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China Briefing | Hong Kong, mainland can’t afford more incidents that tarnish ‘one country, two systems’
- While there is little doubt Hong Kong is back, genuine concerns about its future remain, particularly the scope of the national security law and how Beijing views the city’s role
- Hong Kong needs to defend and promote the unique strengths of its common law system, to convince the rest of the world it is still different from the mainland
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Hong Kong has bounced back. That is a constant refrain I have heard from residents and visitors in the past two months after the city reopened following nearly four years of political upheaval and Covid-19 restrictions.
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The familiar hustle and bustle is plain to see if one walks by the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, where marquee events including Art Basel and the Web3 Festival drew in tens of thousands of visitors. In the adjacent Golden Bauhinia Square, buses lined up to disgorge crowds of red-capped mainland tourists.
The city government has launched a lavish campaign to woo back tourists and business talent through sporting events, concerts, and a public relations blitz touted as the “world’s biggest welcome ever”, with free air tickets and spending vouchers.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has even boasted that “Hong Kong always bounces back, better than ever”. While there is little doubt the city is back in business, fewer people whom I have met share Lee’s optimism.
Genuine concerns remain over the city’s future, particularly about the broad scope of the national security law and how Beijing intends Hong Kong to rebrand and reinvent itself at a time of rising geopolitical tensions between China and the West.
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While the outside world sees Beijing’s direct imposition of the national security law on Hong Kong as another definite sign of its further tightening grip on the city, the central government mandarins are not yet totally reassured.
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