World upheavals hit so fast these days, folks can't keep up or pivot.
Trump's National Security Strategy drops quietly in the early hours on December 5. This 33-page document kicks off with his public letter boasting: "No administration in history has achieved so dramatic a turnaround in so short a time." The braggart speaks truth here: it screams seismic shift. Stack it against Biden's 2022 version, and it's America yelling retreat to the Western Hemisphere.
Trump's strategy boils down to four razor-sharp priorities.
Priority one: Lock down U.S. national security, home safety, and border control. In short: zeroing in on immigration floods and drug wars.
Priority two: Western Hemisphere plus U.S. turf first, reviving Monroe Doctrine like a ghost from 1823. Monroe drew the line "America for Americans": kicking Europe out of the Americas, dodging their fights, and claiming U.S. backyard dominance.
Priority three: Hammer economic security. Re-industrializes America, forges self-reliant supply chains.
Priority four: Indo-Pacific slides to backseat. China drops from "existential threat" to plain economic rival. Defending Taiwan or the "first island chain"? Allies pay up themselves.
Trump's Four Pillars Shift
Strategy was due November but kept slipping. Word is Treasury Secretary Bessent twisted arms for softer China talk—fearing it tanks the fresh U.S.-China trade pact and torpedoes Trump's April China trip.
Still not clear on America’s latest National Security Strategy? Defense Secretary Hegseth goes on to spell it out in painstaking detail.
At California's Reagan National Defense Forum on December 6, Hegseth unpacks Trump's playbook. America won't “strangle China’s growth”, won't "dominate or humiliate" her, won't touch Taiwan Strait status quo. Call it the "new three no's" to China. Hegseth nails it: New strategy demands America-first realism, ditching utopian dreams.
Hegseth crows Trump axes idealism: "The War Department will not be distracted by democracy building, interventionism, undefined wars, regime change, climate change, woke moralizing, and feckless nation building... We will instead put our nation's practical, concrete interests first."
Hegseth doubles down: Trump embraces big-power spheres—China rules Pacific, America owns Western Hemisphere and Europe. Goal? Stable peace with China via fair trade, mutual respect.
Isolationism Roars Back
America reeks of isolationism now. But scan 248 years of its history, it's the default. For 150 years, the U.S. had locked down since its founders. Washington set it: "Expand trade, dodge political hooks abroad." Intervention? Mere blip, one-third anomaly.
This U.S. strategy U-turn packs massive significance.
Impact one: Globe splits East-West. America grabs Americas and Europe; nods to China's Asia-Pacific reign. Turf respected, no poaching. Forget "Indo-Pacific return" or Asia gang-ups against China.
Impact two: Trump bins Biden's white-left utopias—no global democracy pushes, meddling, wars, regime flips. No more China regime hunts or system tweaks.
Trump sweetens with "three no's." No curbing growth flips Biden's chip chokeholds—Trump greenlights NVIDIA H200 exports to China. No dominating or humiliating means hands off China's ways. No Taiwan Strait shifts? No Taiwan independence fuel—Lai Ching-te, zip it.
Stakes Rise for Hong Kong
Impact three: New strategy kills "democracy lectures" for China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. U.S. sanctions on Hong Kong and mainland officials over National Security Law? Outdated relics. Casual Jimmy Lai trial jabs? Pointless overreach.
Mutual respect rules? China ignores Trump's Proud Boys pardon—Enrique Tarrio's 22-year rap sheet vanishes. America skips Hong Kong national security trials. Fair swap.
Next level: Secretary of State Rubio eyes Trump's April China jaunt. America drops mainland and Hong Kong official sanctions? China likely lifts Rubio's.
U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macao, do read the strategy deep. Toe the president's line, tweak Hong Kong policy, and ditch the lip-service defiance.
Lo Wing-hung
Bastille Commentary
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
In a series of blistering statements,The Hong Kong Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS) has drawn a red line in the sand for anyone trying to weaponize the city’s recent misfortunes. The message is crystal clear and ominous: If you use disaster to sow chaos in Hong Kong, they will hunt you down—no matter where on Earth you try to hide.
