Officials and members of Hong Kong’s legal profession have been vexed by a recent Financial Times that reported that international corporations working on deals in Asia – or entering into joint ventures with Chinese and other Asian counterparties – were considering excluding Hong Kong from governing law and arbitration clauses in legal contracts over concerns about the erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy.
For officials in Hong Kong, eager to paint a rosy picture of stability and a return to normality following the implementation of the Beijing-backed National Security Law (NSL), the piece was poorly received. Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng issued a statement that said the article “unfortunately illustrates an incomplete picture of Hong Kong,” but she did not elaborate on what the complete picture was.