Without naming the individual, the Hong Kong government said in a statement issued late on Wednesday night that the arguments “obviously” ignored Hong Kong’s existing advantages and momentum of its economic development, citing the city’s 3.3 per cent growth in 2023 against a contraction a year ago.

“The market value of Hong Kong’s stock market exceeds HK$33 trillion [US$4.2 trillion], 10 times that during the handover in 1997. The Stock Connect schemes with Shanghai and Shenzhen have also brought a total of more than 1.8 trillion yuan [US$248 billion] and HK$3.1 trillion in northbound and southbound capital flows,” the government said.

“These figures fully demonstrate that Hong Kong, as an international financial centre, has played its role to the fullest in facilitating the integration of domestic and foreign capital.”

The government also noted it had boosted the city’s pool of talent by approving 180,000 out of 290,000 applications to various schemes as of the end of April. Of the approved, 120,000 had already arrived at Hong Kong.

Following efforts to court fresh investment, the city had more than 9,000 companies operating in Hong Kong with their headquarters on the mainland or overseas, including from Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore in 2023, it said.

The government said that while freedom of speech and press were protected by the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, authorities must also make appropriate responses by keeping a close eye on opinion and information disseminated on different platforms.

“We must emphasise that the government has always adopted an open attitude and listened to pragmatic and constructive valuable opinions from all parties,” the statement read.

“Facing the complex international political environment, external forces deliberately spread rumours and distort the situation in Hong Kong from time to time. The government must not stand idly by and watch.”

It added that amid a complicated external environment, the mainland and Hong Kong’s economic growth was steadily improving and at even at a faster pace than that of some developed economies.

Earlier in the day, Roach said at an event at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Central that he was well aware Hong Kong retained room for debate and had not reached the point of becoming just another Chinese city.

“While that’s not the case in Hong Kong, at least not yet, I note, with some concern, a recent news item reporting on John Lee’s urging for Hongkongers to, quote, ‘stand united in telling others about the real and glorious side of the city’, he added.

“Something tells me that was not just a casual remark.”

Lee also asked the public to view the closure of businesses in the city with a “positive and enterprising” attitude and refrain from exaggeration of the implications.

Roach explained that the United States had become reluctant to distinguish between Hong Kong and the mainland, partly due to the “clearly altered” political climate since the anti-government protests in 2019.

“I implore all of you who want to stand up for Hong Kong, the best thing you can do is stand up for the distinction that makes this city special, to make the case that you are not just another Chinese city,” Roach told the gathering. “And there’s a lot of things that could be said there.”

Meanwhile, billionaire investor Mark Mobius, who is based in Dubai and returned to Hong Kong last week, said on social media on Wednesday that the city was far from over.

From what he saw and the people he met during the trip, the man dubbed the father of emerging markets said Hong Kong remained largely unchanged since he first arrived in the 1960s and that it was never a good idea to write off the potential of any city or country.

Roach in February wrote an op-ed piece called “It pains me to say Hong Kong is over” during the month-long public consultation on Hong Kong’s domestic national security legislation.

He said the piece was seen to be “so sensitive” he was “muzzled” at the China Development Forum in Beijing a month later.

“That’s too bad, mainly too bad for China,” Roach said on Wednesday. “Now, literally any debate over the quote, ‘good stories of China’, is now provocative.”

Roach underlined the importance of preserving a culture of constructive criticism and protecting the ability to deliver uncomfortable messages, as well as the “courage that dares one to speak truth to power”.

“These messages don’t need to be taken personally,” he said. “The ability to listen to constructive criticism can deepen friendships, making intellectual adversaries better versions of themselves.

“The power of criticism, if it’s delivered effectively, need not be seen as a threat based on ulterior motives.”

Roach, also a faculty member at the Ivy League Yale University, said his appearance at the event marked the end of his fourth trip to his “second home” in the last 15 months.

He said he had been involved in “great discussions with a lot of Hongkongers” over the last few days and learned of some great ideas to boost the city’s fortunes.

But Roach reaffirmed pessimism over the Hong Kong economy. He added the city would need to diversify and that new technologies could be its next source of strength.

But he said, with a mainland economy that would be “likely to underperform over the foreseeable future”, it would be difficult for Hong Kong to spring back to life on its own because the links between the city’s economy and the mainland’s had become tighter.

Roach said he believed the city government did not have the right political environment to come up with ideas to reverse the city’s fortunes.

“If you want to break the linkage, you’ve got to have some mechanism that would encourage spontaneous autonomy,” he told the audience.

“The politics and the influence that Beijing has in shaping your politics in the last four years don’t lend themselves to a lot in the way of independent policy initiatives that could make a difference to an economy that will struggle because of China-related linkage.”

The Post has contacted Roach for comment following the government’s statement.