101–110 of 155 posts
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We should go one further and carve out a territory for a New Hong Kong and let them re-build there.
That's always been my solution for Israel. Give them a nice hunk of Pacific coast around Oregon/Washington.
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The CCP can now afford to sacrifice HK, their economy is now much larger than it was in 97.
They can't. For one thing they desperately need the dollars that flow through Hong Kong. The GDP size is now among the least valuable aspects of Hong Kong as it pertains to China. That has never been primary. Hong Kong is the economic staging point that much of the world uses to enter China's economy. Think of it as a translating middleman, that the world uses to convert from foreign market-based economics to China's…
In the past, yes. Nowadays Hong Kong's financial importance is rapidly diminishing. In 1997 Hong Kong compromised 19% of China's GDP, today it's ~2%.
FDI is still predominantly channeled through Hong Kong, but with 35 billion last year the general role of FDI is actually pretty negligible compared to the size of the domestic economy, and it looks like Shenzhen and Shanghai are well on their way to replace the city.
"The chief executive of the London Stock Exchange dismissed Hong Kong’s significance as a financial centre when the LSE rejected a takeover offer from the Hong Kong Exchange. “We view Shanghai as the financial centre of China,” David Schwimmer, the LSE’s chief executive, told the South China Morning Post."
https://www.ft.com/content/2c4c56bd-1c40-3261-8ba8-f3ce8c83e...
Anyone else wonder why legitimate, thoughtful responses are being downvoted?
Wumao aka the 50 Cent Party is "In Da Club."[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent_Party
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What i meant was it was under British rule prior to China. The British ruler was literally appointed by outsiders. From an American perspective it’s more about losing a territory under Allied jurisdiction. From the local perspective it’s about losing independence rights—though they didn’t really have that right under British rule either.
I'll illustrate with an example. Under the British, while it was true that the governor and many government officials were Brits, a surprising number of them were able to speak fluent Cantonese. They actually took the effort to understand the local culture. You can find many such clips on Youtube. Nowadays, under Chinese rule, Hong Kongers often get told off by mainland Chinese officials for not speaking Mandarin, an…
And actually the last of the British governors tried to increase democracy. While the PRC blocked it because it was in their interest to do so, the HK people didn’t exactly fight for it or make it easy.
I can stand behind a Democracy movement, but find it harder to palate a political power grab.
I don't understand why the world in general is worried about Hong Kong being taken over by the Chinese. In 1842, Hong Kong was a chinese territory. It was taken over by the British during the first and second opium wars and then leased out to the British for 99 years. The keyword here being leased out. If now China is wresting back control of its territory, how is that disputed. The people of Hong Kong always knew th…
Anyone else wonder why legitimate, thoughtful responses are being downvoted?
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Not that I disagree with the act, but I love how politicians are trying to frame destroying Hong Kong's economy as supporting "Human Rights and Democracy."
Because that's exactly what it is? It is literally one of the main points that people in Hong Kong have been protesting for
HK import volume 2018: USD $627 billion [1]
HK export volume 2018: USD $568 billion [2]
The top 2 imports are: (see [3])
1. Electrical machinery, equipment: US$307.7 billion (53.2% of total imports)
2. Machinery including computers: US$66.4 billion (11.5%)
HK has only 7 million people. There's no way it can consume that much import nor produce that much export, especially not consuming $307 billion worth of machine equipment. Hong Kong is China's 2nd top trading partner [4]; China is basically using Hong Kong as a trading proxy to evade sanction. Most of the imports are purchased by China because it cannot buy them legally and has to use HK's "autonomous" status to import. Most of the exports are routed by China to take advantage of its tax free zone status.
Not to mention 70% of the foreign money going into China every year is via Hong Kong. Killing Hong Kong's "autonomous" status is the stupidest move done by China in the recent years. It allows the outside world to plug the last gateway into China.
[1] https://www.tid.gov.hk/english/aboutus/publications/tradesta...
[2] https://www.tid.gov.hk/english/aboutus/publications/tradesta...
[3] http://www.worldstopexports.com/hong-kongs-top-10-imports/
[4] http://www.worldstopexports.com/chinas-top-import-partners/
I don't understand why the world in general is worried about Hong Kong being taken over by the Chinese. In 1842, Hong Kong was a chinese territory. It was taken over by the British during the first and second opium wars and then leased out to the British for 99 years. The keyword here being leased out. If now China is wresting back control of its territory, how is that disputed. The people of Hong Kong always knew th…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll illustrate with an example. Under the British, while it was true that the governor and many government officials were Brits, a surprising number of them were able to speak fluent Cantonese. They actually took the effort to understand the local culture. You can find many such clips on Youtube. Nowadays, under Chinese rule, Hong Kongers often get told off by mainland Chinese officials for not speaking Mandarin, an…
If Trump started learning the local dialect (English), that doesn’t suddenly make him legitimately represent all English speakers. And actually the last of the British governors tried to increase democracy. While the PRC blocked it because it was in their interest to do so, the HK people didn’t exactly fight for it or make it easy. I can stand behind a Democracy movement, but find it harder to palate a political powe…
People tend not to demand a democratic system until they are dissatisfied with the governance.
> or make it easy
I still don't see how you've come to this conclusion.
> I can stand behind a Democracy movement, but find it harder to palate a political power grab.
Any democracy movement is by definition a political power grab.