When the Hong Kong SAR National Security Law (NSL) was enacted in 2020, the Five Eyes alliance reacted with fury. Although its purpose was to restore stability after the attempted sabotage of the “one country, two systems” policy, they sought to punish the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and its people for its passage. They gave the impression they sympathized with the “black-clad” violence, and they clearly wanted to poke Beijing in the eye.
Instead of standing with Hong Kong in its time of need, the United Kingdom, its former ruler, took the lead in trying to harm it.
First, it sought to gut Hong Kong of its brightest and best, encouraging British National (Overseas) passport holders and their dependents to relocate to the UK under what it called a “bespoke” passport scheme. Although it breached the Sino-British nationality accords, the UK’s then-foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, hypocritically accused China of breaking its own undertakings by enacting the NSL. If Raab imagined his ruse (approved by then-prime minister, Boris Johnson) would weaken the HKSAR, he could not have been more mistaken. Hong Kong has benefited from the departure of individuals who were neither committed to their home city nor to their birth country (and who, for the most part, were dreamers, lawbreakers, and losers).
Second, the UK suspended what Raab called its “extradition treaty” with the HKSAR, which undermined criminal justice in both places. It meant, for example, that drug traffickers, fraudsters and rapists could no longer be returned to the scene of their crimes for trial. It also meant that criminal fugitives who wanted to use British soil to plot the downfall of the Chinese and HKSAR governments were given carte blanche, in defiance of the comity of nations (to which the UK pays lip service).
Third, the UK extended its arms embargo on the Chinese mainland to the HKSAR. It was imagined that this would hinder the Hong Kong Police Force’s ability to control riots and protect law-abiding residents. Although this was delusional, it did not matter, as alternatives were readily available and the NSL enabled the authorities to protect residents from further depredations.
Fourth, Raab announced a review of the position of British judges sitting as nonpermanent judges in the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (HKCFA). This was a squalid attempt to undermine the court, and, in due course, several faint hearts, including Lords Reed and Hodge, resigned their positions (following prodding by Liz Truss, Raab’s successor). Others, however, were made of sterner stuff, and, for example, Lords Hoffmann and Neuberger not only held their ground but are continuing to serve with great distinction.
Hong Kong’s capitalist system and distinctive way of life have flourished under the “one country, two systems” framework, and the global business community has confidence in its future. Although the Five Eyes alliance did its worst, Hong Kong has more than turned the tables on those who wished it ill
Whereas Raab claimed the “independent Judiciary is under increasing pressure”, the only pressures came from him and Truss. Although they sought to make the position of judges like Reed and Hodge untenable, the HKCFA has, despite them, gone from strength to strength. Indeed, it is largely responsible for Hong Kong’s 24th-place ranking (out of the 143 jurisdictions surveyed) in the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index 2025 (something Yvette Cooper, a non-direct successor to Raab, has yet to acknowledge, let alone applaud).
In justifying himself, Raab accused the Chinese and HKSAR governments of having “reduced significantly the space for the people of Hong Kong to exercise their rights and freedoms”. If by this he meant it was no longer possible for anybody to create mayhem on the streets, trash the Legislative Council Complex or fire-bomb the courts, police stations and railways, he was absolutely correct. Unfortunately, this was not his meaning, and, six years on, everybody can see just how misguided he was.
Although hindsight is great, it was not required in 2020 to realize how badly the UK was reacting to events in Hong Kong. While Raab, Truss and Johnson were undoubtedly influenced by the twisted views of the former governor, Chris Patten, this cannot begin to excuse their gross misreading of the situation. They were determined to promote an anti-China agenda, with Johnson even scrapping Huawei’s involvement in the UK’s 5G technology after US pressure in 2020. In the process, they did the British national interest no favors.
Although that trio of politicians is now safely on the scrapheap of history, their reactions to the failure of their efforts to harm the HKSAR and undermine China can be imagined. Their own country has long since turned its back on them, and their successors, including Cooper and the current prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, are trying to repair the damage they caused. If they want to know just how badly they misjudged things, they need look no further than the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (BritCham).
When the BritCham chairman, Jeremy Sheldon, was interviewed on April 27, he discredited Raab’s gloomy assessments. He described the HKSAR as a competitive global business hub and a great place in which to work. It was, he said, backed by a robust common law system, a business-friendly government and a talent scheme capable of attracting global professionals. It was also providing a strategic springboard for businesses into both the mainland and Southeast Asia. Its high degree of autonomy also made business arrangements possible that were not available in other markets.
