong Kong the basic rights and freedoms they were promised” and “to withdraw the overt and subtle pressures that have pushed Hong Kongers to flee overseas, to self-censor, and to withdraw from civic life” and “to allow its people to exercise the rights that enabled Hong Kong to flourish for decades.”

“The United States will continue to stand with people in Hong Kong in support of the high degree of autonomy promised in the Joint Declaration and the original vision of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ that served the city well for years,” concluded Smith in his farewell speech.