Regina Ip

Opinion | How Hong Kong can rise to the challenge of telling its story well

Hong Kong’s spokespersons must counter both accusations of suppression of freedoms and the narrative that the economy is withering under the weight of Covid-19 restrictions

But our political and business elite are experienced at promoting the city, which itself has a track record of fighting back and overcoming adversity

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Hongkongers in Tsim Sha Tsui take photos of Victoria Harbour on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on July 1. Photo: Nora Tam

Regina Ip

Published: 10:15am, 14 Aug 2022

President Xi Jinping, in his keynote speech in Hong Kong on July 1, described the city as “a pioneer riding the wave of our country’s great cause of reform and opening up”. He lauded Hong Kong for its role “as an important window and bridge connecting the Chinese mainland and the world” which has “made an irreplaceable contribution to the miracle of long-term, steady and fast economic development of the motherland”.

Not only did Xi compliment Hong Kong for its strengths as a free and open economy highly convergent with international rules, he also envisaged Hong Kong playing an even bigger role in “advancing the new paradigm of China’s opening up on a larger scale, across more areas and in greater depth”.

Xi’s remarks reflect China’s recognition of Hong Kong’s unique advantages as the linchpin between the Chinese mainland and the world, and the expectation of Hong Kong carving out a greater role on the international stage in tandem with China’s global ascendance.

Echoing Xi’s expectations, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has reiterated the need to tell the Hong Kong story well.

Promoting Hong Kong overseas is nothing new to Hong Kong’s leaders, from both government and business, who have a tradition of venturing abroad to negotiate trade deals or promote Hong Kong as a trade, manufacturing and, in recent decades, a global financial hub.

Hong Kong played a particularly high-profile role in the 1990s when China was subject to annual renewal of its Most Favoured Nation status under US law. Arguing that Hong Kong’s exports, of which a large proportion were re-exports from mainland China, would be adversely affected if China’s MFN status were not renewed, Hong Kong sent high-level delegations to Washington to lobby for China’s MFN renewal until China acceded to the World Trade Organization in 2001.