As the saying goes, “stupidity is incurable”. The height of folly certainly brings to the one who has acted it out calamitous consequences, but a person at the helm of a country or society who has done so will not only harm himself/herself but also victimize thousands of innocent people, of which the draconian law forced through in Hong Kong last year is typical, illustrating the fact that powers have to be checked and balanced.

No matter how brilliant a person is, or even if he/she used to rank first in class every year or declared himself/herself to be well read, having waded through works of literature, history, natural sciences and social sciences of all times and countries, it is still unavoidable for him/her to err. The longer one is in the highest command or the more power one has, the more possible one has his/her head in the clouds and is over-confident. The political decisions made will then be unrealistic, causing extraordinarily disastrous upshots. More horribly, the haughtiness of authorities and the system on the loose are bound to prompt the one in power to make fatuous resolutions time and again. Following the anti-extradition tempest, the recent decision to freeze the bank accounts of Hui Chi-fung, former LegCo member in exile, and his family members is another testament to such resolves.

Hui, who crowdfunded for filing a lawsuit against police brutality, is inversely accused of money laundering. He presented an accountant’s report to rebut the accusation with the fact that the money kept by a law firm is never misappropriated. To say the least, even if the crowdfunding activity by Hui is suspected of being involved in offending against the law, it does not make any sense to inflict a collateral punishment on his wife and parents before trial by freezing their bank accounts. Worse still, the incident has made public how reckless banks in Hong Kong are in securing depositors’ assets. Not only did they not notify the persons concerned, but they also did not do their bit conscientiously to protect the depositors’ interest, yielding to just a single phone call from the police without asking for any legal document and rationale beforehand. This is a manifestation of how powerful the police/National Security Department is and how arbitrary and obscure the law enforcement is.

The episode has petrified the entire Hong Kong. A lot of people have awoken to the fact that their money stashed in banks that collapsed at the first blow dealt by power abusers is not safe at all. In the past, a lot of people who were incredulous at how terrifying the National Security Law was described to be and the large extent to which the law enforcers could exercise their power took a chance that the authorities would only pick on “troublemakers”. Yet the freezing of the Huis’ bank accounts is a palpable instance warning Hongkongers that with just an order given by the authorities, anyone’s life savings could be frozen off hand, with no complaints allowed.

Citing bankers and lawyers from Hong Kong, Reuters said the Hong Kong police’s request for having the bank accounts of the Huis’, Good Neighbor North District Church’s, its pastor Chan Hoi-hing’s and his wife’s frozen has horrified part of the population, who are worried that it would become the new normal, into transferring their assets abroad. Two veteran financial practitioners disclosed the customers that opened bank accounts overseas during the anti-extradition movement last year have recently started transferring assets. “Those who used to wait and see have now started to take action. They worry the practice(freezing bank accounts) is going to be commonplace. If they put their money in Hong Kong, they would suffer a heavy loss.” The report also indicated that though some customers did not take part in demonstrations, they are converting Hong Kong dollars to US dollars for the convenience of removing it overseas. That takes no one by surprise.

Over decades, with free flow of assets, highly efficient and reliable financial institutions, judiciary independence and a robust watchdog system to keep assets safe, Hong Kong has become a harbor of sanctuary for capitals during political upheavals in Southeast Asia and international financial turmoils, gradually growing up to an international financial hub. However, such a success story will highly likely come to a full stop for the people in power being inexorably stupid. In light of Hongkongers removing their assets for safety reason, how is it possible for foreigners to take Hong Kong as a place of refuge for assets and capitals anymore? While awkwardly forcing through the draconian extradition amendment bill deeply disappointed Hongkongers, unreasonably freezing the Huis’ bank accounts scared Hongkongers witless! It does not take a lot but only one stupid decision by the people in power to wreck Hong Kong. And the unreasonable freezing of bank accounts has hit Hong Kong as an international financial center really hard!

Apart from the reputation of the international financial center being plunged into a nadir, the development of the Greater Bay Area is also jeopardized. Encountering the containment by the US and Europe, coupled with the persistent coronavirus pandemic, Xi Jinping, for the purpose of drawing in capitals, has stated clearly the country will further open up, and is even preparing for US financial and technology magnates to land in the Greater Bay Area, which is still struggling to advance. By doing so, firstly, it can cozy up to those Wall Street and Silicon Valley moguls who carry a great deal of clout in Washington, D.C., so that the suppression of China by the US is mitigated, or even the US containment policy towards China breaks down; secondly, it can expedite the financial and technological progress in the Greater Bay Area, where Hong Kong can still play a pivotal role as a bridge in financing. Nonetheless, one bad apple spoils the barrel. Recklessly freezing bank accounts does not only scare away Hongkongers’ and foreigners’ assets, but also deter overseas investment. How can Hong Kong be of help to the development of the Greater Bay Area anymore?

(Poon Siu To, veteran journalist)

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