A world turned upside down by China
- Hong Kong has been bested economically by Shenzhen while China may now have a bigger economy than the US
When Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor made a gaffe that she wasn’t worried about Shenzhen running ahead of Hong Kong economically, everyone jumped on her, including yours truly. And that was the headline, followed by more headlines this week when she had to backtrack.
But it seems we were all more interested in rounding on Lam than focusing on the real story: Shenzhen is now simply a bigger and better-run economy led by some world-beating companies. Take telecoms giant Huawei. The United States government has to mobilise all its covert and overt powers to try to destroy it or at least prevent it from being a global 5G monopoly. There are many other Chinese companies emerging from the shadows to become global players. For example, DJI was founded by a Hong Kong University of Science and Technology engineering graduate who couldn’t get funding in the city. Headquartered in Shenzhen, it is today the world’s largest supplier of commercial drones, so much so that the US Commerce Department has plans to put it on its sanctions list. Being sanctioned by the US is now something of a badge of honour, a proof of success and innovation in China.
But like everywhere else, the local news media primarily reflects local concerns. Somehow, many Hong Kong people aren’t concerned about Shenzhen, as they cling on to the illusion that their city is simply better and superior – however you understand those words – than any mainland Chinese city.
And if Hong Kong is being suppressed by the central government and forced into becoming “another Chinese city”, well, that’s not our fault, is it? If Hong Kong flounders, those people know who to blame. Even if they are right, though, and I am not saying they are, it’s self-defeating. But what can we expect when so many people cheered as rioters of last year chanted “let’s destroy and die together”, and “if we burn, you burn”?
I imagine the reaction of some Hong Kong people to the rise of Shenzhen is a lot like that of many Americans, who can’t wrap their heads around the emerging and unmistakable trend that by more reliable economic measurements, China is already the world’s largest economy.