Rioters crazy to target businesses
- If mobs are going after shops, restaurants and outlets for their mainland links, they might as well destroy the whole Hong Kong economy
The latest weekend mayhem inflicted by rioters on Hong Kong should be proof enough that their violence and vandalism are not about democracy and freedom, but chaos and destruction.
One should not underestimate the joy of wreaking havoc for young people, especially when their chances of getting caught are low.
Their backers, whether in Hong Kong or Washington, are not so irrational; they have their own agendas, and are portraying them as heroes. The rioters’ new tactic is to go after shops, restaurants and other commercial chains that may have business on the mainland, or else their owners are seen as pro-government.
That was why they picked on mainland telecoms giant Huawei, snack retailer Best Mart 360, Hey Tea and coffee chain Starbucks, which is locally run by Maxim’s. Annie Wu Suk-ching, heir to the Maxim’s catering fortune, recently appeared at a United Nations human rights panel denouncing protesters as radicals and defending the Hong Kong government.
Some also went after Bank of China branches and their ATM machines. Perhaps rioters should stop using banknotes printed by the bank. Better still: burn them!
Protesters are also calling for a boycott of the Jardine Restaurant Group, which operates KFC and Pizza Hut in the city, and Dairy Farm, which runs the local Ikea and 7-Eleven chain.
Why? Who knows? Any big businesses in Hong Kong, whether foreign or domestic, have some mainland exposure. There are even plans to boycott mainland foodstuffs. But why stop there? About 70 per cent of our water supply comes from the Dongjiang, or East River. If ever there’s such a thing as mainlandisation, that’s it. Better start drinking from only foreign-imported bottled water.
I don’t get it, though. Why just pick on Hong Kong companies with business links on the mainland? Practically all foreign banks, finance companies and multinationals with regional offices in Hong Kong do their main business in the rest of China.
Hong Kong is still key to the country’s raising of foreign capital investment. China received US$62.9 billion in foreign direct investment through the city in the first eight months of this year, accounting for 70 per cent of the total.
Kids, you should go after those foreign companies too. In fact, why not just destroy the whole Hong Kong economy, which is a proxy to the Chinese economy?
