The Heritage Foundation, a conservative U.S. think tank, released its latest annual ranking of the world’s Economic Freedom Index on Thursday (March 4), and Hong Kong, which had been at the top of the list, has simply disappeared from the list of the world’s freest economies. The think tank’s founder believes that Hong Kong is now under the direct control of Beijing.
The Heritage Foundation. is an American conservative think tank that has influence on the U.S. financial community. It publishes an annual ranking of countries and regions that enjoy a free economy. The list is created based on how business-friendly each country/region’s laws and regulations are. With the exception of one year, Hong Kong has topped the ranking for 26 consecutive years.
AFP commented that the announcement would deal a heavy blow to Hong Kong’s reputation.
Its status as the world’s freest economy has been a source of pride for the Hong Kong government, often highlighted in its press releases and brochures aimed at investors. But Hong Kong does not appear in the 2021 rankings announced Thursday, and the index’s authors argue that Hong Kong no longer has sufficient autonomy.
Writing in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, J. Feulner, founder of the Heritage Foundation, said, “The loss of political freedom and autonomy that Hong Kong has suffered over the past two years has made the city in many ways virtually indistinguishable from other major Chinese business centers like Shanghai and Beijing.” He said, “[Hong Kong’s] ties to Beijing have grown stronger, while traditions inherited from the former British colonial rule, such as the common law system, freedom of speech and democracy, have weakened considerably.”
According to Bloomberg, Hong Kong has topped the list of freest economies for 22 consecutive years since the 1997 handover, noting that it was an ideal gateway to China, with an independent judiciary, free press and deep financial markets, while the pro-democracy movement and the implementation of the “Hong Kong state security law” have caused Hong Kong to be overtaken by Singapore last year, dropping it to second place. The pro-democracy movement and the implementation of the “Hong Kong national security law” have caused Hong Kong to be replaced by Singapore last year, dropping to second place, ending the index in 1995 since its inception, 25 consecutive years of “freest economy” status; last year’s ranking of 35th Macau are also not on the list. This year, Hong Kong has completely disappeared from the latest list, and, like Macau, is considered part of China.
According to the latest report, Singapore is ranked as the freest country in every category of the index, followed by New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland and Ireland.
Recent Comments