United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam each had their own say about how well or badly the city was faring, on the sidelines of the same business summit this week.

In separate interviews with The Wall Street Journal, Pompeo issued a warning to business leaders around the globe that the U.S. would henceforth treat Hong Kong just like mainland China, while Lam defended the economic prospects, declaring that this was one of the best times to invest in the city.

Pompeo said that Hong Kong “is no longer anything but another Chinese Communist-run city,” and called on the whole world and the business community to follow the U.S. way of treating the city.

Exporters to the U.S. had privately complained to Pompeo that on one hand, they had been exploited by the Chinese, while on the other hand they were also suffering under tariffs imposed on China by the Washington government, he said in an interview conducted in conjunction with the WSJ CEO Council 2020.

Lam, meanwhile, expressed confidence in the future of the city, saying that unfair comments from the outside world merely reflected a lack of knowledge about the governing principle of “one country, two systems.”

The central authorities had no choice but to legislate national security controls in Hong Kong, given the “riots” that broke out more than a year ago, she told the newspaper.

“Nothing has changed in recent years, except that we no longer see those chaotic scenes that have been disturbing and disrupting business for a very long time since June last year,” Lam said, adding that the city had become stable with the implementation of the national security law.

“If you ask me, this is one of the best times to come” to invest, thanks to policies that, under the blessings of the central government, allowed Hong Kong to play a more active role in national development, she added.

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