HONG KONG is finished. About to become a 'global backwater'. How do we know? Because it's in Fortune magazine, that's why.
America's biggest business magazine stirred up quite a few people here yesterday with their cover story whose title says it all: 'The Death of Hong Kong'.
We managed to get a copy. The first paragraph ends with the devastating punch: 'The naked truth about Hong Kong's future can be summed up in two words: It's over.' Actually, this looks more like three words.
We checked this with Professor John Joseph, head of Hong Kong University's English Department, who said: 'I think it's perfectly fair to say that this is three words.' A small point, but hardly a good start.
Here's what 800,000 Americans are reading about us at the moment: On society: 'Hong Kong, like the US during its civil war days, is now rife with wrenching family dramas in which friends and family members are deeply split over the best means for survival.' After '97: 'Troops of the People's Liberation Army, which has already formed links with the powerful local criminal gangs known as 'triads', will stroll the streets.' Some of the stuff is just baffling. For instance, why point out that publisher Jimmy Lai finds it's difficult to hail a taxi in Quarry Bay? Are pro-Beijing taxi drivers refusing to pick up a democrat? A symptom of infrastructure neglect? After studying the accompanying photo, may we suggest that Jimmy should try standing away from yellow lines and he would have better luck.
Comatose NEW figures from the London Stock Exchange last night about the amount of dealing in non-UK shares. In some cases, not much.