| 送交者: icemessenger[♂☆★★★SuperMod★★★☆♂] 于 2024-03-23 1:36 已读 3742 次 1 赞 | icemessenger的个人频道 |
Hong Kong Security Law Could Damage City’s Standing as Financial Hub
上个月，香港财政司司长陈茂波在立法会发布新一年财政预算案。 去年9月，香港最高财政官员陈茂波前往巴黎、伦敦、法兰克福和柏林吸引外国投资者。上个月，他取消了针对非香港永久居民的购房税。近期，他还将主持一场国际艺术展，以及为大额资金基金和富裕家族顾问举办的会谈。 6park.com 6park.comMr. Chan’s brisk work pace represents an attempt to shore up Hong Kong’s role and image as the financial hub of Asia. But that effort is now colliding with a move by the city’s Beijing-appointed leaders to further tighten their crackdown on the remaining political freedoms in the city. 6park.com从陈茂波的忙碌工作节奏中，可以看到为了巩固香港作为亚洲金融中心的角色和形象所付出的努力。但现在，北京任命的香港领导人进一步加强了对香港剩余政治自由的打压，与陈茂波的这一努力产生了冲突。 6park.com 6park.comHong Kong’s legislature approved broadly worded security legislation on Tuesday. City leaders described the law as necessary to stop foreign interference in local politics, but critics characterized it as a comprehensive effort to muzzle dissent. 6park.com香港立法机关周二批准了措辞含糊的安全立法。香港的领导人表示，该法对于阻止外国势力干涉香港政治是必要的，但批评者认为，这是一项全面压制异议的努力。 6park.com 6park.comUnder its top leader, Xi Jinping, China has asserted greater influence in the past four years over Hong Kong’s laws and prosecutors. That has raised alarms for American and European companies that use the city and its open financial markets as a gateway to China. The mainland’s own economic struggles, especially in real estate, have further shaken confidence in Hong Kong as a place to put money. 6park.com在最高领导人习近平的领导下，过去四年来，北京对香港的法律和检察官施加了更大的影响力。这给那些以香港及其开放的金融市场作为进入中国门户的美国和欧洲公司敲响了警钟。中国内地自身的经济困境，尤其是房地产领域的困境，进一步动摇了人们对香港作为投资地点的信心。 6park.com 6park.comMany investors and companies have already begun moving activities to Singapore, a rival that has the advantage of being an independent country 1,200 miles southwest of China. 6park.com许多投资者和公司已经开始将商业活动转移到新加坡，作为香港的竞争对手，新加坡有着作为一个位于中国西南方向约1900公里处的独立国家的优势。 6park.com 6park.com
Paul Chan, the top finance official of Hong Kong, traveled to Paris, London, Frankfurt and Berlin last September to lure foreign investors. Last month he abolished taxes on foreigners’ purchases of Hong Kong real estate. And he is soon set to host an international art show, as well as conferences for big money funds and advisers to wealthy families. 6park.com香港主要金融中心——中环交易广场的办公室白领。三年来，这座城市的股市市值蒸发近一半。 6park.com 6park.com“The new national security rules have eroded Hong Kong’s distinctiveness for foreign firms and Chinese exporters — its comparative advantage is less clear than it once was for many businesses,” said Mark Wu, the director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University. 6park.com“新的国家安全规则削弱了香港对外国公司和中国出口商的独特性——对许多企业来说，其比较优势不再像以前那么明显，”哈佛大学费正清中国研究中心主任伍人英说。 6park.com 6park.comShiu Sin-por, a former head of the Hong Kong government’s policy review agency who is now a senior adviser to Beijing on Hong Kong issues, said the legislation would not have a practical effect on trade or financial markets. “It might create an image problem, but it would not make any difference for ordinary investors,” he said. 6park.com前香港政府中央政策组首席顾问、现任北京香港问题高级顾问邵善波表示，这项立法不会对贸易或金融市场产生实际影响。“这可能会造成形象问题，但对普通投资者来说不会有任何影响，”他说。 6park.com 6park.comThe clampdown coincides with an already difficult time for the Hong Kong economy and its financial sector. Its close links to the mainland economy have been the city’s greatest strength — and now have become a liability as China’s economic activity slows. The city’s stock market has lost nearly half its value in three years. Dozens of mainland real estate developers have defaulted on bonds issued in Hong Kong, inflicting billions of dollars in losses on investment funds in the city and damaging the image of its bond market. 6park.com此番打压恰逢香港经济及其金融业处境艰难之际。与内地经济的紧密联系一直是香港最大的优势，但现在随着中国经济活动放缓，这种密切联系成为了一种负担。三年来，香港股市市值蒸发了近一半。数十家内地房地产开发商在香港发行的债券出现违约，给香港投资基金造成数十亿美元的损失，损害了香港债券市场的形象。 6park.com 6park.comTo make matters worse, interest rates have soared in Hong Kong, roughly in line with those in the United States. That is because the city’s currency is tightly pegged to the dollar and fully convertible into dollars — a monetary policy that is central to the city’s role as a global financial center. But high interest rates have hurt the city’s huge real estate sector. 6park.com雪上加霜的是，香港利率飙升，与美国的利率大致持平。 这是因为港币与美元挂钩，并且与美元是联系汇率制度——这一货币政策对于香港作为全球金融中心的角色至关重要，但高利率损害了香港庞大的房地产行业。 6park.com 6park.comHong Kong imposed lengthy quarantines during the pandemic, eroding its role as an air travel hub. Mainland Chinese cities like nearby Shenzhen have built extensive, ultramodern container ports, erasing Hong Kong’s leadership in logistics. 6park.com香港在疫情期间实施了长时间的隔离制度，削弱了其作为航空枢纽的地位。