US Republican Senator Ted Cruz was the champion for Hong Kong activists and rioters during the 2019-20 insurrection. But today he is nothing but a traitor to the rioters’ cause after he effectively vetoed a bill that would have allowed those fleeing Hong Kong to gain priority entry into the US.

In October 2019, Cruz was one of the first US senators to visit Hong Kong since the anti-extradition-bill protests began in the city, to meet with the Hong Kong activists, dissidents and protest leaders and express his support for their anti-government campaign.

But his trip to Hong Kong was little more than a stopover. He met a handful of activists in his hotel room, then went straight to the US consulate general’s residence on Barker Road to hold a news conference. And as his first 24 hours in Hong Kong neared, he took the next flight home, claiming to be an expert on the problems in Hong Kong. He sought a meeting with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, but she declined when he announced he would keep the meeting open so he could report on the discussions. Lam would have none of that and saw through his motives for the meeting.

Cruz is a politician through and through. The whole Hong Kong trip was a farce and planned purely for personal political gain. He even dressed in all black for the cameras to show camaraderie with the most aggressive front-line Hong Kong rioters, who were attired in black head-to-toe when participating in anti-government activities during the 2019 insurrection.

After his Hong Kong sleepover, Cruz, a renowned China-basher, wrote an op-ed in the USA Today newspaper urging Americans and American companies to stand against the Communist Party of China’s “censorship, oppression and human rights atrocities”. When the Hong Kong activists, including Martin Lee Chu-ming and Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, visited Washington to lobby the US Congress to impose sanctions against Hong Kong and Beijing, a meeting with Cruz, their ally, was always included in their agenda. After all, Cruz was a staunch Beijing-basher and a member of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, whose voice matters in US politics.

At his well-staged news conference at the US consulate general’s residence, he was asked by CNN for his views on the horrific riots that were taking place around him. His reply was astonishing. He said he had not seen any violence on the part of Hong Kong protesters. But then again, he was only in Hong Kong for a very quick photo op and didn’t venture out on the streets to see the real Hong Kong.

And to add insult to injury, he told CNN’s international audience that he was told by some protest leaders that the violence was being perpetrated by agents of Beijing who had infiltrated the protest movement, claiming that this was something that Beijing would favor. But he did not bother to present any evidence.

Immediately after his return to his home state of Texas, Cruz released a video reaffirming his “unwavering support” for the Hong Kong protesters in pursuing their political objectives. But then the crunch came when his animosity toward China was greater than his compassion toward the activists.

In 2020, a bill — the so-called “Hong Kong People’s Freedom and Choice Act” — was introduced in the US House of Representatives, providing for immigration benefits related to Hong Kong if Beijing put into effect national security legislation in Hong Kong. Qualifying Hong Kong residents who feared “political persecution” and applied for permanent-resident status would be deemed to have an approved petition. Certain provisions, such as requiring applicants to have a valid entry document, would not apply to such individuals. It was passed by the House and sent to the Senate for endorsement.

The legislation would have allowed wannabe Americans fleeing Hong Kong to get a quick pass into the land of their dream had it also passed the Senate and then been signed into law by the US president. But that dream was quickly dashed. Up came the savior that Hong Kong activists and rioters were hoping to rely on to pass the bill, only to find that Cruz had turned against them. He struck down the bill, claiming Beijing would take advantage of it and send spies into the US. Cruz, however, was speaking as a true Republican against a Democrat’s bill.

Hong Kong activists in the US were naturally disappointed in Cruz. Career activist Jeffrey Ngo Cheuk-hin said the senator found the presence of Hong Kong residents to be offensive, and Samuel Chu Muk-man of the Hong Kong Democracy Council was “disappointed”.

But rebel runaway lawmaker Nathan Law Kwun-chung came to his defense, calling for patience among the activists, saying issues such as refugees and infiltration were complex problems that needed deep reflection and time to resolve. Nevertheless, the sorry affair did not affect Cruz’s notoriety as a chameleon politician. One recalls how bitterly he fought Donald Trump for the US Republican presidential nomination in 2016 only to visit him afterward to “kiss the ring” like others who aspired to stay within Trump’s orbit.

Law fled to the UK after the promulgation of the National Security Law for Hong Kong, and is now wanted by Hong Kong police for inciting secession and collusion.

The author is a former chief information officer of the Hong Kong government, a PR and media consultant, and a veteran journalist.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.