Hong Kong financial firms brace for disruptions as protests intensify

[weijian]

Beijing & Shanghai is sufficient to handle china's financial needs already...

hey! china can also ask singapore to handle 5 to 10% mah.... we are pro-china leh!

Hey, Mark Chen already predicted this 10years ago...

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/a...2003204697

[greengiraffe]

Background story

Red lines drawn

"There needs to be clear understanding that China has acted in accordance with the Basic Law. If Hong Kongers want a change from the Basic Law, they have to recognise that Hong Kong is part of China, and there are some things China will accept and some things which are red lines for China."

SINGAPORE FOREIGN MINISTER K. SHANMUGAM, referring to Hong Kong's mini-Constitution that enshrines the "one country, two systems" principle

Western media coverage biased against China: Shanmugam
Published on Oct 5, 2014 1:04 AM



By Rachel Chang In Beijing

There has been much anti-China bias in the Western media's reporting on Hong Kong's situation, said Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam, as he sought to offer another perspective on the current stand-off between Occupy Central protesters and the authorities that is now entering its eighth day.

Speaking to Lianhe Zaobao in an interview published yesterday, Mr Shanmugam said that Western media reports have made Beijing out to be "denying democracy" and acting to infringe on freedoms that have made Hong Kong so successful.

The truth, he said, is that Hong Kong did not have democracy during 150 years of British rule.

Beijing's proposal for Hong Kongers to elect their leader from a vetted list - what the tens of thousands of protesters in Hong Kong are currently amassed against - is actually much more than what the British had ever offered.

Before the handover to China in 1997, neither the British rulers nor the Hong Kong media thought Hong Kong needed democracy, he pointed out. Universal suffrage was also not included in the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, the agreement that cemented the terms of the handover.

"The Western media does not report these facts," he said.

Mr Shanmugam put the Chinese government's hard line towards the Occupy Central protesters in the context of its overarching governance priorities.

At this stage in its development, China's primary goal is unity, progress and a better life for 1.3 billion people, he said, and its leadership believes that it can achieve this only by good governance and avoiding the ills of multi-party democracy.

China's GDP per capita today is US$6,800 (S$8,700), and the Chinese leaders will want to achieve the goal of becoming a moderately prosperous country before they will contemplate any move to democratise.

Two examples confirm Beijing's belief, he noted.

First is the dysfunction and partisan gridlock of the political system in the United States, which has deteriorated to the point of being unable to pass a Budget for years or address any pressing governance issues like immigration reform, improving public education or handling crime and violence.

Because of short electoral cycles, the US government is also unable to plan for the long term, he said.

China, as a poorer, less developed country, believes that it "cannot afford the luxury of such dysfunctionality", he said.

The second reaffirming example Beijing looks to is the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, which Chinese leaders see as a cautionary tale of what happens when political restructuring precedes economic reform.

In the 1980s, Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev implemented a policy of glasnost - openness - as the Soviet Union tried to reform, unleashing democratising forces that ultimately unseated his own government.

"So China will be firm: It is not going to institute any major political change to copy the Western models - in the short term," he said.

"The leadership will believe that any such move will be disastrous for China and will hurt the people of China," he added.

And since whatever happens in Hong Kong can have an impact on the rest of China, giving in to the protesters' demands, from Beijing's point of view, may affect the stability of China as a whole, he noted.

This perspective, said Mr Shanmugam, "is entirely understandable".

China is also suspicious of the protests and wonders if Western countries have a hand in stoking sentiment, he noted.

Mr Shanmugam said that it must be asked if the average Hong Konger is prepared for the trade-offs of a protracted stand-off with Beijing.

"There needs to be clear understanding that China has acted in accordance with the Basic Law," he said, referring to Hong Kong's mini-Constitution that enshrines the "one country, two systems" principle.

"If Hong Kongers want a change from the Basic Law - they have to recognise that Hong Kong is part of China, and there are some things China will accept and some things which are red lines for China.

"And there needs to be a clear understanding of Hong Kong's extreme reliance on China for jobs and (its) livelihood," he said.

"There needs to be a clear understanding of China's largesse towards Hong Kong even as an anti-China mood is stoked up."

Mr Shanmugam believed that the Occupy Central protests will not affect Singapore.

rchang@sph.com.sg

[cfa]

Perhaps he is the best person who can enlighten the Hongkongers, or be a mediator of them .

