Beijing is now learning how capitalists react to oppression

Companies are leaving Hong Kong now that China has ramped up its oppression. Go figure.

Ever since its transfer from the United Kingdom to China in 1997, Hong Kong has billed itself as a bridge between East and West, a capitalist gateway to the world’s second largest economy. But as China has upended Hong Kong’s autonomy and cracked down on free speech, companies are less inclined to invest there.

Last month, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong released the results of a survey of its members. Of the 325 companies who responded to the poll, 42% said they were considering or planning to leave the city. According to the real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, Hong Kong now faces the highest rate of commercial real estate vacancies in 15 years.

Residents are following businesses out of town. Hong Kong’s population of about 7.5 million shrank by 46,500 in 2020, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal.

It’s not hard to see why. On Thursday, 500 police officers stormed the newsroom of Apple Daily, a leading Hong Kong newspaper. They arrested executives and editors, accusing them of colluding with foreign forces. Western media captured photos of journalists in handcuffs being escorted away.

Less than two weeks before that, on the 32nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, police blocked off Victoria Park, the site of an annual vigil marking the event that attracts thousands of people. The world was treated to photos of a blank, brightly lit park where crowded commemoration should have been.

These scenes are stark and intentional. Beijing continues to oppose free markets and free people, removing symbols of each from public view.

And now, China is reaping the whirlwind.

There is something to note here for Beijing: When you manipulate markets, stifle dissent and oppress citizens, don’t be surprised when your business sector looks as empty as Victoria Park.