The West’s double standards toward Hong Kong have reached a chilling new low.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) recently released its 2025 World Press Freedom Index, in which Hong Kong plummeted to 140th out of 180 countries and territories, marking a historic low and entering the “very serious” red zone for the first time. RSF highlighted that foreign media face entry bans, and local outlets endure tax investigations and other pressures, signaling a severe crackdown on press freedom.
Curious about the standards applied to other regions ranked above Hong Kong, I examined RSF’s assessments to see what lessons Hong Kong might draw for reference.
Taiwan, ranked 24th, presents a stark contrast. Under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the government has directly shut down media outlets it disfavors. In 2020, Taiwan refused to renew the license of CTi News, a pro-China cable channel, citing failures in internal controls and undue interference by its owner in editorial content. All these, according to the RSF’s standards, would have been deemed insufficient to justify the shutdown. This raises questions about RSF’s impartiality, as it appears to favor Taiwan’s pro-independence government and praises it to the sky.
The United States, ranked 57th, also faces significant challenges to press freedom. According to US thinktank “Press Freedom Tracker”, 2022 saw 128 violations of press freedom across the country, including 40 assaults on journalists and 15 arrests or prosecutions. In 2023, at least a dozen journalists were arrested or charged, some convicted criminally for routine reporting. Thus, the US is hardly more lenient in prosecuting journalists.
Press freedom deteriorated further under the Trump administration. Trump shut down Voice of America where many journalists had displeased him. He revoked press credentials from four media organizations critical of his administration. He was notably hostile to the Associated Press (AP), which refused to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of American.” Trump even banned AP from White House briefings for a time.
More gravely, journalists have been killed in the US military context, a frequent but underacknowledged occurrence. The most notorious case is the 2007 US Apache helicopter attack on civilians in Baghdad that killed Reuters cameraman Namir Noor-Eldeen and his driver Saeed Chmagh. Despite video evidence, no military personnel were held accountable, nor were measures taken to prevent future incidents. RSF ranks the US relatively high, apparently regards journalists’ lives “don’t matter”.
Israel, ranked 112th, presents an even more troubling record. In 2023, Israeli airstrikes killed Palestinian TV journalist Mohammed Abu Hatab and 11 family members in Khan Younis, Gaza. His colleagues were devastated, witnessing the tragedy live on air.
Journalists being killed on camera has become tragically routine. On May 11, 2022, Shireen Abu Akleh, Al Jazeera’s renowned Palestinian journalist, was shot in the head by an Israeli bullet while reporting on a military raid in a refugee camp, dying instantly at age 51. Witnesses and media condemned the killing as deliberate, noting she wore a press vest at the time.
I ask RSF: Has Hong Kong ever killed a journalist? What is more important than a journalist’s life? How can countries that openly kill journalists rank so much higher than Hong Kong in press freedom? Had the dead journalists enjoyed freedom? When faced with authoritarian regimes, RSF remains silent. On what grounds does it point a finger at Hong Kong? If RSF is so committed, why not seek justice for the slain Palestinian journalists first?
Hong Kong’s Basic Law and National Security Law guarantee press freedom. But there are boundaries . There is no freedom to spread disinformation, incite riots, or accept foreign funding aimed at subverting the government. Hong Kong’s media remains professional but bears a painful history of political interference. The bitter lessons of 2019 must not be forgotten.
Wing-hung Lo
Bastille Commentary
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
At the arrival of 2026, the happiest thing is to see the "Hong Kong is dead" narrative—proclaimed so loudly by Western voices—die yet again.
Foreign Money Returns Home
The West has written Hong Kong's obituary more times than you can count. They believed the city's return to China should have been its death sentence. American magazine Fortune declared "The Death of Hong Kong" on its 1995 cover—two years before the handover even happened. Hong Kong survived the Asian financial turmoil in the early post-handover years. It survived SARS. Then came 2019's Black Riots, followed by US sanctions on Hong Kong officials in 2020 and the pandemic's hammer blow. Foreign capital fled in an American-orchestrated exodus, with much of it landing in Singapore.
