Hong Kong, the Super Connector

Mark Pinkstone/Former Chief Information Officer of HK government

The positioning of Hong Kong at the base of China makes it the envy of the world. As a rip-roaring capitalist regime in the world’s largest consumer market, Hong Kong is portrayed as the showcase of China.

Armed with robust financial and common-law legal systems, Hong Kong is the “Mr Fixit” in world trade and can make anything “happen.” It provides a “can-do” environment among business partners.

It is the world’s Super Connector.

This was proven last week by a successful trade mission to Qatar and Kuwait by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, leading a delegation of 50 lawmakers, government officials, business representatives and for the first time included 20 entrepreneurs from the mainland provinces of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong.

At the end of the visit, they secured 59 Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) and agreements, 35 in Qatar and 24 in Kuwait, spanning across diverse areas and laying a robust groundwork for multifaceted co-operation. These MOUs will lay the foundations for future development especially in the Great Bay Area and Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis where science and technology are at the forefront for world advancement.

The trip also further built relations with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) to explore greater business opportunities, deepened mutual understanding and strengthening commercial and trading networks. Tourism will also be high on the list as efforts will be made to promote tourism between the two areas. Enhanced cultural exchanges with the GCC countries is also on the cards and Hong Kong can expect to see more cultural activities from the Arab world in the future.

“We strengthened relations between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the governments of Qatar and Kuwait, establishing a collaborative consensus,” said Lee.

He also noted that the visit helped leverage Hong Kong's strengths under the “one country, two systems” principle in connecting the mainland and the world, deepening international exchanges and co-operation, and demonstrating the synergistic power of the complementary advantages between Hong Kong and the mainland.

It was a mission of unity and peace and hot on the heels of a mission to Europe by Chinese President Xi Jinping who visited France, Hungry and Serbia in the previous week.

And while the East was bearing peace and goodwill to the Arabs and others, US President Donald Trump arrived at the same time offering arms and weapons of mass destruction destined to kill millions in the future.  For that Trump was rewarded with a US$400 million “palace in the sky” Boeing jet to fly him around the world. Xi, on the other hand, received a modest two bottles of cognac and a few other items from French President Emmanuel Macron, a tongue-in-cheek gift acknowledging China’s investigation into France’s anti-dumping practices of cognac in the mainland. The Europeans called it “Cognac Diplomacy.” In return Xi offered Macron, among other things,  a large stuffed bird which was actually a detailed model of a feathered dinosaur lived in China during the prehistoric era, and a volume of French literary classics, translated into Chinese and published in China, and a painting.

At the end of his tour in Kuwait last week, Lee told the press: “Middle East countries are seeking diversification of risks and looking for opportunities in China and the Hong Kong SAR in order to join the tide of the global economic shift towards the East. In this, Hong Kong has boundless opportunities.”

And indeed, it does. Hong Kong offers helplines for foreign investors seeking a foothold in this lucrative market through InvestHK, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and, of course, the government’s trade and industry department, which provides the legal framework for the previous two to operate.

Last year, some 539 overseas and mainland companies set up or expanded their business in Hong Kong, representing a 41 per cent increase compared to 2023, according to InvestHK’s latest annual report. This reflects the strong appeal of Hong Kong as a leading business hub in the region. The strong Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) performance, driven by investment across diverse and high-value industries, represents a total investment to the Hong Kong's economy of some HK$67.7 billion (US$8.66 billion), a record high.

Trade missions to and from Hong Kong are necessary for face-to-face meetings with trade negotiators and are necessary, not only for better trade deals, but simply for the better understanding and camaraderie between partners.

They also pave the way for future generations to work in harmony with others of different race, creed and color towards world peace and the advancement of mankind.

Mark Pinkstone

** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **

Mark Pinkstone/Former Chief Information Officer of HK government

So, US President Donald Trump is going to ask China to release former media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, currently facing sedition and collusion charges in Hong Kong, during the trade negotiation talks in Switzerland this weekend, according to international news agency, Reuters.

There is little chance of that ever happening. In the whole scheme of world conflicts and international trade negotiations, the trial of a Hong Kong man on sedition charges pales into insignificance. Just a leaf in a tea cup. And even if it did come up during the hard talk negotiations, the Chinese side will simply ignore it.

British-based Reuters boasts a readership of more than one billion people a day and is used by some 750 television broadcasters covering 115 countries. Yes, it does have reach and is influential. But it is also biased, like most of the western media towards China and Hong Kong.

Indeed, the Reuters release was picked up by most of the world’s media.  Bloomberg quoted Trump from the release’s account of a radio interview: “I think talking about Jimmy Lai is a very good idea. We’ll put it down and we’ll put it as part of the negotiations.”

Trump was responding to a question put by Republican political commentator Hugh Hewitt on his Hughniverse podcast on May 7.

During the negotiations on Hong Kong’s future in the 1980s, Reuters moved its regional headquarters from Hong Kong to Singapore as it had no faith in Hong Kong’s future. It still doesn’t, even though Hong Kong has fought off adversaries and doomsday prophets with a shield of truth and perseverance. The story of Hong Kong’s triumphs and successes have been retold many times.

Reuters reports: “The trial of Lai – a long-standing critic of the Chinese Communist Party – has shone a spotlight on a sweeping crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong following China’s imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong in 2020.”

The writers, both Hong Kong residents, were in Hong Kong and witnessed the bloody riots that prevailed at the time, but chose to side with the dissidents and their reportage thereafter has been colored by their own emotions. Gone are the days of balanced, unbiased reporting, especially with such a reputable news organization.

But the story is continually fuelled by Lai’s son, Sebastien and his public relations team of barristers at Doughty Street Chambers in London.

On World Press Freedom Day last week, Fox News devoted a segment to Sebastien who noted that in 1995 Lai senior founded Apple Daily…which quickly “became a beacon for free speech.”  Every Hong Konger knows that Apple Daily was launched on a platform of sex, gossip and more sex. It was a sleaze newspaper, known in the west as the “yellow press.”  In its early days it had no political bias. It was not until he ran foul with the Beijing authorities over regulations concerning his Giordano store that his attitude changed towards Beijing and anything relating to authority.

Sebastien summed up his father as “an immigrant who never quite fit in.”

In this final plea, Sebastien sought the release of his father, even before a verdict has been reached in his trial, so that he “can leave Hong Kong and be with his family.”

Lai faces three charges: two counts of collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security and one count of conspiracy to publish a seditious publication.

Jimmy Lai wrapped up his testimony on March 6 after taking the witness stand for 52 days. The trial is set to hear closing arguments on August 14, which are expected to last eight days.

But again, the western press smeared the judiciary before the trial even began. The infamous BBC lauded: “Mr Lai cannot expect a fair trial in today’s Hong Kong…”

It quoted Doughty Street barrister Jonathan Price, a member of Lai’s so-called international legal team saying that the fundamental principle of the rule of law in Hong Kong has eroded and that “everybody knows there’s only going to be one result.”

Mr Price, his colleagues in Doughty Street Chambers and the BBC should be reminded that Hong Kong’s judiciary ranks No.23 out of the 142 jurisdictions in the authoritative World Justice Project last year and even higher ratings in World Economic Forum earlier findings.