My Take | Both sides doing their bit to destroy Hong Kong
- As protesters on the streets move away from demonstrating against the extradition bill to establishing ‘home rule’, Carrie Lam and her ministers don’t pretend to be governing anymore
Is this how Hong Kong ends?
The government has accused the protest movement of trying to destroy “one country two systems”. Protesters and the opposition retort that it’s the government that is betraying the city. The tragedy of Hong Kong today is that both sides are mostly right about each other. We are all doing our bit to destroy the city we claim to love and defend.
Two months of street violence is already undermining both local and foreign-run businesses. The economy is taking a hit. Hotels, airlines, travel agencies and retail sales are reporting steep losses.
The latest IHS Markit Hong Kong purchasing managers’ index survey, which measures private sector activity, sank to 43.8 in July from 47.9 the month before, marking the steepest fall since 2009. Any reading below 50 means a contraction.