Last February, Stephen Roach—Yale University senior fellow—wrote in the UK's Financial Times with a headline that said it all: "It pains me to say Hong Kong is over." Foreign investors don't just track economic growth when they assess Hong Kong. They watch the stock market. And over the past year, Hong Kong's miraculous stock market comeback has bankrupted the "Hong Kong is dead" theory.
Hong Kong's economy grew an estimated 3.2% in 2025—ranking it among the developed world's top performers. But the stock market performance was getting really interesting. Average daily turnover in the first 11 months hit HK$230.7 billion—a massive 43% jump compared to 2024's same period.
Record-Breaking Fundraising Wins
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange crushed it in 2025. A total of 119 new listings raised HK$285.8 billion—a staggering 220% year-on-year increase and the highest since 2021. According to KPMG's report, HKEX ranked first globally in fundraising. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq tied for second place. Looking ahead, HKEX's fundraising is estimated to reach HK$300-350 billion in 2026, keeping it among the world's top exchanges.
Sure, Mainland capital is investing in Hong Kong. But foreign capital's return has been the real game-changer behind the stock market's strong performance. According to fund industry insiders, what we're seeing now is only wave one—primarily hedge funds and other medium-to-short-term players. As Hong Kong's trading volumes swell and quality Mainland companies list here, the long-term foreign funds will gradually return. The outlook for Hong Kong stocks continues to look favorable.
America's narrative said Hong Kong's National Security Law would scare capital away. Reality proved exactly the opposite. Hong Kong's stable environment gave Chinese companies the confidence to list here. America's targeting of Chinese concept stocks listed on its exchanges was self-destruction—forcing quality Chinese companies to turn to Hong Kong for listing instead. This made Hong Kong's stock market bigger and stronger, compelling even bearish foreign capital to come back.
Beijing's Seal of Approval
President Xi's remarks when meeting Chief Executive John Lee during his duty visit to Beijing in mid-December reveal what work the central government values in Hong Kong. President Xi opened with praise for the Chief Executive's courage and initiative in leading the SAR government. He highlighted four key achievements: steadfast maintenance of national security, successful Legislative Council elections, proactive integration into national development, and achieving steady economic growth.
President Xi's assessment underscores Beijing's high recognition of Hong Kong's ability to do both—safeguard national security and develop the economy simultaneously. Some Hong Kong people believed that having transitioned "from chaos to governance and then to prosperity," the city should set aside national security to focus on economic development. Reality proved this view wrong. Hong Kong must strike a balance between these seemingly contradictory goals and advance on both fronts at once.
Look at Hong Kong's development over the past five years. The city emerged from Black Riots and the pandemic in 2021, achieving a strong rebound from the bottom in 2023. The return to normalcy brought revenge spending that temporarily elevated market sentiment.
But entering 2024, local consumption patterns underwent structural changes. Hong Kong people shopping across the border diverted local retail spending. The strong Hong Kong dollar—tracking the US dollar—and high interest rates suppressed economic activity, leading to structural adjustment.
By the second half of 2025, Hong Kong entered a phase of moderate recovery. The property market began stabilizing after its decline. With the US starting rate cuts in September, capital supply loosened. Hong Kong can continue along this recovery path in 2026—that's the estimate anyway.
Despite the optimism, Hong Kong people must keep working hard. The many vacant shops you see on the streets tell the story—retail economy pressure remains real. In 2024, Hong Kong's total retail sales value of HK$376.8 billion represented a 7.3% year-on-year decline. That's painful for the retail sector.
Retail's Reversal Ahead
Through October 2025, retail sales values remained comparable to the previous year. But consumption began recovering in the second half—retail sales value rose 3.8% in August, 6% in September, and 6.9% in October. 2025 showed an early decline followed by growth, with accelerating consumption momentum. Retail consumption is expected to reverse its decline in 2026.
During this retail transformation, we Hong Kong people must continue their efforts. Old businesses will still be eliminated—that's inevitable. Strategic adjustments are required. New opportunities must be pursued.
Bottom line: Hong Kong's economic performance in 2025 proves once again that the "Hong Kong is dead" theory dies—one more time. Hong Kong has weathered different shocks repeatedly in the past, emerging reborn each time like a phoenix from the ashes.
Lo Wing Hung
