Opinion | Hongkongers will pay a heavy price for protest vandalism and lasting damage to the city’s image

Vandalism of public and private premises creates problems for all Hongkongers, from the taxpayer to the business owner. Furthermore, photos of Hong Kong looking like a war zone hurt the city’s business-friendly reputation

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An umbrella and debris lie outside a vandalised Starbucks cafe in Sheung Wan district in Hong Kong. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 9:00am, 8 Nov 2019Updated: 9:14am, 8 Nov 2019

We have seen many distressing trends over the past few months in Hong Kong. There has been serious violence on the streets, thousands of arrests and some serious injuries among both police and protesters. As I have written previously, there must be a serious toll on the community’s mental health as well.

Our city is also paying a heavy price in terms of property damage. Compared with the cost of physical and mental suffering, this may seem less important. But vandalism of public and private property and premises creates more problems for us all. We may be living with these problems for years to come.

Material damage can be repaired. But it inflicts financial losses on whoever owns the wrecked premises. The cost of fixing vandalised MTR stations will be shouldered by commuters and shareholders (many of whom, directly or indirectly, are just ordinary members of the public). Where public-sector buildings are concerned, like police stations or the Legislative Council Complex, it will be the taxpayer who foots the bill.

Radical protesters have also started to target private-sector companies they believe are in some way opposed to them.

Some of these are major mainland companies, including banks and telecoms firms. It is hard to see what this is supposed to accomplish. These attacks will not spark sympathy for the protesters’ demands from big mainland corporations – nor the national government – though the damage does inconvenience these companies’ local employees and customers.

Some companies have been attacked because of tenuous or unproven links to those the radicals regard as their enemies. Branches of a major catering chain were vandalised because a minority shareholder with no management role spoke out against the protests. Outlets of another retail chain were attacked because the company was rumoured to have links to militant anti-protest groups.