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OpinionComment
Harminder Singh
Harminder Singh

Opinion | Horrors of taxes and social justice await Hongkongers fleeing to the West

  • Do Hong Kong residents who are leaving the city, or contemplating doing so, know what is really happening in their future homes?
  • Rampant government spending, red tape and demands for equity and social justice threaten to ruin the new life émigrés are seeking

Reading Time:3 minutes
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Students walk near the Widener Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts on August 13, 2019. A federal appeals court has upheld a district court decision clearing Harvard University of intentional discrimination against Asian-American applicants. Photo: AP
Harminder Singh

Moving to the West in the 1980s and 1990s was considered peak social status for anyone lucky enough to get the green light to emigrate. Rule of law, affordable housing, freedom to travel, high-quality education and capitalism achieved through a meritocratic system drew immigrants to English-speaking liberal democracies.

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Unfortunately, what made the West a desirable destination to establish roots is crumbling before our very eyes and raises this question: do Hong Kong residents leaving the city, or contemplating doing so, know what is really happening in their future homes?

Let’s get the top issue out of the way first: taxes. Every one of the Five Eyes nations – Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Britain – have embraced heavy layers of socialism despite government spending becoming out of control.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, these countries ran perpetual deficits and had incurred huge debts to pay for anything that would get parties the votes needed to take power or stay in power. The United States’ debt at the end of financial year 2019 was US$22.7 trillion. In Canada it was more than C$1 trillion (US$798 billion).

While in Britain, the top destination for the latest Hong Kong émigrés, thanks to a path to citizenship via a British National (Overseas) passport, the debt was £1.8 trillion (US$2.5 trillion). None of these countries have a plan to pay down these debts other than through their favourite vote-grabbing slogans such as “tax the rich” or “pay your fair share” or through money-printing, which has created one of the biggest asset bubbles in history.

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Deepening inequality in South Korea bites struggling youth

Deepening inequality in South Korea bites struggling youth
Wealth taxes are being floated to pay for debt added to balance sheets because of pandemic lockdowns and forced business closures. The wealth tax will be on top of already hefty taxes you will pay on your personal income if you are a high-net-worth individual. This means that several months out of the year you are working for the government.
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