The return of Roach and his poisoned tongue

The apply-named Stephen Roach wonders why no one agreed to his speech at the 6th US-China Hong Kong Forum at the Fullerton Hotel in Hong Kong last month. He had returned to his old habit of damning Hong Kong to an audience sympathetic to China and its southern pearl.

And he made no apologies for his statements in a follow-up on TVB’s Straight Talk program on Tuesday evening. In fact, he stood by his convictions that if China falls, Hong Kong falls. In other words, Hong Kong was too dependent on China.

Roach’s address “Beyond the Middleman: Hong Kong’s Influence in Superpower Rivalry” questioned whether Hong Kong’s unique features allow it to play an independent role in tempering geopolitical rifts, such as the one between the US and China. “Hong Kong’s capacity to serve as an honest broker in the Sino-American conflict has been compromised by China’s heavy hand,” he told his audience. So says a man living under the shadow of a national capital whose heavy hand is virtually controlling every major city in the US and crippling the national economy.

Roach was former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, based in Hong Kong and is currently a faculty member of Yale University.

He suggests that locals chafe at the suggestion that Hong Kong has become “another big Chinese city”. Of course it is, like New York in the US, Sydney in Australia and London in the UK. The difference being is that Hong Kong has a high degree of autonomy with a rule of law different from its motherland. It is the common law system practiced in all British Commonwealth countries plus the US. The mainland practices the civil law system used in all other places, such as Europe. Being “another big Chinese city” is a reality and something we are proud of. Only the separates’ movement differ in opinion.

Again, he has a dig at our judicial system and the resignation of a number of foreign judges sitting on the Court of Final Appeal, drawing on the critique of former British Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Sumption who gathers his opinions from Hong Kong separate activists in the House of Lords.

According to the 2025 World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index, Hong Kong’s overall rule of law score ranks 24th out of 143 countries worldwide. Regionally, Hong Kong ranks 6th out of 15 countries in East Asia and the Pacific.

He argues that the Hong Kong of old has been replaced by a new version that more closely resembled a China-centric administrative region, with Deng Xiaoping’s model of “one country, two systems” morphing into “one country, one system.” He cited three reasons for believing this: First, Hong Kong’s economy, which is tightly correlated with the Chinese economy, remains weighed down by China’s protracted sluggishness. Second, the Chinese government’s post-2019 crackdown continues to weaken the rule of law, free speech, and press freedom in Hong Kong.

Third, Hong Kong is caught in the crossfire of the worsening Sino-American conflict, driving a wedge between the city, whose growth depends heavily on economic openness, and some of its trading partners.

Hong Kong’s economy is doing very well. In the latest World Population Review, Hong Kong was placed fourth in the world for net inflows of foreign investments. It is estimated that the total foreign investment in 2024 brought to Hong Kong's economy exceeds more than HK$67.7 billion, which also represents a record high and a nearly 10 per cent increase compared to 2023. These companies expected to create 6,864 job opportunities in Hong Kong during their first year of operation, an over 67 per cent increase compared to 2023.

There has been no weakening of the rule of law, in fact it has been strengthened by China’s national security laws and local safeguarding Hong Kong’s security laws. It’s worth noting that in the 2025 World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index, Hong Kong scored third place for law and order in 15 regional countries.

He talks of a shrinking expat talent pool yet Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) announced a record-breaking year for foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2024, assisting 539 overseas and Mainland companies to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong. This represents a 41 per cent increase compared to 2023, reflecting the strong appeal of Hong Kong as a leading business hub in the region.

He also fails to take into account the long term benefits the Northern Metropolis will bring to Hong Kong, including its magnet to draw in top class international talent from all parts of the globe. In fact, during his Straight Talk interview he appeared oblivious that such a massive plan for the future of Hong Kong enabling one third of the city’s land mass even existed.

He said for China’s stifling influence on Hong Kong’s governance, three major newspapers – Apple Daily, Stand News, and Citizen News – have closed since 2019, and other outlets such as Citizens’ Radio, FactWire, InMedia, Hong Kong Free Press, and Mad Dog Daily have either ceased operations or significantly scaled back.

The three papers which closed down did so voluntarily. Stand News and Citizen News could not be labelled “major newspapers” and Apply Daily run by Jimmy Lai currently facing trial for treason-related charges earned its wide circulation for sex and gossip coverage before turning to political commentary. There has been no scaling back on media coverage of Hong Kong. Hong Kong Free Press is a classic example of how the media can walk the red line without crossing it.

