Hong Kong has been rocked by chaos and violence for weeks and the violence is getting more and more intense. What is going on in Hong Kong? There is already evidence of interference by foreign forces. As Chinese officials have pointed out, the situation in Hong Kong bears the features of a "color revolution."

US politicians have openly supported the unrest and anti-China forces are working behind the scenes. In fact, the US government often uses democracy promotion to attack other countries, and China has always been a major target.

In recent years, there have been warnings that color revolutions are emerging as a new form of warfare employed by the West to destabilize certain countries. According to a Defense News article that was published in 2014, officials at a conference in Moscow accused the US and its allies of engineering revolutions and uprisings in key areas around the world to destabilize governments and replace existing regimes to gain power and resources.

Promoting Western-style democracy has long been a US foreign policy aim. For those who subscribe to this thinking, the best way to guarantee long-term security and prosperity in the Western world is to make the world look and act more like the West. For this reason, there is always funding for democracy promotion in US foreign policy.

US institutions like the National Endowment for Democracy play a key role in this strategy. They fund, train, and equip leaders and groups who serve the American interest. In fact, the congressionally funded NED exists solely to promote Western-style democracy abroad. Last year, for example, NED provided the Washington-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs with $200,000 “to facilitate engagement on Hong Kong’s growing threats to guaranteed rights.”

When it comes to color revolutions, failure is the most likely result. To understand the failure of Western-backed efforts to turn people against their governments, look no further than the Arab world. In 2011, the “Arab Spring” opened a door for the US government to spread the long tentacles of Western-style democracy. Seeing an opportunity to expand Western power and influence under the guise of mass protests, the US government expanded efforts to undermine certain Arab governments in the name of democracy.

The unrest that swept the Arab world resulted in increased violence and instability rather than peace and prosperity for the people. In Libya, where the United States led an intervention that resulted in the violent and gruesome overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, a civil war is raging, and the people of Libya are suffering. The truth is, the turmoil caused by color revolutions is long lasting and America’s obsession with fanning the flames of color revolutions simply makes it look nasty in the eyes of the world.

There is plenty of evidence to show that not only are color revolutions ineffective, but there are unintended consequences, as the mess in the Arab world highlights. It would be a disaster to expand this strategy of warfare to the world’s second largest economy with a population of 1.4 billion people.

Some US politicians dream of making China look and act more like the United States. One reason we are seeing increased pressure on China is because those who have tried to change China over the years via other methods have failed and there is growing fear that China is getting too powerful, so the Uncle Sam will never miss any opportunity to undermine China. 

However, Hong Kong is Chinese territory. This means that the city is not and shall not be a playground for anti-China forces. China is no longer a poor and weak country that cannot stand up to foreign interference. The country has enough methods and strength to quickly quell the unrest and smash foreign plots when such actions are deemed necessary to protect national sovereignty and the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.

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