It is a tragic mistake and hypocritical for the United Kingdom to unilaterally suspend its extradition arrangement with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, impose an arms embargo and bizarrely offer a pathway to citizenship for almost half of the SAR’s population after the implementation of the new National Security Law, which is expected to restore stability to Hong Kong.

How could the UK imperil its own economic and strategic interests by these unwise Hong Kong moves, which are tantamount to almost a rejection of its otherwise good ties with China, just as its economy is suffering from its shocking rejection of the European Union with Brexit?

It seems that Britain’s mistakes have been unduly influenced by the politically beleaguered United States President Donald Trump. Now lagging behind in all surveys, Trump is desperate to boost his floundering reelection chances in November by attempting to make China a scapegoat for the US’ public health crisis and the ensuing economic recession caused by his own wrong policies. Trump is tragically ruining US ties with China, and the UK shouldn’t follow his wrong and ruinous path.

The leaders and people of the UK should not fall into this ludicrous trap by Trump to irresponsibly politicize and poison the otherwise good British diplomatic and economic relations with China. Apart from China, other Trump scapegoats for his glaring COVID-19 response failures include the World Health Organization, his predecessor Barack Obama, his election rival Joe Biden, democratic governors and mayors, his own government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, etc. I believe there’s even a chance Trump will try to pull off a “wag the dog” caper against China with an “accident”, just for his dire reelection bid.

Britain should step back from these self-defeating hostile acts against its traditional friend in Asia and decisively desist from becoming part of controversial Trump’s futile attempts to contain the peaceful rise of a modern China

What is the basis for my analysis that Trump and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo malevolently influenced these British moves? UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced them on Tuesday, on the eve of a visit to London by Pompeo, who has recently been articulating the Trump administration’s increasingly belligerent policies toward China. Trump has also recently claimed credit for the UK’s decision to ban Huawei from the country’s 5G networks, claiming that he “did it myself, for the most part”.

Apart from being a breach of international law and irresponsibly reneging on its treaty commitment, Britain’s acts are almost neocolonial in their flagrant and immoral interference in the sovereign internal affairs of China. Hong Kong is no longer a colony of Britain; it has returned to China.

Britain has committed wrong acts that blatantly interfere in China’s internal affairs, being unmistakable attempts to disrupt the implementation of the much-needed National Security Law for Hong Kong.

Maneuvers by foreign forces to undermine the National Security Law endanger the city’s prosperity and stability because Hong Kong has in the past always flourished as a vibrant financial center and trade hub in political peace. In fact, under the British colonizers, Hong Kong was maintained as a political territory focused on efficient commerce.

These British acts are hypocritical because after their immoral 19th century opium wars, Britain illegally took over the Chinese territory of Hong Kong and it didn’t institutionalize political democracy in this city. Britain had never once in 156 years consulted the Hong Kong people about the choices of all its colonial governors, including the last one before the handover, Chris Patten, who was appointed to run the city after he lost his parliamentary seat in the 1992 election. So why, now, do Britain’s politicians have the temerity to dictate to China how it should govern its own territory?

These moves by Britain are tragic mistakes, including its unfair and Trump-influenced ban on the world-class Chinese telecommunication firm Huawei from participating in its 5G development, because these shall unduly harm friendly relations between Britain and China.

In today’s uncertain period of global economic slowdown and pandemic, it is very important that the world’s second-biggest economy, China, and the world’s sixth-largest economy, the UK, should continue strategic cooperation, mutual respect and friendly dialogue.

Britain should step back from these self-defeating hostile acts against its traditional friend in Asia and decisively desist from becoming part of controversial Trump’s futile attempts to contain the peaceful rise of a modern China.

The tidal wave of history now favors Asia. Apart from being ponderous and tragic mistakes, these UK moves are ultimately irrelevant to the destiny of Hong Kong in rising Asia and as part of progressing China.

The author is an analyst and columnist at the Philippine Star and the winner of 15 Catholic Mass Media Awards and three Palanca literary awards.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.