Once the Freest Economy in the World, Hong Kong Is Now Completely Taken Over by China

Hong Kong announced its new leader will be the man who oversaw the crackdown of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. 

It’s final.   China has now completed its takeover of Hong Kong.  The freest country in the world is no longer free. 

The AP reported this morning that the bully who oversaw the crackdown on freedom protesters in Hong Kong is now in charge.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Monday said Chinese patriots are now firmly in charge of the city following the election of its new leader, who ran unopposed in a process controlled by Beijing.

Lam’s comments came a day after a carefully vetted election committee voted overwhelmingly to approve John Lee, a hard-line security chief who oversaw a crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement.

The crackdown led to the imposition by Beijing of a sweeping National Security Law and the reorganization of the city’s legislature. Political opponents were subsequently jailed, dissenting voices silenced and the organized opposition quashed.

Appearing with Lee, Lam said such changes were necessary to restore order and stability in the Asian financial hub.

“I want to thank the central government again for taking resolute measures when Hong Kong faced unprecedented challenges,” said Lam, who is stepping down after a single five-year term as leader.

For 25 years running, Hong Kong was rated the freest country in the world by the Heritage Foundation.  But not anymore.  In 2018 Hong Kong was the freest but then came the Chinese takeover.

The US-based Heritage Foundation has rated Hong Kong as the world’s freest economy for the 24th straight year, but has warned of political interference from Beijing in recent years.

Hong Kong scored 90.2 out of 100 – an increase of 0.4 points compared to last year. Singapore came second out of the 180 regions included in the study.

Out of 12 indicators, Hong Kong scored over 90 points in eight of them, including full marks for fiscal health – the city sits on more than HK$1 trillion in fiscal reserves. There were improvements in government integrity, business freedom, and monetary freedom, but a decline in property rights.

In 2019, Hong Kong citizens protested the Chinese takeover of the country.  For the first time in years, there was destruction of the city’s streets and subways.  This was not like the peaceful umbrella protests a few years earlier.

The protesters in 2019 called on President Trump for help and even sang the Star-Spangled Banner at some of their events.  Then came COVID and the crackdown on any protests in the tiny country.

Now, sadly the tiny prosperous nation is in China’s hands.  This year there was only one choice to run the nation.  This is communism.  This is the end of a free Hong Kong. 

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