
Beijing’s tougher stance on Hong Kong’s unrest is damaging big business and the free-market economy
- Property developers in Hong Kong have been pressured into showing support for the government and police, and Beijing is moving against Cathay Pacific. This might be the end of the freewheeling free-market Hong Kong that we know
Putting pressure on the real estate sector is not the Communist Party’s only strategy, of course. International brands like Cathay Pacific have also become targets.
Beijing’s non-Tiananmen response: build up Shenzhen, forget Hong Kong
There is a Chinese saying: “The poor don’t fight with the rich, the rich don’t fight with officials.” Under pressure from Beijing, even corporate giants have to yield.
However, if Beijing continues to keep big business under its thumb, this might be the end of Hong Kong as we know it. Even if social order is restored, this might no longer be a freewheeling, free-market economy. Imagine a Hong Kong where entrepreneurs obey the Communist Party, political considerations outweigh business decisions and the thought police crack down on speech crimes. Is this the Hong Kong we want to live in?

Protesters have clear choice: violent failure or peaceful success
One featured a poetic allusion he made after the riot in Mong Kok in 2016: “The melon of Huangtai cannot bear the picking again.” It is an appeal not to destroy something that has already been damaged.
The other advertisement featured slogans about loving China, loving Hong Kong and loving oneself, and a line reading “the best of intentions can lead to the worst outcome”. It is a straightforward message urging everyone to stop fighting and start considering the overall interests of Hongkongers.
However, some overly imaginative Hongkongers have plucked words from the second advertisement and wilfully interpreted them as a call for self-governance. They have made matters worse by giving the red media and mainland conspiracy theorists a field day.
At the rate she is going, Hong Kong will never return to its golden age. We can only hope the wrecking ball won’t knock us down too soon.
Albert Cheng King-hon is a political commentator. [email protected]
