When large-scale protests began to blanket Hong Kong’s streets in 2019, economists and investors warned that erosion of the territory’s freedoms and political institutions threatened its unique financial market. The demonstrators were calling for the suspension of a controversial extradition bill, seen to open Hong Kongers and foreigners to prosecution in mainland China. Such a bill threatened Hong Kong’s powerful business community. Consequently, insisted some observers, Beijing would be unlikely to imperil its economy or special trade preferences, and would back down.
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