In the second of a two-part series on the national security law, we look at how the city has had to battle a negative narrative over the past five years. Read part 1 here. Soon after Hong Kong reopened in early 2023 as harsh pandemic restrictions were finally lifted, veteran lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee embarked on a solo mission to the West. Visiting Brussels to meet European Union officials in September 2023, she sought to explain fundamental political and legal changes in the city and how it would not be deterred by its critics. Beijing had reshaped the political landscape, first by imposing a sweeping national security law in 2020, then by introducing major electoral reforms to ensure that only “patriots” ruled the city. By then too, a dark shadow had settled over the city, blanketing more nuanced and varied views about Hong Kong into one coagulated negative narrative that it had become a police state. With the national security law, no one was safe. Diplomats, bankers and business people were told to carry burner phones when entering Hong Kong. The city’s future was over, its past a romanticised era where democracy reigned, or so this gloomy tale went. It did not help that Hong Kong residents had also left the city in droves, drawn by easier pathways to emigration laid out by Western nations and partly because of the pandemic restrictions. Ip said from the get-go she was intent on debunking claims by many Western countries that the national security legislation – outlawing acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces – had eroded the city’s freedoms. “You have to be prepared to answer questions on human rights, and no dodging of tough political questions, to engage in effective communication,” said Ip, convenor of the Executive Council, the government’s top advisory body. The next year, she brought along a team of Hong Kong figures to Britain on a similar drive and met Catherine West, the British Indo-Pacific minister. “You have to have the courage to engage in a lively discussion of tough issues … if they are convinced that you are a true believer in what you are saying, you command a certain amount of respect,” said Ip who has other trips lined up in future. For officials like her and other businessmen-led delegations, these so-called truth-telling tours were important, observers said, and each in their own way had done a lot to slowly help Hong Kong shed the cloak of negativity dragging it down over the past few years. What most people failed to understand, they said, was why Beijing had lost patience and imposed the law. The change came about after several months of increasingly violent anti-government protests in 2019 that began over an unpopular extradition bill. The introduction of the law brought all protests in 2019 to a halt almost immediately. Key opposition leaders, former lawmakers and pro-democracy activists were rounded up, with many detained on various charges related to national security. Political parties and civic rights groups soon disbanded one after the other. One consequence of the law too has been the end of a June 4 commemorative vigil at Victoria Park to remember the Tiananmen Square crackdown. People were asked instead to remember the episode privately and protested at their own risk. A much-delayed domestic national security law, commonly referred to as Article 23, was finally enacted in March last year, as required under the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution. Last week, Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs, Xia Baolong, warned that the city still faced “complex and severe” national security threats that it should be vigilant about, while calling on it to leverage its unique strengths to boost connectivity with the world and integrate with the country. Five years on, many believe the worst is over and Hong Kong is recovering, as seen from the influx of tourists and professionals eager to visit and take part in the slew of mega-events staged over the past one to two years. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu had said repeatedly his administration would be “fully focused” on economic development and improving people’s livelihoods, with the foundations to ensure stability and security already established. An annual survey by the American Chamber of Commerce this year also found that nearly 80 per cent of respondents had no intention of relocating their headquarters elsewhere in the next three years despite concerns over US-China ties. More of them were more confident in Hong Kong’s rule of law than in previous years. Ip, chairwoman of the New People’s Party, puts it more positively: “Hong Kong has bounced back.” She pointed to its competitive standing in recent global rankings for economic freedom, international competitiveness and universities. Western media had also become “kinder” to the city, she said, shifting their coverage to topics such as the growing number of IPOs and British band Coldplay’s sold-out concerts at Kai Tak Sports Park. “Through the efforts of the government and the community, including the business community, universities, think tanks, and everybody working together, we are on an upwards trajectory,” she said. “So you can’t say that our obsession, so-called obsession, with national security has hurt our recovery.” Victor Dawes, the immediate past president of the Bar Association who had attended international conferences and events during his tenure, acknowledged the overseas interest in the national security law. “It is natural that there are concerns given the geopolitical situation,” he said. But Dawes said outsiders’ perception of Hong Kong had improved five years on, as more people visited the city to understand the situation on the ground. Even as perceptions change, academics and several business leaders told the Post that rebuilding Hong Kong’s reputation would remain challenging for as long as US-China tensions existed and the national security law could be exploited as a soft target to criticise it. “The standing of Hong Kong has decreased in European countries over the past five years, predominantly owing to the national security legislation and the management of the pandemic, and has not significantly improved in the past two to three years,” said Martin Sebena, honorary lecturer at the University of Hong Kong’s department of politics and public administration. “While the geopolitical situation changes quite fast – rendering certain views of Hong Kong out of touch with reality – perceptions change much more slowly.” But one key takeaway for many whom the Post spoke to was that the city still had options to forge ties with other friendlier countries, especially those in the Global South, including in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The city’s sophisticated financial and legal system and connectivity to mainland China remained unbeatable draws, many said. ‘Hong Kong’s standing took a hit’ After Beijing imposed the national security law, the UK, Canada and Australia introduced new pathways for Hongkongers who wished to emigrate. The United States ended Hong Kong’s preferential trading status and went on to impose several rounds of sanctions on Hong Kong officials, including city leader John Lee Ka-chiu and Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok. At least six foreign non-permanent judges from Britain and Australia resigned from Hong Kong’s top court, under mounting pressure in their home countries. Prominent Western officials stayed away too. A European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Post: “How many ministerial officials from the US and Europe have visited Hong Kong these five years? Not many that I can recall. “Many declined invitations, even for non-political and cultural events, largely to avoid appearing too close to officials in a regime governed by