A barge bearing the slogan of “Celebrating the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland” sails through Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on July 1. Photo: Xinhua A barge bearing the slogan of “Celebrating the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland” sails through Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on July 1. Photo: Xinhua
A barge bearing the slogan of “Celebrating the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland” sails through Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on July 1. Photo: Xinhua
Mark Clifford
Opinion

Opinion

The View by Mark Clifford

National security law’s grey lines blur Hong Kong’s future as a global financial centre

  • The vagueness of the new legislation, statements by government officials and the actions of the police do not inspire confidence that the law will be narrowly applied
  • If Hong Kong is to be more than China’s offshore financial market, it must retain its free press, independent judiciary and honest civil service

Mark Clifford
Mark Clifford

Updated: 4:48am, 15 Jul, 2020

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A barge bearing the slogan of “Celebrating the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland” sails through Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on July 1. Photo: Xinhua A barge bearing the slogan of “Celebrating the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland” sails through Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on July 1. Photo: Xinhua
A barge bearing the slogan of “Celebrating the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland” sails through Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on July 1. Photo: Xinhua
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Mark Clifford

Mark Clifford

Mark L. Clifford is executive director of the Asia Business Council and author of "The Greening of Asia: The Business Case for Solving Asia’s Environmental Emergency". Previously he was editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post, publisher and editor-in-chief of The Standard, and Asia regional editor for BusinessWeek. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and was a Walter Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University. He has lived in Hong Kong since 1992. www.markclifford.org