Recently, Stephen Roach, the former chairman of Hong Kong-based Morgan Stanley Asia and a faculty member at Yale University, assumed that locals chafed at the suggestion that Hong Kong had become "another big Chinese city".

He was talking at the 6th US-China Hong Kong Forum at the Fullerton Hotel in Hong Kong on Nov 17, with an address titled "Beyond the Middleman: Hong Kong's Influence in Superpower Rivalry", returning to his old habit of damning Hong Kong to an audience sympathetic to China and its southern pearl.

Of course, Hong Kong is “another big Chinese city”, like New York in the United States, Sydney in Australia, and London in the UK. The difference is that Hong Kong has a high degree of autonomy under a rule of law distinct from that of its motherland.

It is the common law system practiced in all British Commonwealth countries, as well as in the US. The mainland uses the civil law system used in other parts of the world, such as Europe. Being "another big Chinese city" is a reality and something we are proud of.

Again, he has a dig at the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s judicial system and the resignation of several foreign judges sitting on the Court of Final Appeal, drawing on the critique of former British Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Sumption, who gathers his opinions from Hong Kong separatist activists in the House of Lords.

Roach should have been aware that, according to the 2025 World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index, Hong Kong's overall rule-of-law score ranks 23rd out of 142 countries worldwide. Regionally, Hong Kong ranks 6th out of 15 countries in East Asia and the Pacific.

Yet he questioned whether Hong Kong's unique features enable it to play an independent role in tempering geopolitical rifts, such as that between the US and China.

"Hong Kong's capacity to serve as an honest broker in the Sino-US conflict has been compromised by China's heavy hand," Roach told his audience.

So says a man living under the shadow of a national capital whose heavy hand virtually controls every major city in the US and cripples the national economy.

Roach argued that the Hong Kong of old had been replaced by a new version that more closely resembled a China-centric administrative region, with Deng Xiaoping's model of "one country, two systems" morphing into "one country, one system." He managed to cite three reasons for believing this.

First, he saw Hong Kong's economy, which is closely correlated with the Chinese mainland's, weighed down by the mainland’s “prolonged sluggishness”. Second, he presumed that the rule of law, free speech, and press freedom in Hong Kong had been weakened. Third, he found Hong Kong caught in the crossfire of Sino-US competition, driving a wedge between the city, whose growth depends heavily on economic openness, and some of its trading partners.

Yet he should have realized that Hong Kong's economy is doing very well with solid growth and expanding capital in recent years. In the latest World Population Review, Hong Kong ranked fourth globally in net foreign investment inflows.

It is estimated that total foreign investment in 2024 exceeded HK$67.7 billion ($8.69 billion), a record high and a nearly 10 per cent increase from 2023. These companies are expected to create 6,864 job opportunities in Hong Kong during their first year of operation, an over 67 percent increase compared to 2023.

And instead of weakening as he projected, the rule of law in Hong Kong has, in fact, been strengthened by national security laws and the safeguarding of Hong Kong's security ordinances. It's worth noting that in the 2025 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, Hong Kong ranked third for law and order among 15 regional countries.

He even talked of a shrinking expat talent pool. Yet, Invest Hong Kong announced a record-breaking year for FDI in 2024, assisting 539 overseas and Chinese mainland companies in setting up or expanding their businesses in Hong Kong. It represents a 41 percent increase compared to 2023, reflecting Hong Kong’s strong appeal as a leading business hub in the region.

Roach also fails to take into account the long-term benefits the Northern Metropolis will bring to Hong Kong, including its role as a magnet for top-tier international talent from around the globe.

He did single out that “three major newspapers” – Apple Daily, Stand News, and Citizen News – have closed since 2019. Some other outlets, such as Citizens' Radio and Mad Dog Daily, have either ceased operations or scaled back significantly.

The three papers that closed down did so voluntarily. Stand News and Citizen News could not be labelled "major newspapers". Apple Daily earned its wide circulation through sex and gossip coverage before turning to anti-establishment political commentary, choosing closure as revenue dried up following the arrest of its founder.    

Moreover, there has been no scaling back in media coverage of Hong Kong, where several major newspapers remain in tough but usual competition, and some other news outlets, such as Hong Kong Free Press, often seem to walk the red line without crossing it.

Roach is still full of contradictions, swaying with the wind on public opinion. In February, he heavily criticized Hong Kong in a lengthy op-ed piece in the Financial Times. He later did a U-turn in a Bloomberg report in June, praising Hong Kong's successes. Now he claims the city is in "for an inevitable correction".

But he never listens to what he has been told time and again: It is the people who make Hong Kong tick. Hong Kong operates with one heartbeat, driven by one objective: Success!

The author is a former chief information officer, a PR and media consultant, and a veteran journalist. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.