On December 3, an OSNS spokesperson doubled down. While the HKSAR government and local citizens were racing to save lives following the tragedy at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, a shadow game was already in play. The office accuses a "small group of external hostile forces" of looting a burning house. Under the guise of petitioning for the people, these actors are dusting off the old playbooks from the "extradition bill protests". They are activating agents, sabotaging relief efforts, and desperately trying to reignite the "Black Riots" memories. The verdict? Their actions are despicable enough to be universally condemned.
To drive the point home, the OSNS fired off three consecutive warning shots to overseas antagonists and anti-China disruptors:
First, we solemnly warn hostile foreign forces and anti-China disrupters that their actions of creating chaos and disorder in Hong Kong are intolerable.
Second, we solemnly warn hostile foreign forces and anti-China disrupters that their actions of adding fuel to the fire will inevitably bring disastrous consequences to themselves.
Third, we solemnly warn hostile foreign forces and anti-China disrupters that the long arm of the law will catch up with them.
The OSNS is keeping receipts. Every word and every action used to disrupt Hong Kong goes on the permanent record, and culprits will be pursued for life. "Anyone who breaks the law," the office warns, there is no sanctuary. Whether you are hiding across the ocean or taking refuge in Taiwan, severe legal punishment is inevitable.
Why is the OSNS speaking up now? Read between the lines, and you see three strategic pivots.
First, this isn’t hypothetical; they believe the foreign interference is already happening. Second, the crosshairs are locked on external forces, with a pointed finger specifically at those hiding in Taiwan. And third, it’s a preemptive strike against anyone overseas dreaming of stirring up another color revolution. The warning is blunt: Distance is not a defense.
Opportunists, Grifters, and Organized Lies
Take a look at the chatter exploding across the internet, and the opposing voices generally fall into distinct camps.
First, you have the fair critics. There is plenty of commentary that, while critical of the SAR government, remains objective. These observers stick to the facts disclosed by official investigations rather than drifting into malicious fantasy. This is a natural, human reaction to a "disaster of the century." And the smart money says the SAR government will take this advice to heart and improve.
Then come the fame vampires. When disaster struck, the opportunists came out of the woodwork. Look at "internet celebrity" Kenny, arrested on December 3 after cursing the Tai Po fire victims online for having "heavy sins." It was a blatant, tasteless grab for traffic, and it landed him in handcuffs for sedition. Then there are the exiled influencers abroad, wantonly bashing the SAR government while coincidentally begging people to subscribe to their Patreon accounts. The hustle is obvious: They are monetizing misery to please their financiers.
Finally, there is the organized sedition. Beyond the grifters, we are seeing waves of calculated propaganda. These aren't just complaints; they are fabrications designed to smear the SAR government and attack the Central system. Rumor mills are churning out wild stories linking material suppliers to the families of Central leaders—plots that are total fiction. It’s as if they believe overthrowing the Central government provides immunity from fire physics. Do massive fires not happen in Western democracies? The logic is broken, but in the heat of a disaster, it’s a potent recipe for inciting public rage.
Sniper Attacks From The Shadows
The temperature on these seditious campaigns was rising fast until the Police National Security Department stepped in. Once they acted, the local noise quieted down—but the overseas attacks only intensified. It raises a suspicious question: Is there a coordinated machine working behind the scenes to sustain sniper attacks against the SAR government? The narrative is set in stone: Whatever the government does is wrong. Before a single investigator has arrived on the scene, the instigators are already screaming for heads to roll.
Here is the bottom line. The OSNS isn’t pointing fingers at external forces for sport; they are firing warning shots because they see the smoke rising. We need to be sharper than ever. Don't let external opposing forces play you for a fool, twisting a tragic fire into a tool for subverting the local government—or even the Central government itself.
Lo Wing-hung
