I haven’t spoken at all about the situation in Hong Kong before, mostly because there wasn’t much to be said: (somewhat) free colony opposes colonial power’s aggression, mayhem ensues.
Several people have wondered why the ChiComs haven’t sent in the tanks, à la Tienanmen Square, to crush the waves of protests, but the answer is simple: Hong Kong provides a means whereby the ChiCom government can move money around the world without provoking too much notice because currency movement in Hong Kong is completely unregulated. Crush the protests, make Hong Kong just another province (like, say, Jiangxi or Shandong) and that flexibility disappears.
It is, however, a two-edged sword. What has transpired since the protests began is that capital (money owned by individuals, that is) has been pouring out of Hong Kong and flooding into Singapore — to name just one such destination — thence on to parts unknown. Which means that if Beijing does finally send the tanks into Hong Kong, they’re likely to find, like Old Mother Hubbard, that the cupboard is bare. And the flow of money is truly a deluge: if you study how many major corporations have been purchased by Chinese-sourced money over the past few months, you’d be amazed. Even better is that by and large, the corporations being thus purchased are characterized by their cash flow operations — in other words, the Chinese billionaires, canny businessmen that they are, are not just parking their money under an offshore mattress, they’re putting that cash to work and generating a revenue stream.
The ChiComs may not only be running out of other people’s money — they may soon be running out of their own.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of totalitarians.
By the way, you may have noticed that the above is somewhat short of details; that’s because if I say more, I could jeopardize my several sources who are not only well placed in the area, but who do a ton of business there too and are close to said wealthy people. One can never be too careful when dealing with Commie bastards.
Friday 13th October 1307. DeJa Vu. The Pope and King of France try the same thing on the Knights Templar. The Templars that escaped the dragnet and the supposed treasure vanished.
The ChiComs may soon be running out of their own money.
I would cheer enthusiastically, except when that happens they generally blame the rich for not putting out or hiding their money or a favorite of Stalin-era Communists, “Sabotage”*, and when that blame attaches, blood flows.
Sabotage to the Soviets usually involved failure to meet quotas set by ignorant upper managers under pain of death.
You’ll want to remove that last paragraph, Kim. The internet has a long memory and long-time readers will recognise at least one of your sources.
can confirm.
if you have a way to take advantage of this readily available wealth for investment overseas, it’s a sellers market.