China is rewriting the rules for its own ends – the world cannot sit idly by

Hong Kong’s national security law is only the latest example of China’s challenge to the rules-based global order

Beijing cannot be allowed to use the Covid-19 crisis as a cover to advance its quest. The US and like-minded partners must be prepared to take collective action to safeguard peace and prosperity

3-MIN READ3-MIN

David F. Helvey

David F. Helvey is currently the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs.

Published: 3:00am, 11 Jul 2020Updated: 4:17am, 11 Jul 2020

With the swift passage of the national security law, China’s Communist Party leaders demolished the idea of Hong Kong’s autonomy and, with it, Beijing’s obligations under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and commitment to preserve the freedoms enjoyed by the Hong Kong people.

This action is only the most recent example of a pattern of behaviour where the Communist Party bends, disregards, or rewrites rules in its favour in the pursuit of domestic and geopolitical ends.

President Xi Jinping, more than any of his predecessors, has used this tactic to push an aggressive China-centric foreign policy. Xi’s introduction of the “Chinese dream” in 2013 foreshadowed a more concerted effort by party leaders to regain global prominence.

Since then, Xi has taken deliberate steps to increase China’s economic, diplomatic and military clout with the clear intent of returning China to the centre of the global order.