Hong Kong's foremost sceptic dies aged 71
The man who predicted the demise of Hong Kong in a 1995 magazine article has died. Louis Kraar, former Hong Kong-based Asian editor of Fortune, died last week at his home in Manhattan, New York, aged 71.
The cause of death was a heart attack, according to his wife of 30 years, Myanmese-born analyst Maureen Aung-Thwin.
Among the first American journalists to recognise the rising influence of Asia on the global economy, Kraar had written about the region for more than three decades.
One of his most controversial articles was 'The Death of Hong Kong', which Fortune ran as a cover story in June 1995, two years before the handover.
In the article, he predicted Hong Kong would become a global backwater or just another mainland city.
He said all local officials would be monitored by hundreds of Chinese Communist Party functionaries; the city's elected legislature would be replaced with appointed members; Beijing's earlier pledges to maintain the city's judicial independence would be brushed aside; and Hong Kong's independent currency would be replaced with the yuan.
But history played a joke on this pessimistic author, with the 2001 Fortune Global Forum again being held in Hong Kong.
Commenting on Kraar's predictions, Linda Li Chenlan, associate professor in the department of public and social administration at City University of Hong Kong, said the legislature had not been replaced by appointed members, adding: 'I am confident about Hong Kong's democratic future.'
Fred Kwan Yum-keung, associate professor in the university's department of economics and finance, said: 'The Hong Kong dollar is still pegged to the US dollar. Everything remains the same and functions well. There is no reason for central government to replace the currency.'
