Washington Post (July 1)
July 1 “used to be a day of celebration in the city. Now, it has morphed into a morbid reminder of Hong Kong’s tragic decline under the ever-worsening repression brought on by Beijing.” Hong Kong’s tragedy has great bearing for Taiwan. It “proves that Beijing’s proposal of ‘one country, two systems’ is a delusion — and that any promises Xi makes regarding Taiwan’s continued autonomy under reunification are worthless.”
Tags: Autonomy, Beijing, Celebration, Decline, Delusion, Hong Kong, July 1, Morbid reminder, Promises, Repression, Reunification, Taiwan, Tragedy, Worsening, Xi
The Telegraph (July 1)
“Twenty-six years ago today, Hong Kong was handed over to China on a promise…. Beijing made the commitment, under an international treaty, to protect Hong Kong’s freedoms, the rule of law, human rights, way of life and autonomy.” China has effectively “ripped up its promises. If there is one lesson from the city’s suffering, it is that China cannot be trusted on any commitments it makes to the West.”
Tags: Autonomy, Beijing, China, Commitment, Commitments, Freedoms, Hong Kong, Human rights, International treaty, Promise, Rule of law, Suffering, Trusted
CNN (August 12)
“Hong Kong has recorded its sharpest annual drop in population,” falling from “7.41 million people to 7.29 million, a 1.6% decrease.” Experts attribute the exodus to “strict Covid control measures and a political crackdown that have taken the shine off a financial hub long advertised as ‘Asia’s world city.’”
Tags: 1.6% decrease, Annual, Asia, Control measures, Covid, Drop, Exodus, Experts, Financial hub, Hong Kong, Political crackdown, Population, Strict
South China Morning Post (August 6)
Hong Kong’s “tough Covid-19 measures have lasted too long. They have sucked much of the joy out of everyday life and left the city isolated.” Politics have also lessened Hong Kong’s appeal. “The protests, the national security law, mass arrests and relentless rhetoric have all had an impact.” So many of the best and most “cherished memories of the city…. belong to an era that has ended.”
Tags: Appeal, COVID-19, Era, Hong Kong, Isolated, Joy, Mass arrests, National-security law, Politics, Protests, Rhetoric
The Economist (July 2)
“The pecking order of financial centres is changing.” Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore are all vying as “the map of Asian financial hubs is being redrawn.” Given that, “the region’s two emerging giants, China and India, have partial capital controls,” Singapore stands to “be the main beneficiary—provided it can handle some of the downsides of being a global centre for other people’s business.”
Tags: Asia, Beneficiary, Capital controls, China, Downsides, Financial hubs, Hong Kong, India, Pecking order, Redrawn, Shanghai, Singapore
Financial Times (June 29)
Hong Kong elite are visiting Japan on posh tours to invest in Tokyo. Property brokers say the tours demonstrate “the appeal of the weak yen” and “the way in which the Tokyo market seemed immune from the recessionary worries swirling around other capitals.”
Tags: Appeal, Brokers, Elite, Hong Kong, Immune, Invest, Japan, Market, Posh, Property, Recessionary, Tokyo, Tours, Weak yen, Worries
Wall Street Journal (April 14)
“Events in Hong Kong and Shanghai have demonstrated that a ‘zero Covid’ strategy can look very effective for a long time—until suddenly it isn’t, either because a more infectious variant changes the game or because success itself breeds overconfidence.” Unless the Chinese government moves “quickly to vaccinate and boost its elderly, and start spending much more heavily on hospital capacity, then the human and economic consequences could be disastrous.”
Tags: Boost, China, Consequences, Disastrous, Elderly, Events, Government, Hong Kong, Hospital capacity, Infectious, Overconfidence, Shanghai, Vaccinate, Variant, Zero COVID
South China Morning Post (March 1)
“Hong Kong residents are waiting up to 39 hours for an ambulance as the health care system struggles to keep up with an escalating wave of Covid-19 cases, with the delay up by as much as 50 per cent in just two days.”
Tags: 39 hours, Ambulance, COVID-19, Delay, Escalating, Health care, Hong Kong, Residents, Struggles, Waiting, Wave
South China Morning Post (February 17)
“Omicron has brought Hong Kong to its knees.” Things have gone “so horribly wrong” as the zero-Covid policy buckled. The health care system now teeters “on the brink of collapse.” Patients now “lie in beds outside hospitals and thousands more wait days for admission to isolation facilities.”
Tags: Admission, Collapse, Health-care system, Hong Kong, Horribly wrong, Hospitals, Isolation, Omicron, Patients, Zero COVID
Reuters (January 24)
Hong Kong’s “status as a global financial hub” is being threatened by its “zero COVID” policy and draconian immigration protocols. With no signs the government will ease restrictions, “more expats are thinking of leaving, and global banks, asset managers and corporate law firms are facing up to many of their staff exiting after annual bonuses are paid out in the first three months of the year.”
Tags: Asset managers, Banks, Draconian, Expats, Financial hub, Hong Kong, Immigration, Restrictions, Staff, Threatened, Zero COVID
