HONG KONG –
Doing business in Hong Kong increasingly comes with a new risk: the political costs of disrupting Beijing.
Chinese clients recently dropped a major Chicago law firm after it withdrew from a politically sensitive case. A former Wall Street banker was silenced for writing a “Hong Kong is Dead” column. And Google was essentially cornered into enforcing a ban on a popular protest song.
In all areas of life, Hong Kong is moving closer to mainland China, blurring the differences that once cemented the city’s status as largely free from Beijing’s politics. Legal rulings reflect the courts in mainland China. The city rules follow the edicts in Beijing. Even government banners are reminiscent of the Chinese Communist Party’s slogans.
