Raymond Young Lap-moon, chief executive officer of the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong, said the city’s business environment has returned to normal after enacting the National Security Law with no foreign businesses, particularly American ones, leaving the city.
The American companies usually don’t toe the United States government line but instead act according to their own business strategies, he said. “There are far more American companies on the (Chinese) mainland than in Hong Kong, and why don’t the American companies vacate the mainland?”
Recently, trade officials from the US consulate in Hong Kong called on the CMA, an association with over 3,000 local members, Young said in an interview with China Daily on Tuesday. According to him, the officials criticized the new National Security Law.
“I felt sorry for them because they had to follow the line of the US government. We responded that the National Security Law is welcomed by Hong Kong society in general. We also countered that whilst the US wants to do business with Hong Kong, they damage the mutual trust by applying sanctions on Hong Kong,” Young said.
The US doesn’t reap any benefit by levying Hong Kong exporters the same tariffs as the mainland exporters because the tariffs are borne by the US importers, he said.
“If the US importers find the cost of Chinese imports hard to bear, they may buy more from other countries. Yet the price of US imports has not dropped, showing that the demand for Chinese products is still high,” he pointed out.
“In the short term, the US has still to rely on the China market, which boasts a full range of products at low prices, plus an effective supply chain.”
The so-called US sanctions, meanwhile, have not generated that much real impact on the Hong Kong economy.
“The size of Hong Kong exports into the US is not big, with the value of exports representing less than 1 percent of the aggregate Hong Kong exports,” he said.
“Although the US has recently demanded that Hong Kong products will not be allowed to bear the tag ‘Made in Hong Kong’ and that ‘Made in China’ should instead be used, Hong Kong manufacturers can shift the focus on ‘Hong Kong brand designed in Hong Kong with good quality’. There will be no problem for Hong Kong manufacturers in the long run.”
He is worried that the Trump administration will come up with more tricks against Hong Kong before the Nov 3 presidential election.
‘Take an oath’
Himself a top former civil servant, Young backs the proposal for civil servants to take an oath to uphold the Basic Law and swear allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Young was a career civil servant, holding the post of permanent secretary at policy bureaus before retiring from government service.
“It is right that the government wants to be tighter on those who have not yet become permanent employees. If the government has doubts about the integrity of people it has not employed as permanent staff, it has reason to terminate their employment. Again, there is prima facie that one has committed an offense after police have arrested him or her while the Department of Justice has given consent to prosecute,” he said.
Article 6 of the National Security Law for Hong Kong says people who take on elections and public service shall sign documents or take an oath to uphold the Basic Law and swear allegiance to the HKSAR.
“It is a reasonable and normal thing for the newly joined civil servants, like legislators, to swear,” Young said. “I understand it is not for all civil servants, but only for those of sensitive job natures, like directorate and administrative officer’s grades, and policemen.”
