Opinion | Truth is, the national security law won’t hurt Hong Kong’s viability as a global financial centre

Critics are right to warn about the loss of some freedoms in Hong Kong and the possibility of a talent and capital flight

But many of the city’s advantages remain, including a sound legal system that will continue to safeguard the SAR’s status as a leading centre for business

Reading Time:4 minutes

Published: 6:15am, 13 Aug 2020Updated: 7:00am, 13 Aug 2020

Beijing’s imposition of the national security law for Hong Kong has elicited a torrent of impassioned Western condemnation. Pundits decry the supposed end of Hong Kong’s unique “two systems” and predict the decline of Hong Kong as an international centre of finance and commerce.

It appears to me – a sometime resident and long-time observer of both Hong Kong and mainland China – that the present near-hysteria over Hong Kong’s future may be as far off the mark as most dire forecasts by China bear prophets have been over the past 30 years.

Will the security law spell the demise of the special administrative region as a finance and commerce hub? Some IT companies may indeed relocate out of Hong Kong, journalists may decamp as their visas are not approved, and some other businesses may feel sufficiently discomfited by the security law to leave Hong Kong.

Most multinational firms, however, will remain in Hong Kong because of its unequalled advantages. Situated on the edge of mainland China and at the crossroads of northeast and southeast Asia, Hong Kong has a cosmopolitan, hybrid society that accommodates expatriates easily.

The Causeway Bay typhoon shelter in Hong Kong. Situated on the edge of mainland China and at the crossroads of northeast and southeast Asia, Hong Kong has a cosmopolitan, hybrid society that accommodates expatriates easily. Photo: AFP

It offers low taxes, an educated English-speaking workforce, and the highly developed infrastructure of lawyers, accountants, analysts and other support required for an international finance centre. The CEO of Citibank has affirmed that the bank will stay in Hong Kong, and both HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank have announced that they support China’s laws and regulations that contribute to the stability of Hong Kong.

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