Roach is full of contradictions, swaying with the wind on public opinion. In February this year he heavily criticised Hong Kong for its deceiving appearances in a lengthy op-ed piece in the Financial Times. He later did a U-turn in a Bloomberg report in June praising Hong Kong’s successes. Now he says we’re in “for an inevitable correction.”

But he never listens. He follows the economic tractotomy all the way to 2030 and not what he has been told time and again: It’s the people who make Hong Kong tick. Hong Kong operates with one heartbeat to achieve one objective: Success!

Mark Pinkstone

** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

Hong Kong will be raising the bar to be the world leader in traditional Chinese medicine with the recent opening of the Chinese Medicine Hospital in Tseung Kwan O, according to the aspirations of China’s National Health Commission head Lei Haichao.

And that is also the aim of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu when he said he planned to turn Hong Kong into a “bridgehead for traditional Chinese medicine to go global.”
Both were speaking at the launching ceremony of the hospital and the adjacent testing institute as well as the signing ceremony of two agreements between the Hong Kong health authorities and the national agencies to deepen collaborations on both Chinese medicine and cancer research.

Lee said Hong Kong should serve the globe for the benefit of humanity and accelerate the internationalism of Chinese medicine, adding that the hospital should collaborate with the Hong Kong Science Park and the Hetao Shenzhen–Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone on clinical research and technology transfer.

Lee followed up with “Chinese medicine is an integral part of Hong Kong’s healthcare system, and our medical system, regulatory framework, standard-setting and clinical research are all aligned with international standards.”

So, the stage is set, but it will take a few years before Hong Kong can claim to be a global leader in the field. A Chinese medicine practitioner who sits on the hospital’s board, agreed that the testing institute was essential in helping promote Chinese medicine globally, as Hong Kong had a robust commerce and finance infrastructure with world-class research centres and universities.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has reached 196 countries and regions worldwide, with increasing institutional presence and recognition. China alone hosts more than 4,600 hospitals specializing in TCM.

The global market for Chinese medicine was estimated to be worth US$33.3 billion last year, rising to US$47.8 billion by the end of 2032, according to online marketing research data, and published in local media.

Internationally, TCM is integrated into mainstream healthcare systems in several countries. For example, in Malta, a TCM department was established at Mater Dei Hospital in 2008, marking the first time TCM was granted an independent department in a state hospital in the European Union. The Mediterranean Regional Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine (MRCTCM) in Malta has also become a well-known center for TCM treatment and training.

In Germany, the first European TCM hospital opened in Koetzting in 1991 as a joint venture with a Beijing hospital.

And the well-known Tong Ren Tang, Beijing’s oldest pharmacy with branches throughout Hong Kong, opened a branch in central London in 1995.

In 1870 the Tung Wah Hospital was the first to use Chinese medicine for the treatment in Chinese hospitals providing free medical services. As the promotion of Western medicine by the British government started from 1940, Western medicine started being popular among the Hong Kong population. But, in 1959, Hong Kong institutes had researched that the use of traditional Chinese medicine could replace Western medicine.

During the British rule, Chinese medicine practitioners in Hong Kong were not recognized as "medical doctors" per se, which meant they could not issue prescription drugs, give injections, etc. However, TCM practitioners could register and operate TCM as "herbalists".

The Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong regulates compounds and professional standards for TCM practitioners. All TCM practitioners in Hong Kong are required to register with the council, which was established in 1999. The eligibility for registration includes a recognised 5-year university degree of TCM, a 30-week minimum supervised clinical internship, and passing the licensing exam.

Locally, the approved Chinese medicine institutions are Hong Kong University, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Baptist University, which operates the new hospital in Tseung Kwan O.

There were a few TCM pharmacies in Macau during the colonial period. In 1994, the Portuguese Macau government published a Decree-Law that officially regulated the TCM market. After the sovereign handover, the Macau S.A.R. government also published regulations on the practice of TCM. In 2000, Macau University of Science and Technology and Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine established the Macau College of Traditional Chinese Medicine to offer a degree course in Chinese medicine.

In Taiwan, TCM practitioners are physicians and are regulated by the Physicians Act. They possess the authority to independently diagnose medical conditions, issue prescriptions, dispense Traditional Chinese Medicine, and prescribe a variety of diagnostic tests including X-rays, ECG, and blood and urine test. Under current law, those who wish to qualify for the Chinese medicine exam must have to obtained a 7-year university degree in TCM. The National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, established in 1963, is the largest Chinese herbal medicine research center in Taiwan

To be the global leader it aspires to be, Hong Kong has a long way to go. Currently it has only 25 beds and day-care services and only six specialized TCM services. But this will grow rapidly and within four years the hospital will provide full inpatient services with its 400 beds and treating outpatient services of 400,000 annual attendances.