Opinion | To win the world back, Hong Kong must tell the Article 23 story right

The ‘good’ and ‘true’ stories of Hong Kong that officials tell won’t change minds overseas, as long as uncertainty lingers over the city’s national security legislation

Furthermore, the talk of Hong Kong needing to overcome ‘soft resistance’ doesn’t inspire confidence in the city’s future as a financial and innovation hub

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A woman walks past a banner promoting the national security law for Hong Kong in 2020. Three years after the law was imposed, uncertainty lingers over the impending Article 23 legislation. Photo: AP

Published: 4:30pm, 19 Nov 2023Updated: 5:51pm, 19 Nov 2023

Following President Xi Jinping’s mantra of “telling China’s story well”, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has been exhorting many to join his administration in telling the world “good stories of Hong Kong”. When Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po attended the Apec summit in San Francisco last week, his task was to tell the world “true stories” of Hong Kong.

Storytelling is an art – when done well, your audience is captivated and will start seeing the world in a new light. This is why our leaders are trying so very hard to tell “good” and “true” stories of the city.

With the social unrest of 2019 and the dramatic changes that followed – the shifting dynamic between Beijing and the city, the passing of the national security law for Hong Kong, sweeping political reforms, the emigration wave, not to mention the city’s Covid-19 isolation – an information vacuum was created around the city, which Hong Kong’s leaders are trying to fill.

Yet, while it’s nice to hear good and true stories of Hong Kong as a land of opportunity, these narratives have a limited impact because, at the end of the day, many foreign businesses and talent are in wait-and-see mode, and for valid reasons too.

Just a day before Xi was due to meet US President Joe Biden ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission released its latest report basically pronouncing that Hong Kong’s transformation into a mainland Chinese city is complete.

That’s just one negative and untrue story Hong Kong officials have been getting really worked up about. To be fair, even Kurt Tong, former US envoy to Hong Kong, has blamed the US State Department for putting out an “inaccurate description” of the risks of travel to the city.

Passengers in the arrival hall of Hong Kong airport on July 6. Photo: Elson Li