Hong Kong's economy will be badly hit by radical activists who have caused tangible damage to the city's economic recovery. They and the power behind them are sinners against Hong Kong's economy. Hong Kong society should stand up against riots that seriously damage Hong Kong's wellbeing and future.

Some radical activists stormed Hong Kong's Legislative Council (LegCo) building on Monday. Destructive behavior and violence demonstrate contempt for the rule of law and can never be tolerated because they damage Hong Kong's reputation as a secure place to do business.

Some companies based in the Chinese mainland are taking a wait-and-see attitude when it comes to investing in Hong Kong. We noted that Thursday's minimum airfare from Hong Kong to Beijing was nearly 40 percent higher than that from Beijing to Hong Kong, according to data from online travel service provider Ctrip.com, suggesting weaker demand for traveling to Hong Kong. The violence that has challenged Hong Kong's rule of law is likely to cause immeasurable losses, and it signals a possible cooling down in economic exchanges between Hong Kong and the mainland.

Hong Kong is known as the gateway between the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world. If radical activists change this and undermine Hong Kong's economic ties with the mainland, foreign investors will lose their interest in the city. 

Radical protestors will destroy Hong Kong's economy. Although they represent just a tiny part of Hong Kong society, all Hong Kong people will feel the pain of any economic downturn.

At this critical moment, the Chinese central government is unlikely to reduce its support to the Hong Kong economy. But instead the central government will do its best to secure economic stabilization. Plans have been unveiled in the past few years to integrate Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong Province into a world-class city cluster. Such measures will power the future growth of Hong Kong's economy.

In 2018, Hong Kong was overtaken by neighboring Shenzhen in Guangdong in economic size for the first time.  Hong Kong has received more government support as its economy faces challenges due to lack of new momentum for growth.

Some observers thought the market had stabilized due to policy support in the second quarter, but just weeks after the economy began to show signs of recovery, violent protestors created a disturbance by vandalizing Hong Kong's LegCo building. 

We can't help wondering if they want to deliberately stop Hong Kong's economic recovery in its tracks.

China and the US have been engaged in a trade war since 2018. It seems possible that neither the US nor the UK want to see a thriving Hong Kong. The West has been instigating and lending strong psychological support to violent protests around the world. By making noise and meddling in Hong Kong affairs, some Western forces want to throw Hong Kong into turmoil, but they ignore one fact: China's central government and Hong Kong society will never allow that to happen. 

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn
Newspaper headline: Rioters, West make vain move to damage HK future