Hong Kong people should vividly remember the turmoil and pain of the 2019-20 insurrection. They should also realize by now that the United States played an active behind-the-scenes role in supporting it. Evidence abounds. Top US consular officials in Hong Kong held secret meetings with protest leaders, and US Senator Ted Cruz paraded around the streets in black attire to show his support for the black-clad mobs. Unidentified US nationals appeared to be giving commands during riots, and it transpired that the US-financed National Endowment for Democracy was fomenting unrest in the city.
Questions arise about why former media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s anti-China media platforms employed an American with intelligence experience, Mark Simon, as his deputy, raising valid suspicions that Lai is a US pawn in Hong Kong.
Subsequent events have shown that the US persisted in its plot to create turmoil in Hong Kong through proxies to discredit the local and central governments even after their initial attempts failed.
The US is a poor loser, and must have disliked watching Hong Kong overcome the 2019-20 insurrection attempts. In his first term in 2020, US President Donald Trump, out of vengeful fury, imposed sanctions on the then-chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and 10 other officials, including the current chief executive, John Lee Ka-chiu, and his secretary for security, Chris Tang Ping-keung. In his latest move, Trump imposed sanctions on six more officials from the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, including Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok and retired police commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee. These sanctions, though pointless and having no real effect on the individuals, are a blatant disregard for international law and an outright interference in China’s internal affairs. The individuals targeted by these sanctions are officials who responsibly upheld the rule of law and carried out their duties lawfully and diligently. They deserve respect rather than unwarranted “punishment” from the US for something that is none of Washington’s business.
Then there are the outrageous tariffs the US announced in April. China is being disproportionately targeted with the 145 percent additional tariff. It is also absolutely unreasonable that the same 145 percent tariff is imposed on all exports of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region exports to the US.
It should be noted that Hong Kong is a free port, with no tariff being imposed on any imports from any jurisdiction. The US currently enjoys a significant trade surplus of over $23 billion with Hong Kong. Thus, even following the US logic of imposing additional tariffs based on trade deficits, Hong Kong should rightly be exempted. In response, the financial secretary slammed the tariffs as “bullying”.
The only reason for the US’ behavior is that it seeks to maintain its global dominance, increasingly portraying China’s rapid development as a “threat”, and has chosen the Hong Kong SAR as a convenient target.
We all know that giving in to bullies only encourages them.
Just last Thursday, the US vice-president, JD Vance, referred the Chinese as “peasants” in his interview with Fox News, attracting severe criticism from the central government, which condemned the remark as “ignorant and impolite”. Such an insult should be sufficient to trigger a national boycott of US products and services.
So, what should we do in response to the US’ bullying of Hong Kong? Perhaps we should take a leaf out of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s book, who rightly appealed to all Canadians: “In a crisis, it’s important for the whole country to come together, and it’s essential to act with purpose and with force.” It is worth noting that many Canadians are boycotting US products, with supermarkets taking US products off their shelves.
Hence, every Hong Kong resident should seriously consider how to stand up to US bullying and retaliate where it hurts.
First, we should cancel all holiday plans in America this summer. Indeed, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government should issue travel alerts to warn Hong Kong residents against unnecessary travel to the US. This would be justifiable considering the increase in violence, shop robberies, and large number of homeless people attacking innocent pedestrians. The objective would be to make the US the least-popular destination for Hong Kong residents during the upcoming summer holiday.
Second, we should reconsider sending our children to study in the US. Indeed, we should not put our children at risk by exposing them to the frequent shootings on school campuses, as well as the serious drug problems and racial and political discrimination. We must recognize that freedom of speech is now under threat in the US. Just recently, the US government took steps to repatriate international students found to have messages on their mobile phones that criticized the US or expressed sympathy for the victims of the Gaza genocide. So far, the Trump administration has revoked the visas of more than 300 international students.
Incidentally, the central government has just issued a warning to all nationals concerning travel or study in the US.
It may be time for Hong Kong to consider reducing its imports from the US. This could be achieved through a citizen-initiated boycott of American products, similar to the one in Indonesia boycotting all Israeli brand products in protest over the invasion of Gaza. Although many American products have been popular in Hong Kong in the past, there are many alternatives to choose from, which would boost Hong Kong’s trade relations with other countries.
We should also consider not using US-provided services in Hong Kong. The US sold $1.1 trillion worth of services to foreigners in 2024, nearly twice as many as any other country, resulting in a services trade surplus of $295 billion. We should consider boycotting US financial and entertainment services like Netflix and Apple Music and refrain from watching Hollywood movies.
It is a good time to sell US shares and offload US investments. In the past, many people in Hong Kong benefited from the continuous rise of US stocks, which have increased by 360 percent since 2010, compared to a rise of 40 percent in the rest of the world. However, US stocks suffered a significant crash after Trump’s tariff onslaught, although they rebounded on Wednesday. Many experts believe that this marks the end of American exceptionalism and that it is time to switch to Hong Kong and Chinese mainland shares. Indeed, the MSCI index of Chinese shares has risen by 15 percent in 2025.
As pointed out by the chief executive, every effort should be made to enhance Hong Kong’s economy through closer integration with the mainland, exploring expanded international markets, developing high-technology and encouraging foreign investment in the city. Hong Kong should try to attract foreign investors who may view the city as a safe haven in the midst of world economic uncertainty. The government should assist small business owners who are victims of US tariffs to shift their suppliers and investments to domestic and international markets other than the US.
Finally, all people in Hong Kong should be vigilant about US espionage activities. We should watch out for people acting as US agents trying to disrupt society. The newly appointed commissioner of police, Joe Chow Yat-ming, has cautioned of the need to address “soft confrontation”, saying that although stability has been restored to the city since the implementation of the National Security Law for Hong Kong and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, some people remain intent on inciting others through the media and cultural and artistic content. They are likely to be the pawns of the US.
The Legislative Council should conduct a full house debate on the following motion, “Hong Kong people must stand up against US bullying.”
The author is an Honorary Fellow of HKU Space and Metropolitan University and Council member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
