Security Law Has Brought Cash Influx: Paul Chan

Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Tuesday dismissed claims that the national security law will drive away foreign investors, saying there's been a recent influx of foreign capital instead.

Speaking at an online forum on ‘One Country, Two Systems’ organised by the Bauhinia Magazine, Chan said Hong Kong dollar had remained strong since April.

He noted that the Monetary Authority has had to defend the currency peg a number of times by selling the local currency and buying the greenback – bringing in more than US$100 billion as a result.

He also pointed to recent stock market gains as more evidence that the new law has brought stability to Hong Kong’s investment environment.

Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong’s only deputy to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), said the enactment of the national security law was as if Hong Kong had returned to the mainland for the second time since 1997, because it brought back the “original intention” of One Country, Two Systems.

But he said there’s a need to strengthen the weak sense of national identity among young people, and beef up education on national security.

Basic Law Committee vice chair Maria Tam again dismissed claims that the law will damage One Country, Two Systems, while former NPCSC deputy, Rita Fan, said it's the violence and street protests that have driven away investments.

She also accused foreign countries like Britain and Canada of trying to siphon away money and talents from the SAR by offering to relax immigration requirements for Hongkongers, under what she said was the pretext of offering assistance.

Mainland legal scholar Wang Zhenmin, formerly the legal chief for the Liaison Office, said the national security law is a perfect solution that could ensure national security while maintaining One Country, Two Systems.

He said the new law is a 'mild' one that protects people’s rights and freedoms, and does not have any impact on the city’s high degree of autonomy.