draconian laws.” A clutch of Western political figures visited the city, including former British trade minister Dominic Johnson and former US vice-president Mike Pence. A Post check found that between July 2023 and this month, city leader Lee had welcomed senior officials mainly from Asean nations, the Middle East and developing countries such as Egypt and Kazakhstan. Hong Kong’s network of 14 overseas Economic and Trade Offices encountered challenges in promoting the city’s interests, coming under intensified scrutiny. A Hong Kong manager at the London office was arrested for alleged espionage, and the US has kept up threats to shut down the three offices there. Hong Kong responded to the international backlash by calling the criticisms “absurd”, “despicable” and a form of “bullying”. Meanwhile, Lee’s administration embarked on campaigns to “tell good stories” about the city to the world and woo visitors through a massive “Hello Hong Kong” tourism campaign. The efforts appear to have paid off. Hong Kong secured third place in the World Competitiveness Ranking by Switzerland’s International Institute for Management Development this year – its first return to the top three since 2019. It led global listings with a sevenfold surge in IPOs during the first five months this year. Last year, it reclaimed its position as the world’s freest economy from Singapore in the Fraser Institute’s “Economic Freedom of the World” report. “The city’s international image is indeed improving, as most businesspeople know well how politics plays its role in today’s world,” said lawmaker and finance veteran Rock Chen Chung-nin. He said his business partners from the UK, US and Switzerland told him that the city had become lively again with big events such as the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament and large-scale international exhibitions. “But it still takes time for the city to restore its previous international reputation, especially when it is now stuck in between the wrestling between China and the US,” he added. Rebuilding reputations and issuing rebuttals But President Donald Trump’s return to the White House marked a renewed heightening of US-China tensions and has cast a shadow on Hong Kong’s drive to recovery, observers said. Apart from launching a new tariff war that has affected the city, his administration also targeted Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings’ control of ports at the Panama Canal. In March, tycoon Li Ka-shing’s conglomerate said it was selling the two Panama facilities along with its global port operations to a BlackRock-led consortium, sparking a backlash of condemnation from Beijing, which called it a “betrayal of all Chinese people”. Citing strategic national interests, regulators have since launched an antitrust probe. The deal cast into the spotlight Beijing’s concept of “holistic national security”, which spans political, economic, cultural, social, technological and military security, among other fronts. The sale is said to be on the brink of collapse, with a July 27 negotiation deadline looming. “Trump is trying to tell the world that there is no such thing as ‘one country, two systems’ and Hong Kong should be treated the same as the mainland,” said Lau Siu-kai, a consultant at the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank. Lau added that the West was not the entire international community when it came to the city’s dealings with the world. “It also includes countries in the Middle East, Central Asia and others which Hong Kong might not have placed much emphasis on in the past. These countries have no problem with Hong Kong enacting the national security laws and welcome the city for closer ties,” he said. But he anticipated national security would remain a contentious issue if US-China relations continued to worsen. A senior official overseeing publicity for the national security law told the Post the government believed it was better to invite foreigners and influencers to visit Hong Kong for business and cultural events and “see for themselves”, than to go on any publicity drives overseas. Recently, American-Chinese comedian Jimmy O. Yang spent a month in Hong Kong for five sold-out “homecoming” shows, while also becoming one of more than 100 influencers and celebrities from 13 countries and regions invited by the Tourism Board to promote the city. But the government insider said it was important to maintain the “Rebuttal Team” to counter any malicious attacks and smears by Western countries, despite the risk that a hardline approach might not prove persuasive. “Rebuttal is in our DNA,” she said. “Our current strategies of submitting concise, timely op-eds to Western media are beginning to see results.” But actual visits and encounters appear to be the best way forward. Inaki Amate, chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said he had noticed rising European business interest in the city over the past two years. “We’re starting to see that companies are realising that if the US market is closing or is becoming harder and harder, [they need] alternative markets. They are revisiting Asia and Hong Kong as an entry point to these markets,” he said. As for the national security laws, he said European businesses welcomed the stability that had returned and suggested moving beyond repeated discussion of their impact. Southeast Asian business chambers were on Hong Kong’s side from the get-go. Gan Khai Choon, head of the Malaysian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Macau, said its members would have found it “increasingly difficult to do business and trade in Hong Kong” if the national security law had not been enacted. But he added: “National security is dependent in the long run on people’s well-being and feeling of satisfaction, so we think Hong Kong should also pay great attention to livelihood issues and carry out appropriate reforms to realise its full potential.” Amate urged Hong Kong to highlight its unique position under the one country, two systems governance principle, noting that this special status allowed foreign businesses to operate differently than on the mainland. HKU’s Sebena, who had previously worked in the finance industry in Switzerland, Australia and Hong Kong, said: “Hong Kong combines deep capital markets with what appears to be a more stable and predictable business environment, which is attractive especially for non-Western companies looking for funding and other financial services. “Hong Kong’s reputation could be damaged if Western governments approached it from a normative perspective; however, under the current US president’s rather transactional approach, the city should be able to better address reputational risks.” During his visit last week to mark the fifth anniversary of the law, Xia, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said the city had entered into a new stage of development, having achieved stability after the convulsions of the 2019 protests. Calling on Lee to take charge, Xia said the chief executive and his team were “the masters of Hong Kong”, while Beijing offered robust support for the city to maintain its “high level of openness”. Executive Council convenor Ip said the city had achieved a lot more in the past few years after decades of policy gridlock. It had moved on financial centre reforms, for example, and she welcomed greater debate in the legislature to ensure better policies. On the oft-heard lament that the city had changed, Ip had this to say: “Hong Kong has always had an identity issue. Before the national security law, the West would pretend we will continue to be a child of the West because we have been under British rule for 160 years. “But, of course, that is not sustainable in the long term because we are part of China. Culture follows power; culture follows economic influence.” Additional reporting by Jess Ma