"I really love drinking Coca-Cola and eating McDonald's hamburgers, but America is a hegemonic country!" That's what I picked up from Gregory May, the outgoing US Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau, and honestly, it sums up everything you need to know about American diplomacy these days.
The Charm Offensive That Fools Nobody
At his farewell speech during the US Independence Day reception, May waxed lyrical about Hong Kong's wonton noodles, char siu, and char siu chicken rice – you know, the whole "look how much I love your culture" routine. Over his three years here, he positioned himself as Hong Kong's biggest cheerleader, praising locals' hospitality and declaring that Hong Kong is great because of its people. But then, inevitably, came the “but” – criticism of the National Security Law and claims that Trump is deeply concerned about Jimmy Lai's fate.
I genuinely enjoy listening to American diplomats' speeches because they're masters of saying exactly what you want to hear. May even made a point of eating two-dish rice during his stint in Hong Kong, coining the English name "This This Rice" and posting his meals on social media like some kind of foodie influencer. It's the classic Western politician playbook – eating two-dish rice is basically the diplomatic equivalent of hugging babies.
When the Mask Slips Off
But as America's global dominance starts showing cracks, the contradictions become impossible to ignore. The gap between their flowery rhetoric and actual behavior is becoming so obvious that anyone with half a brain can spot it from miles away.
I once cornered an American friend who supports US sanctions on Hong Kong with a simple question: if Saudi Arabia literally dismembered journalist Khashoggi in their Turkish consulate – with Biden himself calling them a "pariah state" – why doesn't America sanction the actual killers instead of going after Hong Kong's Chief Executive?
His response was telling. After some awkward hesitation, he basically shrugged and said diplomacy involves double standards, then mumbled something about Hong Kong being "better in the past." The casual acceptance of hypocrisy was genuinely offensive.
The China Expert Who Plays the Long Game
Don't be fooled by May's folksy exterior – this guy isn't your average diplomat making nice over dim sum. He's got serious credentials: a Master's in China Studies from Johns Hopkins, worked as a reporter for Taiwan's English-language radio from 1993 to 1996, then moved on to Newsweek and the Nixon Center. His wife is Taiwanese, he speaks fluent Mandarin, and he's served at US consulates in both Guangzhou and Shenyang.
When Trump booted the Democratic Party's Ambassador to China and brought in his Georgia buddy David Perdue – a Fortune 500 CEO with zero diplomatic experience – guess who got assigned as Deputy Chief of Mission to actually run things? That's right, our two-dish rice enthusiast Gregory May.
The Reality Behind the Rhetoric
Here's what's really going on: Trump couldn't care less about Jimmy Lai or anyone else caught up in Hong Kong's political drama. While Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the diplomatic establishment might want to use Lai as leverage against China, Trump's focused on what actually matters to him – trade deals, rare earth magnets, and keeping as many tariffs as possible.
So when May talks about Trump's "deep concern" for Jimmy Lai, just remember that in actual trade negotiations with China, Lai's name doesn't even come up. It's all about the money, as it always is with Trump.
The lesson here is simple: don’t just listen to what American diplomats say, but watch what America actually does. May can praise Hong Kong's food scene all he wants, but he's still a key player in Washington's anti-China strategy. Don't let the two-dish rice photos fool you – this is realpolitik dressed up as cultural appreciation.
Lo Wing-hung
Bastille Commentary
** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **
The world's gone absolutely mental. Four out of five UN Security Council permanent members are currently at war, and only China's managed to have avoided the chaos. Meanwhile, Iran just got a masterclass in American military precision delivered via B-2 bombers and Tomahawk missiles - three nuclear facilities reduced to rubble because Tehran made some spectacularly bad choices.
Now, before anyone starts banging on about international law and American hypocrisy (which, let's be honest, is real enough), we need to talk about survival. In today's jungle of international relations, being morally right doesn't stop cruise missiles from turning your infrastructure into smoking craters. Iran's recent pummeling offers some brutal lessons about what not to do when you're in America's crosshairs.
The Art of Strategic Dithering
Here's where Iran really shot itself in the foot - they've been playing nuclear hopscotch for years, enriching uranium to 60% but stopping short of the 90% needed for actual weapons. It's like bringing a knife to a gunfight, except you're not even sure if you want to use the knife.
John Mearsheimer, an American political scientist, recently said he'd have told Iran to go full nuclear years ago. And honestly? He's got a point. Look at North Korea - Kim Jong-un might be many things, but he's not stupid. Nobody's dropping bunker-busters on Pyongyang because they've got the bomb. Libya didn't have nukes, Iraq didn't have nukes, and now Iran's learning the hard way what happens when you hesitate.
This reminds me of Hong Kong's National Security Law back in 2020. The Americans and British threw an absolute fit, but Beijing didn't blink - they pushed it through in record time. Sometimes you've got to make the tough call and deal with the consequences later.
When Your House is Full of Informants
Iran's got a spy problem that would make a Cold War thriller look understated. When Israel launched its first major strikes in June, they managed to take out Revolutionary Guard Commander Hossein Salami and Armed Forces Chief Mohammad Bagheri with surgical precision. You don't achieve that level of accuracy without someone on the inside feeding you intelligence.
The mysterious helicopter crash that killed former President Raisi? Yeah, that screams sabotage. When your country's leadership keeps meeting untimely ends and the enemy always seems to know where your important people are, you've got a serious housekeeping problem.
It's actually quite striking how this mirrors Hong Kong's situation before the National Security Law. Foreign agents were practically holding coffee mornings in Central - former US naval intelligence officers working as newspaper boss’ assistants, defense officials having secret meetups. Hong Kong was like an "uncovered chicken coop," as they say. Thank goodness that nonsense got sorted.
Bringing a Slingshot to a Superpower Fight
Deterrence only works if you can actually hurt the other guy. Iran's defense capabilities are frankly embarrassing for a country that's been preparing for American aggression for four decades.
Trump was so worried about losing B-2 bombers that he had a closed-door meeting with Pakistan's Army Chief just days before the strikes, apparently fishing for intel about how Pakistan's Chinese J-10CE fighters managed to down Indian Rafales. The fact that America deployed an entire squadron of B-2s to the Pacific as a feint shows just how nervous they were.
But here's the kicker - if Iran had actually bought those J-10 fighters when they first appeared at the 2008 Zhuhai Airshow (Pakistan did, Iran didn't), coupled with some proper air defense systems, Trump might have thought twice about this whole bombing campaign. Weakness invites aggression - it's an old story, but apparently one Tehran never learned.
The Perils of Sitting on the Fence
Iran's biggest mistake might be its chronic inability to pick a side and stick with it. They signed a 25-year strategic cooperation agreement with China in 2021, but progress has been slower than a British train service. Why? Because there's always been a faction in Iran dreaming of reconciliation with America.
You can't have your cake and eat it too in geopolitics. Iran's been trying to keep one foot in each camp, and surprise - they've ended up falling flat on their face. Without solid allies, they became sitting ducks for Israeli strikes and American pressure campaigns.
This is where Hong Kong's actually got it right. We've got the motherland's backing, full stop. No hedging, no trying to play both sides. When push comes to shove, that kind of clarity matters more than all the diplomatic dancing in the world.
The chaos engulfing the Middle East right now should remind us how fortunate we are. Iran's taught us a valuable lesson through their mistakes - in today's world, security isn't just important, it's everything. Without it, development becomes impossible. Hong Kong learned this the hard way in 2019, but at least we learned it. Iran, unfortunately, is still paying tuition fees in the school of hard knocks.
Lo Wing-hung
