Violence pales 'Pearl of the Orient' economic outlook
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E-mail Xinhua, August 19, 2019
As protracted violence roiled Hong Kong, the Asian financial hub -- known as the "Pearl of the Orient" -- faces a dimmed economic outlook in the coming months. Calls are mounting among the public for immediate actions to stop violence and restore order.
The demonstrations, which started over planned amendments to Hong Kong's ordinances concerning fugitive offenders, widened and turned violent over the past two months.
Protesters exhibited all manners of blatant destructive activities from blocking railways and tunnels, attacking police, defacing the national emblem and the national flag, to paralyzing the operations of Hong Kong International Airport, and brutally assaulting innocent people.
The flagrant violence has already taken a heavy toll on Hong Kong's already-weak economy.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government revised downward the real economic growth forecast for 2019 as a whole to 0 to 1 percent, from an earlier estimate of 2 to 3 percent.
According to Paul Chan, the HKSAR government's financial secretary, the risk of Hong Kong experiencing an economic downturn is significantly rising in the face of internal and external difficulties.
He said the recent social incidents have hit retail, restaurants and tourism, worsening economic recession.
Tourism hit hard
Hong Kong's tourism sector has turned from a summer boom into a chilly winter of unemployment and economic hardship, said Wong Ka-ngai, chairman of the Hong Kong Tour Guides General Union.
A pillar industry for Hong Kong, tourism employed more than 270,000 people, contributed 4.5 percent of GDP to Hong Kong's economy in 2017.
However, Wong said, the impact now is "even worse than during the 2003 SARS outbreak."
"Many mainland tourists don't have the desire to come to Hong Kong anymore. They make up almost 80 percent of our market," he said.
Since the violent protests began, more than 20 countries and regions have warned their residents against visiting Hong Kong.
In the June-July period, average earnings for tourism workers plunged by 74 percent, while the number of tours in Hong Kong fell 74 percent on average, according to a recent survey of 1,012 people with the union.
"The violence is taking a toll on our life and Hong Kong's economy," said Dicky Yip, a tour guide.
Yip, 46, has made no money over the last two months, leaving his wife as the only breadwinner for the family of six.
"About 80 percent of the group tours of my company come from the mainland, and most of them were canceled in the past two months," Yip said.
The tour guide said he had no work to do since July when he should have been busy taking tourists to popular locales such as Wong Tai Sin Temple, Victoria Peak and Repulse Bay.
"Violent activities by a small group of people hurt the image of Hong Kong as a whole in the eyes of tourists. It is not acceptable," Yip said.
Small business chills
The clashes initiated by radical groups have not only disturbed business and commercial order but have frayed Hong Kong residents' nerves and made lives difficult.
Siu Lau runs a pharmacy selling dried seafood and traditional Chinese medicines in Wanchai, the wealthiest district in Hong Kong. "My shop has been open for more than 30 years. The recent turmoil caused a 50 percent drop in our business," he said.
Small and medium-sized businesses like Lau's account for 98 percent of the total number of Hong Kong businesses and contribute 40 percent of the HKSAR's employment.
"Most of our customers are regulars, some of them told me that they were not in the mood to shop," said Lau, 60, as he works with his wife in a 20-square-meter store.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Lau was saddened by the series of violence that threaten to derail Hong Kong's economic future. "The economy will keep going down if violent and lawless protests continue," he said with a sigh.
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