Behind the Curtain: Hong Kong government frets about disqualification by Heritage Foundation
Last week, the National People’s Congress (NPC) announced that Hong Kong’s electoral rules will be amended, while a court decided not to grant bail to the majority of 47 pro-democracy figures involved in the pro-democracy camp’s primaries last year. Democracy advocates in Hong Kong are saddened by the two incidents, and they all feel helpless. However, for the Hong Kong government and some people in the pro-establishment camp, what concerns them more is the Heritage Foundation’s unexpected decision to eliminate Hong Kong from the annual Index of Economic Freedom. They are unhappy with the US institution’s move and they feel embarrassed. According to a source from the financial sector, although the index has no actual function, it has a certain measure of influence. The pro-establishment’s biggest concern is whether foreign businessmen and international rating agencies may be influenced by the Heritage Foundation’s decision and therefore change their assessment of Hong Kong.
The source noted that in the past, even when there were political and economic turmoil and disputes in Hong Kong, the city still ranked first if not second on the Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom, and the government had always used the index as proof to foreign countries that Hong Kong “has no problem” and that the “one country, two systems” arrangement was recognized internationally. Now that the city has been struck off from the index, naturally, the Hong Kong government is embarrassed. “A businessman from the pro-establishment camp said he expected Hong Kong to be downgraded by a few notches but never thought it would be removed,” the source said.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted on PR
The source also pointed out that the Hong Kong government recently has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to hire an international PR company to rebuild the city’s international image, but the drive has yielded nothing, and at the same time Hong Kong has been removed from the Heritage Foundation index. “It looks like hundreds of millions of dollars have been wasted.”
In practice, the Heritage Foundation index has no real function, but it still has a certain status and influence, the source said. “The Hong Kong government has slammed the foundation for its biased decision, but such a comment is not based on facts,” the source remarked. Yet what worries the financial sector most is what kind of impact the Heritage Foundation’s decision will bring. “Although the index has no practical role to play, will the foundation’s decision affect how foreign businessmen and international rating agencies evaluate Hong Kong? This is something we are most concerned about.”
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