[touzi]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteveryt...ng-for-it/

Excerpt:

But the context matters: General discontent has provided fertile soil for this movement, and the sources of that dissatisfaction have nothing to do with imaginary diktats from Beijing. Hong Kong is going through a tough period of economic and social dislocation. Its unique advantage as the only port into and out of China has largely disappeared as the mainland’s own market economy scales up. Its manufacturing base, which provided ample employment, has been moved to cheaper locations. Globalization and the expanding Chinese economy have elevated the city’s position as an international financial center, but the economic benefits have mainly accrued to landowners and those who are engaged in financial intermediation and deployment of capital. Median income has been stagnant and is dropping, but costs of living, especially housing, have been rising. The wealth gap is among the highest in the world.

Applies to Singapore as well. People in both cities are blaming outsiders.

[nornot]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteveryt...ng-for-it/

Excerpt:

But the context matters: General discontent has provided fertile soil for this movement, and the sources of that dissatisfaction have nothing to do with imaginary diktats from Beijing. Hong Kong is going through a tough period of economic and social dislocation. Its unique advantage as the only port into and out of China has largely disappeared as the mainland’s own market economy scales up. Its manufacturing base, which provided ample employment, has been moved to cheaper locations. Globalization and the expanding Chinese economy have elevated the city’s position as an international financial center, but the economic benefits have mainly accrued to landowners and those who are engaged in financial intermediation and deployment of capital. Median income has been stagnant and is dropping, but costs of living, especially housing, have been rising. The wealth gap is among the highest in the world.

Applies to Singapore as well. People in both cities are blaming outsiders.

There's a striking difference, the outsiders in Hk (PRC) are big spenders, whereas in SG the outsiders are taking the rosy jobs killing off our local grads, now govt is trying to tell locals not to get degree becos they cannot get rid of the shyt they have invited, they earn 10x the money here with cheap qualifications, get big salary and export money out, causing large capital outflow.
One day in the future, the govt will realize the shyt load of mess they have created.
Pursuing the globalization at all cost without strengthening the core, the citizens instead of becoming wealthy landlords are being slaughtered slowly and made to look silly and worse off than the PRs.

HK ppl is no trouble find trouble, without China they are nothing.

[butcher]

both cities (sg and hk) hv huge inflxux of foreigners as compared to decades ago due to globalisation and structural changes in the economic system.

[opmi]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteveryt...ng-for-it/

Excerpt:

But the context matters: General discontent has provided fertile soil for this movement, and the sources of that dissatisfaction have nothing to do with imaginary diktats from Beijing. Hong Kong is going through a tough period of economic and social dislocation. Its unique advantage as the only port into and out of China has largely disappeared as the mainland’s own market economy scales up. Its manufacturing base, which provided ample employment, has been moved to cheaper locations. Globalization and the expanding Chinese economy have elevated the city’s position as an international financial center, but the economic benefits have mainly accrued to landowners and those who are engaged in financial intermediation and deployment of capital. Median income has been stagnant and is dropping, but costs of living, especially housing, have been rising. The wealth gap is among the highest in the world.

Applies to Singapore as well. People in both cities are blaming outsiders.

There's a striking difference, the outsiders in Hk (PRC) are big spenders, whereas in SG the outsiders are taking the rosy jobs killing off our local grads, now govt is trying to tell locals not to get degree becos they cannot get rid of the shyt they have invited, they earn 10x the money here with cheap qualifications, get big salary and export money out, causing large capital outflow.
One day in the future, the govt will realize the shyt load of mess they have created.
Pursuing the globalization at all cost without strengthening the core, the citizens instead of becoming wealthy landlords are being slaughtered slowly and made to look silly and worse off than the PRs.

HK ppl is no trouble find trouble, without China they are nothing.

both cities (sg and hk) hv huge inflxux of foreigners as compared to decades ago due to globalisation and structural changes in the economic system.

The SG Govt/MOM/MAS was not smart/strategic enough in the building up local talents in the financial sector. Let all the FTs come in and gains all the mgt experience, while sideline the locals via easy Employment Passes. All these FTs moved on to better places or bring their own villagers into SG. While the locals can go up the ranks because no 'mgt experience'. Same thing happening to the casinos where FTs ahead of locals.

To benefit from globalisation, you need locals to gain high value-added experience, not delegated to doing 'sai kang'. SG policy benefitted the FTs who then 'chao lang'.

Govt undoing the screw-ups by tightening the EPs now. But lost opportunity to build up a generation of middle and C-suites locals.

[CityFarmer]

An outsider, and westerner's view from NYT... How true is it? I am not sure, but it might not be entirely true...

