National security law tarnishes Hong Kong’s image and leaves European Union firms revisiting plans, bloc’s envoy says

As she wraps up her four-year posting, Carmen Cano de Lasala warns the city’s attractiveness to businesses has suffered

The 1,600 EU firms based in Hong Kong count on the rule of law and free flow of information, she says

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Carmen Cano de Lasala, the head of the European Union office to Hong Kong and Macau. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 9:30am, 19 Aug 2020Updated: 9:42am, 19 Aug 2020

The European Union’s outgoing envoy for Hong Kong has warned that the city’s international image has been damaged by the imposition of the national security law and companies from the EU will have to reassess their business strategy in the medium-to-long term.

Carmen Cano de Lasala, head of the European Union office to Hong Kong and Macau, said she had seen more self-censorship in the media, universities and schools in the city after the law took effect on June 30.

“The law has created a lot of fear and uncertainty on what the offences of subversion and collusion with foreign powers mean and how it will be implemented,” she said. “It is a different Hong Kong, different from the Hong Kong I found four years ago,” said Cano, who was posted to the city in September of 2016 and will vacate her post on Friday.

In an interview on Tuesday, Cano told the Post that Hong Kong’s attractiveness to businesses had suffered, and that the EU did not see the new law as conforming to the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution – or to China’s international commitment to upholding the “one country, two systems” governing framework.

“The national security law and the subsequent development we have witnessed, including the storming of the office of a newspaper, has damaged Hong Kong’s international image,” she said, referring to the August 10 raid on the headquarters of Apple Daily, which involved hundreds of officers, some of whom rifled through journalists’ desks.

“We have 1,600 companies operating in Hong Kong, more than we have in Japan or the United States,” she continued. “Our companies feel at home here, but the feeling is that the goalpost has moved.

Police officers stand guard in front of the Apple Daily office in Hong Kong as it was raided on August 10. Photo: Reuters

“In the medium-to-long term, they will reassess their situation and business strategy in Hong Kong.”

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