Hong Kong Protests: Government 'Beginning To Resolve Issues', HKEX Chair Says

Laura Cha, the chair of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), commented at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the Chinese government should and will let authorities in Hong Kong resolve the continued public protests that have beset the Asian financial center.

Cha told a reporter for CNBC, “I believe that it will, and it should. It is a local issue under one country, two systems. We should be able to resolve the issues and the (Hong Kong) government are beginning to resolve some of the issues.”

Her perspective may represent how Beijing is looking at the unrest in Hong Kong after months of protests. Cha was a member of China’s National People’s Congress, acting as the Hong Kong deputy, a position she held for 10 years until 2018. The reality of the situation may not be as “rosy” as Cha’s comments seem to indicate.

The protests began over an extradition bill that was eventually withdrawn by Chief Executive Carrie Lam. The delay in withdrawing the bill allowed the protesters to expand their demands to other issues such as voter suffrage and fair treatment of people arrested during the riots. One of the later demands is over property prices in the former British colony.

On Sunday another protest began peacefully as a “static rally” but the crowd overflowed onto the streets with some protesters using umbrellas, traffic cones, and street furniture to form barricades. Other protesters dug up bricks from the pavement presumably for use as a projectile against police. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Ventus Lau, a prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist was arrested Sunday evening on charges of “obstruction of police administration” and violating terms of the permit issued by the Hong Kong Civil Assembly Team.

Cha admitted that HKEX did suffer over the protests but had recently rebounded “quite nicely”. Hong Kong is also using Davos as an opportunity to show the world that the city-state is open for business and that the riots have not affected the financial industries.

She said, “Yes, there are arrests. Yes, (there is) what you see on television. But there is another side of it. The financial market has done well. The capital market is still very strong. All this points to the fact that global investors still see us as an attractive market. There are obviously signs of concern, but we hope the concerns can be resolved soon,” adding that there had been no significant outflows of capital.

The riots have moved from being the lead story on many news outlets, but this may be a case of it being “old news” as other events take precedence. China has made it clear that they are seeking reunification and would prefer not to wait until 2047 when the 1997 agreement expires restoring Hong Kong to full Chinese control under the Communist Party. Meanwhile, the pro-democracy sector remains a force to be reckoned within Hong Kong.