Boycott Chinese goods? That would entail massive economic pain.
Do a UN resolution? China is a permanent member of the Security Council with veto power.
Launch a military intervention? This would make people wish for a low casualty war like WW2.
Secretly arm a Hong Kong insurgency? No matter what arms Hong Kong has, China could destroy the rebellion with an army armed only with sticks due to the massive population difference.
There honestly is pretty much nothing Hog Kong or the rest of the world can do except whine.
We should calmly and firmly articulate our objection to the Beijing's hardball tactics. This interpretation, like PRC behavior in the South China Sea, represents further evidence that Beijing has little regard for rules that constrain their power to act. If the international system has an investment in rule of law, we should see these actions as evidence that China is an unreliable partner in a rules-based order. We should be wary of including China in liberal institutions that are at the core of that order. Nations around the globe should adjust their relations with China accordingly.
A good start would be public statements supporting rule of law and respect for the use of the judicial system to resolve issues questions of legal interpretation. Foreign businesses with significant operations in Hong Kong should take note that Hong Kong is at risk of becoming more like mainland China (i.e. weaker courts, stronger political control), and consider moving operations if this would impact their operations or bottom line.
Here in Russia we have a term "последнее китайское предупреждение" ("last Chinesee warning") which means a statement with possibly treatening nature which does not and will not entail any real action or inaction.
What you suggest for a good start is a last chinese warning of a sort.
A public statement. So, to be charitable to the person you're replying to, that would be filed under "whining". The fact that we have no real moral authority with which to whine doesn't help either.
Moral authority doesn't come into it. The key questions are: "Does China care about rules?" And: "What do China's actions here say about how it will act in other circumstances?"
Should we see China as a reliable partner in the South China Sea? (No.) What would a regional economic order look like under China? (Maybe TTP isn't so terrible.) Should companies continue to use Hong Kong as a base for legal operations in China and SE Asia? (E.g. Singapore is looking better and better for arbitration.) Certainly, Taiwan should take note what any promised autonomy would look like if China offers a grand bargain to reunify.
Countries should see how China acts, note it, and behave accordingly.
>Moral authority doesn't come into it. The key questions are: "Does China care about rules?" And: "What do China's actions here say about how it will act in other circumstances?"
Well the answers are clearly: "No" and "A lot" respectively. If you think the world needs the US of all countries to trumpet that fact, you're delusional. The problem there is that they see how we act too, and they're probably not so dim that they can't appreciate why we get off on pointing fingers at "bad guys".
This just in: We're the bad guys too... we're all pretty bad guys in direct proportion to the power we wield, and in inverse proportion to our accountability. China, Russia, the US... lots of power, virtually no accountability.
A strongly worded statement is just a bad joke that people see through these days.
As you say yourself, "Beijing has little regard for rules that constrain their power to act." Why would calmly and firmly articulated objections or public statements supporting the rule of law make any difference? That's a rather naive constructivist fantasy.
An import tariff is not a boycott and would have real influence with minimal pain. Remember, trade imbalances work against China in such a fight. China is in a surprisingly weaker economic situation than you might think, and very dependent on exports.
The first rule of that situation for anyone is: don't become another casualty. Call the authorities, don't be a fool and get yourself added to the body count. You don't save drowning people by drowning with them, you just put your own life in danger and the lives of the people who will eventually have to rescue both of you.
A country is not the same as a person. All analogies break down eventually, but using an analogy that is broken right from the start doesn't add anything to the discussion.
Boycott Chinese goods? That would entail massive economic pain.
Do a UN resolution? China is a permanent member of the Security Council with veto power.
Launch a military intervention? This would make people wish for a low casualty war like WW2.
Secretly arm a Hong Kong insurgency? No matter what arms Hong Kong has, China could destroy the rebellion with an army armed only with sticks due to the massive population difference.
There honestly is pretty much nothing Hog Kong or the rest of the world can do except whine.