Hong Kong’s crippling protests are the price it pays for being the world’s most free economy

Another week has come and gone and this city has made it through 100-plus staggering days of unprecedented unrest, with escalating violence on the streets. We have become quite accustomed to the violent clashes, but it’s the spreading collateral damage that I’m not sure we are ready for.

The cancelling of last Wednesday’s horse races due to fears of political unrest, a first since the handover, is symbolically huge. The horses were supposed to keep racing, along with the dancing and the stock exchanges, until 2047. They were part of Deng Xiaoping’s pledge and something the world has taken to be vital signs of “one country, two systems”.

And close to two weeks before the Hong Kong Jockey Club cancelled the races, the Hong Kong stock exchange suspended derivatives trading, another first since 2000, due to a software bug. Before that, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has seen initial public offerings and stock trading turnover shrink.

I suspect there isn’t much dancing in this city given the massive economic haemorrhaging that is only beginning to be felt as people are forced to cut or put staff on leave to stay afloat – if they’re lucky. Businesses have begun to fold, and it’s not looking good. One in every 10 shops in Causeway Bay, one of the city’s busiest districts, is now vacant.

These are not simply empty spaces – there are people who used to make their living there. Property agents predict the vacancy rate to soar to levels worse than it got in 2003 after the Sars outbreak. This man-made political disaster has such widespread impact that it is going to take years of cleaning up.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has been sounding the alarm for weeks. In a Global Times interview last week, Chan noted that our economy had shrunk on a quarter-to-quarter basis and with the downward trend set to continue into the third quarter, the city “would technically plunge into economic recession”.