Hong Kong Ceases to Be Safe Haven in Gathering U.S.-China Storm
- Trump hits city’s special status after China tightens grip
- Hong Kong bankers ‘are booking their flights to Singapore’
Ferries cross Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong on July 15.
Photographer: Lam Yik/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Hong Kong, until recently an oasis of political stability in Asia, is now gripped with unprecedented regulatory and legal uncertainty that threatens its position as one of the world’s top financial hubs.
China’s imposition of a sweeping, but vaguely worded national security law on June 30 has already begun to change the business landscape. Tech giants like Google and Facebook Inc. have suspended processing data requests from the government. Banks are struggling to figure out how to comply with the contradictions in U.S. and Chinese legal changes. Even mainland bankers in the city got a shock when China started taxing their incomes at rates as high as 45%, compared with 15% in Hong Kong.