Economic Freedom Report Is Biased: Paul Chan

The financial secretary struck back at a US think tank on Thursday for its decision to dump Hong Kong from an annual economic freedom index report, saying the assessment is unjustified and "clouded by political bias".

Year after year, the SAR authorities bragged about how the compiler of the index, the Heritage Foundation, regarded Hong Kong to be the freest economy in the world.

But after a 25-year reign at the top of the league table, Hong Kong is now nowhere to be found in the list, with the foundation saying Beijing controls the city's economic policies these days.

"I'm sorry I do not agree with the analysis," said Paul Chan, after he was asked about it during an online conference on his budget.

"When they arrived at that decision, they must have been clouded by their ideological inclination and political bias."

The finance chief disputed the foundation's view that Beijing is in charge of Hong Kong's economic policies, as he played up the SAR's strengths under "One Country, Two Systems".

"Our core economic competitiveness in terms of free flow of capital, free flow of talent, information, free flow of goods remain, the Hong Kong dollar remains an independent currency linked to the US dollar," Chan said.

"The rule of law is very much respected here, the independent judiciary is working here."