Forbes magazine, which once infamously cited the “Death of Hong Kong” on its cover and later apologized for it, has again struck its poisonous pen into Hong Kong this time at its judiciary.
With the black hand of the Doughty Street Chambers in London, the “international legal team” for Jimmy Lai written all over it, the article likened Lai’s trial to “multiple Kafkaesque trials for fighting for freedom of speech and democracy in Hong Kong.” The author, Dr Ewelina U. Ochab was referring to the trial of Josef K., who was arrested and prosecuted by an incomprehensible legal system without ever knowing the charges against him, as depicted in a book by Franz Kafka, from Prague in the early 1920s.
This is an insult to Hong Kong’s judicial system. Hong Kong practices the common law system, similar to all British Commonwealth countries and the US. In fact, Hong Kong’s legal system is well regarded and in the 2024 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, Hong Kong remained unchanged as it continued to rank sixth in the East Asia and Pacific region and came 23rd out of 142 countries and jurisdictions globally. The judges hearing the Lai trial were recommended by the Chief Justice as being the most experienced in handling national security laws. The legal system is comprehensible, and Jimmy Lai is fully aware of the charges made against him, which includes sedition and collusion with foreign forces.
Ochab made numerous reference to Lai being held in solitary confinement. If she had done her own homework and not rely on the word of the Doughty Street Chambers, she would know that Lai asked to be in solidarity and did not wish to mix with the other inmates. As a devout Catholic he attends mass every Sunday and receives holy communion. As for his health, yes, he is aging and is diabetic. But his local legal team told the court that he receives regular medical treatment and is provided with the necessary medications. The lawyers said they were satisfied with the treatment Lai receives while in custody.
She refers a survey by Doughty Street Chambers that was “chilling” to note that 12 prisoners who died during 2014 – 25 “closely match Mr Lai’s profile, being older, male diabetic prisoners. The most recent death of a diabetic prisoner was on June 28, 2025, of a man aged 74.” And that it was “deeply disturbing” to reveal a significant number of deaths of older prisoners and diabetic prisoners in circumstances where there “appears to have been a failure to identify a person’s deteriorating health condition in prison and a failure to transfer them to hospital in time for life-saving treatment.” This is a load of rubbish, again from the Doughty Street chambers. With a total prison population of 10,184 inmates, it is not surprising that some died of old age. It should also be noted that all penal institutions in Hong Kong have on-premises hospitals and are staffed by qualified healthcare personnel. In collaboration with Medical Officers from the Department of Health, round-the-clock basic health care services are provided in all institutions. Those in custody who need further treatment and investigations are referred to visiting medical specialists or public hospitals for follow-up.
This so-called survey appears to be unpublished but was given exclusively to Ochab for her article by Doughty Street chambers.
The public relations spin Doughty Street chambers has given to Jimmy Lai’s detention has proven effective with practically all western media having fallen for the “innocent” line to a man facing near treason charges. One can only imagine the tone of the coverage once the verdict is delivered.
And it continues. Only recently, Security Secretary Chris Tang wrote to The Economist condemning an article headlined “Jimmy Lai’s trial raises questions about how justice now works.” Similar letters were dispatched since the start of the trial to outlets including CNN, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post . Total fiction appeared in most of the reports. If they were published in Hong Kong, they could be charged with contempt of court as would be the case in any other country.
Mark Pinkstone
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
Hong Kong is facing a dilemma as more locals are spending their dollars outside of the city than what the visitors are bringing in.
Relaxed visa/permit restrictions for locals and foreign residents alike is making it easier for travel to the mainland while inbound traffic crossing the boundary is low budget and spending less on accommodation and food.
Tourism is an important pillar for Hong Kong’s economy. In pre-COVID times, tourism accounted for about four per cent of the territory’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provided for about six per cent of total employment.
In Hong Kong’s heydays, the city saw about 65 million tourists in 2018, of which 51 million came from the mainland. It was boom time for retailers and restaurants. Long queues of mainland shoppers would line the streets along Canton Road and elsewhere waiting to buy luxury items from Gucci, Prada, Tiffany’s and other high-end stores which set up shop in Hong Kong to tap this lucrative market.
Today many restaurants and retail outlets are closing down, especially in the boundary towns of Sheung Shui and Yuen Long. The market is no longer there, and high rental costs make it almost impossible to survive.
During the 2025/2026 festive season, Hong Kong saw a 25.6 per cent rise in inbound trips on New Year’s Day 2026 (664,338 trips), but this was still countered by a massive 515,954 outbound exits on the same day.
Winston Yeung, chair of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants & Related Trades, told local media that business was sluggish during the Christmas holiday, with some restaurant owners calling it “the slowest business at Christmas over the past 10 years.”
Unfortunately, the local market is not propping up the tourism outlets. Instead, the locals are traveling in large numbers to Shenzhen and Macau and other parts of China for day trips or extended holidays, thereby providing a leakage in the local economy.
While Hong Kong received more than an estimated 45 million visitors last year, more than about 100 million departures were recorded by the Immigration Department of locals leaving Hong Kong by plane, train or bus mainly to the mainland (75 per cent), and to other major Asian destinations.
Hong Kong has 320 hotels offering 92,907 rooms, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Despite mainlanders’ choice of more budget accommodation, occupancy rates for the hotel industry remained high at 88 per cent last year. The major hotels are not affected by the change in mainlanders’ preferences as they rely more on the affluent international tourist, visiting Hong Kong for business, conventions or holidays.
Property developer, Caldwell Banker Richard Ellis (CBRE) says Hong Kong’s hospitality market currently presents various investment-ready assets including rare investment opportunities for upper upscale and luxury hotels. These high-end properties are particularly attractive due to their resilience, as they are less reliant on Chinese group travelers and enjoy sustained spending power among affluent individual travelers and international visitors. This makes them attractive for investors seeking stable returns in a dynamic market.
To encourage locals to spend more at home and at the same time provide a bonus for tourists, Hong Kong has organised a series of mega events, many held in the new sports stadium on the site of the old Kai Tak airport in Kowloon. Traditional events in 2026 will include the French May Arts festival in March, Hong Kong Book Fair in July, Hong Kong performing Arts Expo in October, the World Snooker Grand Prix in February, and, of course, the international dragon boat races in June.
Blockbusters will include BlackPink World tour in January, the Hong Kong marathon, which draws in runners and their supports from around the world, and the Hong Kong Tennis Open also in January.
That is good for the inbound and outbound tourists alike. But more needs to be done to tip the tourism scales to a surplus for Hong Kong’s economy to grow at a faster pace. As the saying goes charity starts at home, so it is up to us as local residents who have reaped the benefits of the city to spend more in local restaurants and retail outlets than spend it elsewhere. Support local enterprises. After all, the restaurants in Hong Kong are ranked among the best in the world and are tax free as against a value-added tax applied to restaurants and shops in the mainland.
