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Opinion | Hong Kong must defend the ‘two systems’ advantages that make it special
- Vicious geopolitics is hurting the world’s perception of Hong Kong and its autonomy, causing a slide in credit ratings and risk assessments
- But Hong Kong should also reflect on whether it has indulged too much in past glory and is ill prepared for survival and revival under new national and international conditions
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The point of Hong Kong’s 1997 return to China under “one country, two systems” was to preserve its institutional vibrancy and international market so the city continues to thrive, play the role of East-West intermediary and contribute to China’s reform and modernisation.
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A quarter of a century later, the “two systems” advantage seems to be under threat. Some international media have even portrayed Hong Kong as facing an existential crisis.
The economy is not rebounding as expected after its post-Covid reopening, despite official exhortations about Hong Kong returning to the world’s centre stage. Uncertainties remain and gloomy sentiments have spread because of the sluggish stock and property markets, and weakening consumption and investment. The government is in structural deficit.
The economic difficulties are not just cyclical, nor simply due to global headwinds. They are symptomatic of deeper structural challenges. Despite Beijing’s reiterations that “one country, two systems” is to persist, cynicism and conspiracy theories abound.
Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded its credit ratings outlook for mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau to “negative”, reflecting how some foreign capital see Hong Kong’s investment risk as tantamount to the mainland’s.
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Because the central government imposed its comprehensive jurisdiction and a national security law on the city after its 2019 upheaval, Western governments and media question if Hong Kong still enjoys political and other freedoms, and a high degree of autonomy.
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