Seeking identity, ‘Hong Kong people’ look to city, not state

HONG KONG — If there is one phrase that has come to define the protests that have swept across Hong Kong in the past week-and-a-half, appearing on handwritten billboards and T-shirts and heard in rally speeches and on radio shows, it is this: Hong Kong people.

“I wouldn’t say I reject my identity as Chinese, because I’ve never felt Chinese in the first place,” said Mr Yeung Hoi-kiu, 20, who sat in the protest zone at the government offices. “The younger generations don’t think they’re Chinese.”

More than 90 per cent of Hong Kong residents are ethnically Chinese. However, ask them how they see themselves in the national sense and many will say Hongkonger first — or even Asian or world citizen — before mentioning China.

The issue of identity is one that the Chinese Communist Party has grappled with since Britain turned over control of this global financial capital to China 17 years ago. But what the student-led protests show is that Beijing’s efforts have backfired, helping to turn the issue into an occasionally explosive problem as members of an entire generation act on their sense of alienation from China and its values.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...-not-state

[Temperament]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteveryt...ng-for-it/

Excerpt:

But the context matters: General discontent has provided fertile soil for this movement, and the sources of that dissatisfaction have nothing to do with imaginary diktats from Beijing. Hong Kong is going through a tough period of economic and social dislocation. Its unique advantage as the only port into and out of China has largely disappeared as the mainland’s own market economy scales up. Its manufacturing base, which provided ample employment, has been moved to cheaper locations. Globalization and the expanding Chinese economy have elevated the city’s position as an international financial center, but the economic benefits have mainly accrued to landowners and those who are engaged in financial intermediation and deployment of capital. Median income has been stagnant and is dropping, but costs of living, especially housing, have been rising. The wealth gap is among the highest in the world.

Applies to Singapore as well. People in both cities are blaming outsiders.

There's a striking difference, the outsiders in Hk (PRC) are big spenders, whereas in SG the outsiders are taking the rosy jobs killing off our local grads, now govt is trying to tell locals not to get degree becos they cannot get rid of the shyt they have invited, they earn 10x the money here with cheap qualifications, get big salary and export money out, causing large capital outflow.
One day in the future, the govt will realize the shyt load of mess they have created.
Pursuing the globalization at all cost without strengthening the core, the citizens instead of becoming wealthy landlords are being slaughtered slowly and made to look silly and worse off than the PRs.

HK ppl is no trouble find trouble, without China they are nothing.

both cities (sg and hk) hv huge inflxux of foreigners as compared to decades ago due to globalisation and structural changes in the economic system.

The SG Govt/MOM/MAS was not smart/strategic enough in the building up local talents in the financial sector. Let all the FTs come in and gains all the mgt experience, while sideline the locals via easy Employment Passes. All these FTs moved on to better places or bring their own villagers into SG. While the locals can go up the ranks because no 'mgt experience'. Same thing happening to the casinos where FTs ahead of locals.

To benefit from globalisation, you need locals to gain high value-added experience, not delegated to doing 'sai kang'. SG policy benefitted the FTs who then 'chao lang'.

Govt undoing the screw-ups by tightening the EPs now. But lost opportunity to build up a generation of middle and C-suites locals.

Can we "blame" the G?
(No i don't think so logically.)

They have to take care of their own interests first.
Just like if you can't take care of yourself first how can you think you can take care of your family?
After i have taken care of my own interest, see what are left that can be savaged and giving some to you too.

Hey! Now we have the CHAS and Senior Citizen Benefits (regardless who you are Rich or poor).
See this is the looking after your interests after mine.
i can not complain as i am one of the SCs.
My apology.

[CityFarmer]

The article give a strong hint on the China gov strategy, and thus make compromise from China impossible. If the confrontational situation persisted, will we see the similar Red/Blue shirts of Thailand in Hong Kong? That will be very damaging to HK financial hub status...

Xi taps Chinese classics in seeking to cement power

HONG KONG — When China’s leader, Mr Xi Jinping, recently warned officials to ward off the temptations of corruption and Western ideas of democracy, he cited Han Fei, a Chinese nobleman renowned for his stark advocacy of autocratic rule more than 2,200 years ago.

“When those who uphold the law are strong, the state is strong,” Mr Xi said, quoting advice that Han Fei offered monarchs attempting to tame disorder. “When they are weak, the state is weak.”
...
http://www.todayonline.com/chinaindia/ch...ment-power