Beijing Puts Hong Kong Business on Alert

Hong Kong will have elections in 2017, but voters must select from candidates approved by China. Protesters plan to target the financial district. “Beijing’s intransigence and protesters’ plans to bring traffic in Hong Kong’s streets to a standstill are a threat to the city’s reputation as a stable financial centre,” writes Chris Dodd for AsiaFinance. Credit agencies and banks have issued warnings on the investment outlook – and foreign business representatives are divided over whether to blame China or the protesters. Major accounting firms took out advertisements criticizing protests while their employees countered with another ad suggesting the companies did not speak for them. Beijing also warned the city that its “status as a premier renminbi trading hub was at risk,” Dodd reports. In designating Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region, China promised one country, two systems. CIA World Factbook reports that Hong Kong promotes the region for Chinese renminbi internationalization. Hong Kong is highly dependent on international trade and finance, yet China is the largest trading partner, accounting for half of the city’s trade. – YaleGlobal