Investment-friendly hub or hell-hole of hidden threats?

The NYT reports on Hong Kong’s ‘soft resistance’.  While the paper struggles to work out exactly what it is (who doesn’t?), it notes the contradiction in the authorities’ narrative. This tension seems to be a permanent feature of Hong Kong now: on the one hand, the city is a modern, stable community that’s excellent for business; on the other, it is besieged by mysterious dangers lurking everywhere…

The phrase, which is used to describe anything seen as covertly subversive or insidiously defiant against the government, is showing up in news reports, speeches by top officials, and warnings from government departments. Officials and propaganda organs have warned of the threat of possible “soft resistance” in a book fair, music lyrics, a U.S. holiday celebration and environmental groups.

…To the authorities, “soft resistance” is nothing short of a national security threat, and at least a dozen senior officials have used the term in recent weeks. Warning signs include messaging that is deemed to be critical of the government or sympathetic to the opposition or to protesters, whom the authorities have described as rioters or terrorists.

“Soft resistance is real and lurks in various places,” John Lee, the city’s leader, warned in June…

…But even some within the pro-Beijing establishment are expressing concern that the government’s campaign risks stifling expression and hurting the economy.

…Prominent business figures with ties to the government say that the repeated emphasis on perceived security threats is undercutting more urgent efforts to attract foreign investment and preserve the city’s image as a global hub.

“We, Hong Kong’s pro-establishment, must clearly understand what the top priority is — national security or the economy, that’s in itself contradictory,” David Tai Chong Lie-A-Cheong, a Hong Kong businessman and a member of an advisory body to Beijing, said in an interview.

“When officials are constantly saying that Hong Kong is not safe, would you invest here?” asked [businessman] Mr. Lie-A-Cheong… He said that foreign business groups were having a hard time understanding the direction of Hong Kong’s policies.

Mr. Lie-A-Cheong described the situation in Hong Kong as “heart-wrenching” and said: “As a pro-establishment member for decades, I feel we have failed our jobs.”

HKFP update on Jimmy Lai’s trial. The prosecution argue that he should somehow have stopped activists lobbying overseas governments.

Lai’s supporters believe that Beijing will not want Hong Kong to suffer the bad publicity that would inevitably follow his death in prison. The Pillar on hopes to see him freed…

Speaking to The Pillar, Mark Simon, formerly a senior executive at Apple Daily and a close associate of Lai’s, said that while the outcome of the trial was seen as a forgone conclusion, Lai’s friends and family hoped its conclusion could clear the way for his release on humanitarian grounds.

“Jimmy’s trial is ongoing, but it is going to end,” Simon said. “And that is when we hope Beijing will start to step in and take a little bit more notice. We know the verdict, when it comes, is going to be guilty. But in a sense we are starting from that eventual ‘guilty’ and hopefully working from there to get him released.”

…Lai appeared in court this week wearing a heart monitor following the advice of doctors, who have confirmed the downturn in his health. According to Simon, this has made what already appeared to many observers to be a show-trail take on an element of absurdity.

“It’s a kind of cosplay,” he said. “Every time Jimmy comes to court, they have a four truck convoy to bring him in. They have guys with machine guns on guard. It’s ridiculous — a 77-year-old guy who’s now wearing an EKG vest because of his heart condition and they act like there is a Seal Team Six ready to bust him out. It’s just the way things are right now.”