附近的深圳等内地城市建造了大规模的超现代化集装箱港口，抹去了香港在物流领域的领先地位。 6park.com 6park.com香港的城市景观。银行和咨询公司已经开始将从事政治敏感活动的员工调往新加坡。 6park.com 6park.comBeijing has also introduced extensive duty-free shopping on China’s Hainan Island. That has eliminated much of the need for mainland shoppers to cross the border to Hong Kong to avoid the mainland’s combination of steep taxes on imports and high sales taxes. 6park.com北京还在海南岛推出了广泛的免税购物。这样一来，内地购物者就不再需要为了避开内地高额的进口税和销售税而越过边境前往香港。 6park.com 6park.comBanks and consulting firms have already begun moving staff to Singapore for politically sensitive activities, like assessing the performance of the mainland Chinese economy. Hong Kong’s new law also poses a further challenge for the city’s once vibrant media sector, which now faces the threat of prosecution for sedition for criticisms of the government. 6park.com银行和咨询公司已经开始将员工调往新加坡从事政治敏感活动，比如评估中国内地的经济表现。香港的新法律还对香港一度充满活力的媒体行业构成进一步挑战，该行业现在面临着因批评政府而被控煽动叛乱的威胁。 6park.com 6park.comHong Kong was a British territory from 1842 to 1997, when London returned it to mainland China’s control. The city retains a legal system based on Britain’s common law system. 6park.com1842年至1997年，香港一直是英国殖民地，1997年英国将其交还给中国。香港保留了以英国普通法体系为基础的法律制度。 6park.com 6park.comMany mainland Chinese companies continue to sign contracts under Hong Kong law. The city’s courts are perceived as free from political interference on commercial issues, although critics warn that the Hong Kong government now appoints pro-Beijing judges. 6park.com许多中国内地公司继续根据香港法律签订合同。香港法院据信在商业问题上不受政治干预，但批评者警告称，香港政府现在任命的是亲北京的法官。 6park.com 6park.comHong Kong’s legal code since 1997, known as the Basic Law, requires the city to pass legislation against sedition, secession, treason, subversion and theft of state secrets, as well as to prohibit foreign political organizations from conducting political activities in Hong Kong. The city’s leaders tried to pass the legislation in 2003 but backed off after a huge street protest. Beijing then imposed its own national security legislation in 2020 after a wave of protests the preceding year. 6park.com自1997年以来，香港的《基本法》要求通过立法禁止煽动叛乱、分裂国家、叛国、颠覆和窃取国家机密等行为，并禁止外国政治组织在香港开展政治活动。香港领导人曾在2003年试图通过这项立法，但在大规模街头抗议后将其搁置。在经历2019年的抗议浪潮之后，北京于2020年强行实施了自己的国家安全法。 6park.com 6park.comRegina Ip, a leading member of Hong Kong’s cabinet, said the new law would allow leaders to focus on the economy. “We are 26 years late, and more importantly, we need to focus on boosting the economy in the next phase of our development,” she said. 6park.com香港行政会议主要成员叶刘淑仪表示，新法案将使领导人能够专注于经济。她说：“我们晚了26年，更重要的是，我们需要在下一阶段的发展中集中精力促进经济。”
6park.comMrs. Ip’s point was echoed by Leung Chun-ying, a senior adviser to Beijing leaders and former Hong Kong chief executive, the top governmental role. “It is time for Hong Kong, not Beijing, to enact,” he said. 6park.com北京领导人的高级顾问、香港前行政长官梁振英也赞同叶刘淑仪的观点。他说：“现在到了香港，而不是北京制定法律的时候了。” 6park.com 6park.com消费者在海南岛购物，中国在海南岛推出了范围广泛的免税购物，使内地购物者无需为避税而前往香港购物。 6park.com 6park.comInternational criticism of the new law has been broad and fierce. 6park.com国际社会对新法案的批评普遍持激烈态度。 6park.com 6park.com“It could lead to significant constraints on freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the right to dissent,” said Nicholas Burns, the United States ambassador to China. 6park.com美国驻华大使尼古拉斯·伯恩斯表示：“这可能导致言论自由、集会自由和表达异议的权利受到严重限制。” 6park.com 6park.comHong Kong leaders contended that the law was portrayed as more drastic than it really is. They said that what Hong Kong was doing to limit foreign interference was less extensive than recent efforts by countries like Singapore and Australia, two of the main destinations to which many companies and investors are moving. 6park.com香港领导人认为，该法律被描述得比实际情况更严厉。他们说，与新加坡和澳大利亚等国最近所做的努力相比，香港为限制外国干涉所做的工作并没有那么广泛，而新加坡和澳大利亚是许多公司和投资者正在迁往的两个主要目的地。 6park.com 6park.comHong Kong’s law allows a broad role for the judiciary to review government decisions on national security cases, Mr. Leung said in an interview in Beijing. 6park.com梁振英在北京接受采访时说，香港的新法案将允许司法机构在审查政府有关国家安全案件的决定方面发挥广泛的作用。 6park.com 6park.comBusinesspeople in Hong Kong say many of the activities prohibited by the new legislation could already be deemed illegal in some form under Beijing’s legislation in 2020. So they are watching to see how the new law is implemented. 6park.com香港商界人士表示，根据北京2020年的立法，新法案禁止的许多活动可能已经以某种形式被视为非法。因此，他们正在观望新法案的实施情况。 6park.com 6park.com“It is fair to say that most of the changes are already baked in,” said Steve Vickers, the chief executive of Steve Vickers and Associates, a regional corporate risk consulting firm in Hong Kong. 6park.com香港一家地区企业风险咨询公司Steve Vickers and Associates的首席执行官史蒂夫·维克斯表示：“可以说，大部分变化都早已经酝酿好了。”
请点这里投票，“赞”助支持！