On Wednesday, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, released its annual ranking of the world’s freest economies, removing the former British colony from the list.
The organization said it counted the city, as well as Macao – another China-controlled special administrative region – as part of China, following a change in methodology that means the index will only rank “ independent countries where governments exercise sovereign control over economic ”. policy. “
Undoubtedly, both Hong Kong and Macau, as special administrative regions, enjoy economic policies that in many ways give their citizens more economic freedom than the average Chinese citizen, but developments in recent years have unequivocally shown that those policies are ultimately controlled from Beijing. the foundation’s researchers said in a statement.
Prior to last year, Hong Kong had dominated the list for over a quarter of a century since its inception. But it was discontinued by Singapore in 2020, “mainly due to a decline in Hong Kong’s investment freedom score,” the Heritage Foundation said.
Singapore remains the top-rated economy on the list this year, followed by New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland and Ireland. China is in the bottom half, in 107th place out of 184 countries.
The top five countries “achieved very high scores for economic freedom of 80 or more,” the foundation’s researchers wrote. The score is assessed against several criteria, including how open the markets in each territory are viewed, how efficient regulators are in promoting business and labor freedom, and how strict the rule of law is in protecting property rights.
Paul Chan, Hong Kong’s chief financial officer, condemned the Heritage Foundation for excluding the city from the index on Thursday.
“I disagree that our economic policies have been taken over by the central government,” he said during a South China Morning Post webinar. “It seems to me that when they came to that decision, it must have been clouded by their ideological tendency and political bias.”
A Hong Kong government spokesman said in a statement that excluding the area from the rankings was “neither justified nor justified”. Hong Kong is a member of the World Trade Organization, the spokesman said, and as an individual economy enters into trade, tax and investment deals.
“Hong Kong is and will always remain an open, safe, vibrant and pluralistic international financial and business center, supported by economic freedom, the rule of law and judicial independence,” the spokesman added.
Hong Kong has long been seen as a vital business center connecting East and West. Even after the transfer of the city from Britain to China in 1997, it retained its image as an international gateway to the mainland for decades, aided by a commitment from Beijing to maintain its semi-autonomous status.
However, since 2019, experts have warned that the unique differences could be jeopardized as Chinese authorities seek to take a firmer hand in Hong Kong’s affairs. That was when huge protests erupted in the city over a divisive extradition bill that eventually grew into a movement calling for full democracy. The unrest of the demonstrations at the time forced shops to close, disrupted part of public transport and damaged the city’s economic growth.
Last summer, Hong Kong faced a new test when China passed a sweeping national security measure for the city. The law banned sedition, secession and subversion against Beijing, and allowed Chinese state security to operate in the territory.
The move raised questions about whether the city’s reputation – and its ability to attract businesses – would be eroded. However, top local officials have argued that it helps the city restore peace and order.
Tensions between pro-democracy activists and authorities persist. Earlier this week, hundreds of protesters were at risk of being arrested for demonstrating outside a Hong Kong court when 47 pro-democracy activists appeared accused of undermining under national security law.
There are also signs that the city’s role in international finance is changing. In the past year, Hong Kong has become a popular location for Chinese technology companies to list their shares, especially as tensions remain over Chinese companies trading publicly in the United States.
Eric Cheung and CNN employees contributed to this report.
