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[text/observer network wang kaiwen] the biden administration's term in office has entered the countdown, and the u.s. congress is seizing the time to advance china-related issues. this week, the house of representatives, which has just resumed its session, has arranged a dense china-related agenda and will vote on more than 20 bills related to china. this week is therefore called "china week."

it is called "china week", but it is actually "anti-china week". mike johnson, the speaker of the us house of representatives and a republican from louisiana, announced in july that he would promote a number of legislations targeting china, declaring that "congress must focus on confronting china with all the means at our disposal."

judging from the contents of a series of bills, the topics involved range from countering china's technological, political and economic influence to supporting the united states' allies in the indo-pacific region. in addition, there are two bills involving the hong kong special administrative region and taiwan respectively - the hong kong economic and trade office certification act and the taiwan conflict deterrence act.

tian feilong, deputy dean of the school of law at minzu university of china, told observer.com on september 10 that the "hong kong card" and the "taiwan card" are important tools for the united states to launch its new cold war and strategic and geopolitical containment policies against china. it is not surprising that bills involving hong kong and taiwan appear in this batch of china-related bills.

tian feilong pointed out that hong kong and taiwan have different roles in the strategic psychology and institutional layout of the united states, and the depth and breadth of the united states' legislation and implementation related to taiwan far exceeds that of hong kong. the taiwan conflict deterrence act, which was voted and passed by the house of representatives on the 9th, can be regarded as the united states' institutional anticipation and conception of the taiwan conflict scenario and the conditions and methods of the united states' intervention, and even has the nature and harmfulness of a "war mobilization law."

us republican congressman chris smith visual china

according to reports from foreign and hong kong media, the hong kong economic and trade office accreditation act proposed by republican congressman chris smith requires the us secretary of state to certify the hong kong special administrative region's three economic and trade offices in washington, new york and san francisco. if it is determined that hong kong no longer enjoys a "high degree of autonomy", the privileges and immunities of the hong kong economic and trade office in the united states may be revoked, and the economic and trade office will cease operations within 180 days after certification.

according to us media, the earlier versions of the bill were passed by the senate and house foreign affairs committees in july and december last year, respectively, and have been stagnant since then. hong kong media noted that the revised bill voted on in the house of representatives changed the certification authority from the us president to the secretary of state, and deleted the content about the us federal government reviewing the current contracts with the economic and trade office.

after the u.s. house of representatives foreign affairs committee passed the hong kong economic and trade office accreditation act in november last year, the hong kong sar government issued a statement strongly condemning the u.s. congress for interfering in hong kong affairs. the sar government also emphasized that the successful and smooth operation of the three economic and trade offices in the united states is conducive to expanding practical cooperation between the hong kong sar and the united states in various fields, which is a mutually beneficial and win-win situation.

tian feilong said that since the implementation of the hong kong national security law, hong kong has achieved order from chaos, and is gradually moving from order to prosperity. the us strategic layout of using hong kong as a "subversion base" has been broken, and the network of agents and intelligence systems in hong kong have also been institutionally suppressed by the hong kong national security law.

"as a result, the united states has decisively adjusted its hong kong policy. not only did it pass the so-called hong kong autonomy act in july 2020 to carry out targeted intervention and sanctions, but it also continuously denied hong kong's high degree of autonomy in its annual 'hong kong policy act report', undermining hong kong's status as a separate customs territory and its legitimate trade rights under international law."

tian feilong pointed out that the hong kong economic and trade office accreditation act voted by the u.s. house of representatives intends to politicize hong kong's economic and trade issues. the threat to cancel hong kong's economic and trade office in the united states and instigating allies to follow up with sanctions is fundamentally aimed at suppressing hong kong's international status and free trade rights through institutional sanctions, thereby undermining hong kong's prosperity and stability under the leverage of the "one country, two systems" system.

tian feilong said that if this hong kong-related bill is eventually signed into law, it is expected to have a certain negative impact on hong kong's international status and economic and trade rights. the hong kong special administrative region government needs to make good assessments and counter-measures, and the central government should also intervene to protect hong kong's legitimate rights and interests.

"a series of actions by the united states show that after the enactment of the hong kong national security law and article 23, the struggles involving hong kong and foreign countries, especially the legal struggles, have shifted in topics and venues, and the internationalization of 'hong kong independence' and the intensification of external interference and sanctions have developed rapidly."

"therefore, it is necessary to incorporate the foreign-related legal struggles on the hong kong platform into the country's overall foreign-related rule of law construction, and to jointly respond to illegal sanctions and interference from the united states and the west through the central government and hong kong under the framework of 'one country, two systems', in order to safeguard the country's sovereignty, security and development interests, and safeguard hong kong's prosperity and stability and the long-term stability of 'one country, two systems'," said tian feilong.

according to the south china morning post on the 10th, the us house of representatives' vote on the hong kong economic and trade office certification act has been postponed to later this week.

the taiwan conflict deterrence act, proposed by republican congressman french hill in january last year, was passed by the house of representatives on the 9th. the bill requires that once the united states determines that mainland china "poses a threat" to taiwan, the financial activities of relevant mainland personnel will be reported and restricted.

screenshot of video of republican u.s. congressman france hill

tian feilong said that compared with the hong kong issue, the united states' political use of the "taiwan card" is more blatant and provocative.

"hong kong and taiwan have different roles in the strategic psychology and institutional layout of the united states. although the united states regards hong kong as a 'subversion base' that can be influenced, its sovereignty and governance are not controlled by it. moreover, under the hong kong national security law, the united states has gradually developed a tendency to 'partially recognize' the fact of china's new governance. however, the united states strictly regards taiwan as a key node in its sphere of influence and the first island chain. it has carried out all-round penetration and control of taiwan in terms of military security, 'diplomacy', economy, social culture, so the depth and breadth of legislation and its implementation related to taiwan far exceeds that of hong kong."

in tian feilong's view, the united states has an "eastern ukraine" imagination of taiwan's role, that is, using the russian-ukrainian war as a reference system, strengthening the military armament of taiwan and the construction of a political proxy system, while judging and promoting the implementation of "full system sanctions" similar to those against russia on the chinese mainland in the event of an armed conflict in the taiwan strait. "this so-called taiwan-related legislation serves the strategic imagination and policy action goals of this 'eastern ukraine'."

tian feilong believes that the taiwan conflict deterrence act can be seen as the united states' institutional anticipation and conception of the taiwan conflict scenario and the conditions and methods of the united states' intervention, providing a "legal basis" and action guidance for the united states to deeply intervene in the taiwan strait issue, and even has the nature and harmfulness of a "war mobilization law". "this has to alert us to make bottom-line thinking and countermeasures against the united states' actions involving taiwan."

tian feilong said that including the two bills related to hong kong and taiwan, the china-related bills fall into the category of "bipartisan consensus" in u.s. congressional politics, which set china as a "major opponent" and "strategic competitor" and advocate "decoupling and de-risking" with china.

he reminded that judging from the recent developments in us congressional legislation related to china, no matter what the outcome of the us presidential election is, no matter what the outcome of any political meeting between china and the us at any level is, the long-term new cold war between china and the us and the us's continued sanctions and suppression of china will not change. for china, the basic position and countermeasures of adhering to its own development path, political system and direction of foreign-related rule of law construction will not change either.