Hong Kong protests

Hong Kong puts business on notice with roundup

6 Jan 2021

Police arrested over 50 opposition candidates and a U.S. lawyer in dawn raids linked to an unofficial primary race. Banks and brokerages can mostly shrug it off, but for media and tech firms that host or transmit any exchange of ideas in the city it’s the dawn of a riskier era.

Hong Kong will be lucky to end up like Singapore

11 Aug 2020

Media mogul Jimmy Lai has been arrested. Press freedoms are being curtailed; elections are postponed. Businesses hope the territory will settle on a model resembling its rival city state, with politics separated and commercial rule of law upheld. That looks far-fetched.

Hong Kong finance faces London’s Brexit-like fate

23 Jul 2020

Bankers might not flee all at once but new arrivals will slow as the security law takes effect. Deutsche Bank's new Asia CEO, for example, is leaning on its dual hub structure and has opted for Singapore as a base. Another thriving centre is set to lose relative appeal over time.

Corona Capital: Lockdown diets, Beating the Fed

14 Jul 2020

Concise views on the pandemic’s corporate and financial fallout: Covid-19 is prompting diets for both animal and human; and the Fed takes a hit on a garbage deal.

China’s firewall casts shadow over Hong Kong

7 Jul 2020

Twitter, Google and Facebook suspended cooperation with local courts as new rules allow police to seize assets and force sites to delete seditious content. Others such as Netflix stand to be affected, and blockages seem likely. That can only accelerate the exodus of talent.

China smothers Hong Kong in heavy security blanket

1 Jul 2020

A harsh new law will quash protests that have vexed the business community. The definition of subversion is ominously vague, while allowing for extradition and secret trials. It also applies to non-residents, further complicating risk management. The price of order is high.

HSBC Hong Kong tightrope walk comes with huge fall

4 Jun 2020

The $102 bln bank publicly backed a Chinese security law opposed by many of the city’s residents. HSBC has little choice but to toe Beijing’s line. But the risks to its Hong Kong business, and of being caught in the China-U.S. stand-off, will continue to weigh on its shares.

UK’s Hong Kong stance is so far mostly spin

4 Jun 2020

Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is offering 3 million residents of the former colony a possible route to citizenship. For now the tweaks to the visa regime look limited and vague. That's a missed opportunity for a post-Brexit economic boost as well as for righting a wrong.

War for Hong Kong talent is Taiwan’s to lose

3 Jun 2020

The island’s proximity and cultural similarity should appeal to Hong Kongers fleeing Beijing’s crackdown. For its part, the $600 bln economy needs to plug a severe labour shortage and boost investment. But warm political gestures could be offset by bad immigration policies.

China can live with a less special Hong Kong

28 May 2020

The entrepôt's unique autonomy brought prosperity without Beijing having to cede control of the economy and people. Hong Kong’s importance has dwindled, however, and may even be holding China back. A U.S. move to strip its special status only shows how disposable that status is.

Viewsroom: Hong Kong crunch

28 May 2020

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared the Asian financial hub no longer autonomous from China, days after Beijing unveiled plans to ban sedition and subversion there. Breakingviews columnists in the city untangle what it means amid the trade war, pandemic and protests.

Hong Kong financiers face Man Group’s terror

28 May 2020

During China’s 2015 crash, police detained the China chief of the British hedge fund and others; some state media blamed foreigners for sabotaging markets. Beijing’s proposed new security law will extend this attitude to Hong Kong. Bankers should worry as much as protesters.

Hong Kong wreck looms if U.S. hawks join Beijing’s

22 May 2020

China is ramming through laws to suppress sedition and foreign meddling, which are certain to be broadly defined. The business community can endure political repression. Sloppy U.S. retaliation against trade and investment flowing through the city would really hurt, though.

The Exchange: Hong Kong’s pressure cooker

19 May 2020

Covid-19 has halted anti-government protests, but tensions are simmering. Hong Kong-based lawyer and author Antony Dapiran explains to Robyn Mak how local officials and Beijing are using legal means to silence opponents, and why another summer of discontent is all but guaranteed.

Hong Kong applies Band-Aids to virus-related ills

26 Feb 2020

The city rolled out a $15 bln support package as it lurches into recession. Employers get more than workers, but there are handouts for all. It’s a move in the right direction for a notoriously tight-fisted government. It may soon need stronger financial medicine, however.

Review: Hong Kong activist waves red flag on China

21 Feb 2020

Joshua Wong was imprisoned last year for organising protests in 2014. In "Unfree Speech", he blames inept political leaders for the latest violence. He also makes a convincing case that China's tightening grip on the financial hub is part of a broader threat to global democracy.

Moody’s Hong Kong downgrade flunks Carrie Lam

21 Jan 2020

The credit agency cut the city’s rating, citing the leader’s feeble response to months of unrest. It’s a terse rejection of her stimulus plan, but Moody’s also indicted wider institutional inertia. That suggests economic revival will be difficult, whether Lam stays or not.

Hong Kong bourse boss trusts in awkward necessity

10 Jan 2020

Charles Li has seen HKEX earnings plunge on political unrest as Beijing mulls alternative venues. Yet Li is confident China’s market inefficiencies will leave it dependent on Hong Kong’s financial plumbing in the end. The exchange’s reviving share price suggests investors agree.

Viewsroom: Hong Kong’s uncertain 2020

9 Jan 2020

Political unrest continues to roil the financial hub. For investors, though, it’s mostly business as usual as markets take protests in their stride. As Beijing replaces its top representative in the city, and makes other changes, that uneasy balance may be hard to sustain.

HSBC’s Hong Kong headache looks like its worst

3 Jan 2020

Demonstrators vandalized bank branches after police froze a protest-related account. HSBC earns over half its profit in the former British territory, so boycott threats and the current recession are big risks. With Beijing on his back, interim CEO Noel Quinn has few good options.