In Hong Kong, China’s Grip Can Feel Like ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’

Once one of Asia’s most high-flying cities, Hong Kong is now grappling with deep pessimism. The stock market is in the tank, home values have tumbled, and emigration is fueling a brain drain. Some of the hottest restaurants, spas, and shopping malls that local residents are flocking to are across the border, in the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.

“It pains me to say Hong Kong is over,” Stephen Roach, an economist and former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, wrote in a recent commentary in The Financial Times. The government needs to revive Hong Kong’s economy and promote its global image, but it has instead largely focused on national security. The recent passing of updated and new security laws aimed at curbing foreign influence and dissent with severe penalties like life imprisonment for treason and other political crimes could deter even more foreign businesses from investing in Hong Kong.

The malaise hanging over Hong Kong is partly a consequence of its status as a bridge between China and the West. With the city’s growth dragged down by the mainland’s sputtering economy and tensions between China and the United States.

At the heart of Hong Kong’s troubles is a crisis of identity, as the city’s Beijing-backed officials push the once freewheeling city away from the West and embrace the top-down political culture and nationalistic fervor of President Xi Jinping’s China. After massive anti-government demonstrations engulfed the city for months in 2019, Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, which the authorities used to crush the pro-democracy opposition with ferocity.

In the Chinese Communist Party’s telling, the protests were fueled by Western forces seeking to undermine Chinese sovereignty. John Lee, the city’s Beijing-backed leader and a former police officer, casts Hong Kong as a city still besieged by subversive foreign forces. Mr. Lee touts the new security laws as the strongest foundation for Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability, eliminating threats to the city.

With the security laws in place, officials now say the government can focus on other needs, like reviving the economy. However, it remains unclear if Hong Kong can retain the dynamism and vitality that drove its prosperity at a time when Beijing’s control is increasingly overt. The new rules also raise questions about how the boundaries have shifted.

To visit Hong Kong today and scratch beneath the surface is to view a city vastly different from its vibrant, sometimes raucous political culture that existed before the current crackdown. Government critics and opposition lawmakers languish in jail, independent news organizations have been forced to close, and civil servants and public school teachers are being told to take loyalty oaths and pass national security tests.

The controversy surrounding soccer star Lionel Messi’s decision to sit out an exhibition match in Hong Kong due to injury stirred political tensions, with Chinese state media suggesting he had been used in a conspiracy to embarrass the city. Even voices within the Hong Kong establishment are not spared scoldings, showing an increasingly prickly official atmosphere.

Legal experts and trade groups have raised concerns about the broad and often vague wording of the new security laws, creating potential risks for businesses operating in or looking to invest in Hong Kong. The uncertainty has led some foreign firms to treat Hong Kong like the mainland, using burner phones and limiting local employees’ access to global databases.

Amidst these challenges, residents like personal trainer Mark Lee are considering emigrating overseas due to the changes they see in their city. The feeling of “death by a thousand cuts” looms over Hong Kong as its once vibrant energy and optimism are sapped by external pressures.

In conclusion, Hong Kong’s struggle under China’s tightening grip reflects a city at a crossroads, where its identity, autonomy, and economic prosperity are being tested. The future of Hong Kong remains uncertain, with residents grappling with the evolving political landscape and its impact on their daily lives. As the city navigates a changing geopolitical environment, the resilience of its people and the spirit of Hong Kong are put to the test in the face of adversity.