Beijing’s heavy-handed approach to ruling Hong Kong will force international institutions out of the city, damaging its status as a financial hub, the head of a Taiwanese think tank said on Friday.

Lai I-Chung, the president of the Prospect Foundation, told a seminar that fears over Hong Kong’s eroding freedoms and the demise of its famed independent judicial system will destroy business confidence and narrow the scope of businesses operating in the city.

The seminar, held in Taipei, was focused on the implications of policies approved during the recent “two sessions”, the annual convening of China’s National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Those policies included sweeping reforms of Hong Kong’s electoral system.

During the NPC meetings, a bill was passed to introduce more seats into Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, its de facto parliament, to give pro-Beijing candidates a majority in the chamber. A qualification review committee will also be set up with the power to disqualify any candidates.

These moves were part of Beijing’s wider policy directive of allowing only “patriots” to run the city.

“Foreign financial institutions will leave Hong Kong,” Lai said. “Even if they stayed, the scope of their businesses would be greatly reduced,” he added, referring to the sweeping national security laws that now outlaw dissent in Hong Kong.

Officials have claimed that the national security legislation and electoral reforms will restore stability to the city after the social unrest that brought the former British colony into the international spotlight. Authorities say the new policies will ensure that Hong Kong is a good place to carry out business.

But, Yan Jiann-fa, a scholar at the Chien Hsin University of Science and Technology in the Taiwanese city of Taoyuan, told the seminar that the narrowing of Hongkongers’ political rights has hampered the city’s rule of law. This will inevitably drive international talent out of the city and reduce its significance on the international stage, Yan said.

Dozens of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists have been arrested under the draconian national security laws since the legislation came into effect last June. The head of Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, Chiu Tai-san, warned at a separate event on Friday that the treatment of Hong Kong should serve as a good reminder for Taiwanese people when they judge whether Beijing will fulfil its promises.

The island has been politically split from the mainland since the end of a bitter civil war in 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party took power and the defeated Kuomintang forces fled to Taiwan.

Yan added that China is set to increase its military spending in the coming years with a view to countering the influence of the United States in Asia. Experts at the seminar agreed that China has hoped to establish a dominant role on the international stage and create an impression of its ability to maintain stability both domestically and abroad.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play