No? Well, here was what Congressman Jim McGovern, a Democrat representing Massachusetts, said in his opening remarks at the hearing: “It is time we put the Chinese government on an annual notice that further erosion of autonomy or a crackdown on Hong Kong will cause the city and, by extension, mainland China, to lose its special trade arrangement with the US.”

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Answer: the US Congress, of course. And therein lies another takeaway from the hearing – the arrogance of an America that arrogates to itself the right to sit in judgment of another country’s governance.

Now, imagine what McGovern and his colleagues would say if Beijing were to announce that it would buy American pork and soybeans – only if it was satisfied that asylum seekers languishing in detention along the Mexican border were treated humanely according to Chinese criteria!

That America’s political establishment will reach out for anything with which to bash China is hardly surprising, given the bipartisan consensus that the country poses the greatest challenge to US supremacy. What is noteworthy about this latest Congressional action is the readiness to drop all pretence that the US has not been interfering in and fanning the turmoil that has ripped Hong Kong apart.

Nor was there any effort to give the proceedings some semblance of objectivity. No informed, non-partisan witnesses were called, presumably because they might come forth with inconvenient truths that would contradict the desired narrative.

Was Lo right? Well, here is just one of many statements made by Cheung: “During detention, one of our student members was told by the police that it was reasonable to rape some female protesters when they frequently have to work overtime.” Rape? Seriously?

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In the final analysis, it is of course the US’ prerogative to decide which country it wants to extend tariff privileges to. That is usually an economic decision taken in accordance with established international rules on trade between nations, but in this instance, it is being turned into a political tool.

The Act will hit Hong Kong if and when it is used, arbitrarily, as leverage against China. How badly has yet to be computed. And Hong Kong cannot stop the Americans. Neither can Beijing, which has protested loudly, but likely to no avail. If push comes to shove, it might well, in retaliation, ask the US to cut its consular staff in Hong Kong to a skeletal one.

But what can the people in Hong Kong do? Frankly, not much, but at the very least, they should speak up lest their silence is construed as tacit acceptance of US interference in their domestic affairs as well as the allegations of police brutality and erosion of freedoms. Worse, given that the US is sure to scratch around for yet more pressure points against China, silence may encourage it to continue using Hong Kong as the excuse.

Further, instead of just laughing off the antics of Joshua Wong et al, they should also voice their disapproval even more forcefully against the activists and opposition figures who abet foreign meddling, or even invite it, either out of misplaced convictions that this will work out to the long-term good of Hong Kong, or for more nefarious reasons. Whatever the justification, these activists are hurting Hong Kong.

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Not wanting to get involved – for fear that the black mob will rain terror on them – is no longer an option as Hong Kong teeters on the edge of an abyss, and the halcyon days of keeping one’s head down and just living an ordinary life are going, going … if not gone altogether. The thugs and the radical protesters will not fade quietly into the night if the tide of public opinion does not turn decisively against them.

Now is the time to cut the mat, to use the Cantonese phrase for dissociating oneself from bad company.