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The View
OpinionComment
Richard Harris
Richard Harris

The View | Hong Kong needs a mainland-appointed provincial leader, to boost integration and revive the flagging economy

  • Hong Kong requires a voice in a China that is becoming more economically integrated, and that cannot be provided by a local chief executive
  • Such leadership would integrate Hong Kong’s rather separate economy more closely into China, supporting local people as they build careers on the mainland

Reading Time:4 minutes
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A man takes a photo of the Hong Kong and China flags as a Star Ferry sails past during National Day celebrations in Hong Kong on October 1, 2018. Photo: AFP
Richard Harris
This is a business column and, as such, we must look ahead. Rational investors must make decisions based on the logical forecast of what is most likely to happen in the longer term – whether you like it or not. What we want, or indeed what we hope for, is irrelevant. The nuances of the national security law and the events of the past year may be debated – but businesspeople have to deal in the here and now.
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Hong Kong is rapidly becoming a “red city”, much more like mainland China, and the historical barriers between us, which once were complete, then fractured, are now well and truly breached. The city had a good 20 years of autonomy; now, mainland processes and philosophy will be incorporated into most aspects of daily life.

That does not mean Hong Kong will become fungible with the mainland. That would be damaging for China’s economy as well as its global standing. China would lose a highly valuable commercial window on the world, which it needs to become less confined to its own sphere of influence.

The most likely scenario is that Hong Kong will remain an international enclave with its own commercial law, currency and communication freedoms. Change these, and global confidence in Hong Kong as an international financial centre will be fatally impaired and business might as well move to Shanghai or Beijing.

China needs a calm and prosperous Hong Kong. Unfortunately, years of mismanagement, stubbornness and complacency in the higher echelons of the local government have forced Beijing’s hand. You can imagine senior officials pulling their hair out, saying: “We gave Hong Kong the leadership they wanted – and look what happened!”

02:24

Time to stop talking about Hong Kong’s ‘premature death’

Time to stop talking about Hong Kong’s ‘premature death’
The parish council quality of governance has led to overly close relationships with local fat cats and certain favoured individuals. The disparity between the mega rich and the rest has soared with gross domestic product per capita leaping over the past 24 years. The majority, especially the young, have become discontented with the poor housing stock, artificially high prices and low salaries.
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