There is little more the United States can do to save Hongkongers from the “tragedy” that their national security law has brought about, as foreign firms begin to leave the city, according to a Heritage Foundation article.

Many foreign firms with regional headquarters in the former British colony were evaluating the threat from the new law and considering relocating to “more hospitable and stable business environments in the region,” the article read.

Those companies were “best positioned to decide individually how to respond to the risk to the freedom, safety, and security of their employees in Hong Kong,” and there was little that the U.S. government could do beyond the actions it had taken, the authors Patrick Tyrell and Carter Beardsley wrote in their commentary, published by the American conservative think tank.

Those measures included U.S. sanctions against officials responsible for the implementation of the new law, and Washington’s revocation of Hong Kong’s special trade status.

“That’s a tragedy for the people of Hong Kong, and a sign that hopes for greater future harmonization of economic and political norms between China and the West have become increasingly dim,” the article read.

Among the firms that were leaving Hong Kong were a number of technological companies, particularly those that collected and managed data, as they were especially vulnerable under the new legislation, Tyrell and Beardsley wrote.

The authors cited a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong that indicated more than one-third of its 154 members were planning to move capital, assets or operations out of the city.

“Hong Kong’s regulated financial markets, transparency, and geographic location once made it an ideal location for foreign financial institutions to establish regional headquarters,” the article read.

“Now, considering the new regulations, Hong Kong’s financial markets are clearly becoming less attractive to listing companies, investment banks, and institutional investors other than mainland Chinese companies as perceptions of risk have increased.”

Companies might choose to relocate to places such as Singapore, New Zealand and Taiwan instead, the authors suggested.

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