US business wants Hong Kong to succeed, but companies need clear details about national security law to allay fears

Name: Hong Kong freedoms will not be eroded by Beijing’s national security law, Carrie Lam says
Uploaded: 2020-05-27T17:00:13.000Z
Duration: 2 min 22 s
Description: Hong Kong freedoms will not be eroded by Beijing’s national security law, Carrie Lam says

Nobody wants to see Hong Kong fail, but details of the legislation are crucial for the international business community to make better-informed decisions about whether they can comfortably maintain their presence in the city

Reading Time:3 minutes

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Pedestrians wearing masks walk through Hong Kong’s Central district. Open and honest dialogue with international business over the details of the national security legislation is needed. Photo: Bloomberg

Tara Joseph

Published: 1:00am, 28 May 2020Updated: 1:21am, 28 May 2020

This is a seminal moment for Hong Kong and its 23-year experiment with “one country, two systems”. The drafting of the national security law in Beijing, bypassing the Hong Kong legislature, sends a worrying signal to the international community at large, along with the international business community.

The reaction from the United States is also likely to be swift and hard. Hong Kong has now truly become a lightning rod in rising geopolitical tension. Calm heads need to prevail or this gem of a city will lose its stature.

Nobody wants to see Hong Kong fail as a key commercial city, including US companies. Hong Kong serves a unique and valued purpose as a gateway between East and West.

Over 1,300 US companies have offices here, providing around 100,000 jobs for Hong Kong residents and making a large contribution to key sectors of the economy: finance, real estate, law, trade and accounting. Hong Kong has one of the most efficient infrastructures in the world, it is a connecting point and it has attracted a strong pool of skilled talent.

But those positive factors could start to take a back seat if details of the national security law for Hong Kong remain opaque. Details of the legislation are crucial for the international business community to be able to make better-informed decisions about whether they can comfortably maintain their presence in this once-freewheeling business hub.

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Hong Kong freedoms will not be eroded by Beijing’s national security law, Carrie Lam says

Important details include ways in which foreigners will be tried if they are seen to be overstepping the national security parameters; an outline of the parameters of free speech; what happens if a financial researcher says something less than complimentary about a Chinese state-owned enterprise listed in Hong Kong; a description of how Chinese state security agents will live and work in the city; whether company offices could be searched without a warrant in the name of national security.