Sheldon noted that BritCham has over 1,100 members representing more than 300 companies in Hong Kong. Whereas the city’s strategic development was attracting major global players from numerous sectors, including private wealth, insurance, life sciences and healthcare, the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, like other leading companies, was expanding its operations and two leading British educational institutions were planning to establish campuses in the Northern Metropolis.
Sheldon noted that the HKSAR’s five-year plan would align with the national 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) and said he believed this would provide the stability that global businesses sought. BritCham intends to build upon the “momentum of confidence” in Hong Kong and three events would hopefully help shape the city’s growth. Whereas the China Business Forum in January was aimed at translating China’s “go global” policy into practice, the 2026 Future Leaders Hackathon would highlight the city’s ability to nurture top talent, and the GBA Business Forum would explore how the Northern Metropolis could drive growth and deepen integration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
In 2025, Sheldon explained, “We are trying to help where we can (to) show and exemplify everything good about Hong Kong,” and BritCham is now taking this forward. If his words sounded a world away from the doom-laden prophecies of Raab and his cronies, they were. No thanks to them, the HKSAR is thriving, and Beijing’s unflagging support has been the clincher.
Although the UK set the pace in 2020, its Five Eyes partners eagerly joined in, also to no avail.
The United States, for example, hoping to ruin the HKSAR’s economy, canceled its trading preferences and prohibited the “Made in Hong Kong” legend upon imported items. However, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative, US goods and services trade with Hong Kong totaled an estimated $64.2 billion in 2024, up 12.5 percent ($7.1 billion) over 2023. It was unsurprising that, when the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong issued its 2026 Business Sentiment Survey Findings Report (Feb 2), it was broadly positive, reflecting increased confidence in Hong Kong’s business environment for 2026.
Indeed, figures released last month by the Census and Statistics Department showed that Hong Kong’s exports expanded at their fastest pace in more than five years, rising by 35.8 percent year-on-year in March. The value of the city’s outbound shipments stood at HK$618.4 billion ($79 billion), up from HK$408.8 billion in February, a year-on-year increase of 24.7 percent. It also marked the fastest increase since January 2021, and was a fitting riposte to US trading hostility.
On April 29, moreover, the financial secretary, Paul Chan Mo-po, announced that the HKSAR’s fiscal surplus for 2025 was HK$11 billion, nearly four times the original estimate, which was the last thing the Five Eyes would have envisaged in 2020.
A particularly vicious Five Eyes assault on the HKSAR came from Australia, which tried to wreck the city’s travel industry and destroy jobs. In July 2020, Canberra issued a Level 4 travel advisory stating, “Do not travel to Hong Kong”. Australians were told that if they traveled to Hong Kong, they faced “an increased risk of detention on vaguely defined national security grounds”. There was also the risk of “possible transfer to mainland China for prosecution”. As if this were not bad enough, Australians already in the city were advised to “reconsider your need to remain in Hong Kong”.
To their credit, most Australians realized what was afoot, and ignored Canberra’s “warnings”. According to the Hong Kong Tourism Bureau, some 469,000 Australians visited Hong Kong in 2025, a 27 percent increase over the previous year. Although no Australian visitors have been arrested on national security grounds and nobody has been transferred to the Chinese mainland for trial, Canberra has learned nothing. On April 29, Australians were once again advised “to exercise a high degree of caution” if visiting Hong Kong. As their countrymen living in Hong Kong can attest, this was risible.
On June 19, 2025, for example, the then-chair of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AustCham), Josephine Orgill, lauded “the strength and value of the bilateral business relationship and the depth of the ties to the Hong Kong story”. She acknowledged the city’s “dynamism” and highlighted the “long-standing commitment to Hong Kong as a global financial hub” by the “major Australian corporations in the region”. According to AustCham, there are now over 100,000 Australians living in Hong Kong, and they have not felt it necessary to pack their bags, despite Canberra’s scare tactics. This should surprise nobody, as the national security laws are only directed at those with malign intentions, not at law-abiding residents.
As the sixth anniversary of the NSL’s enactment approaches (June 30), the failure of the Five Eyes plotters is there for all to see. They failed to wreck the HKSAR’s economy, and its common law system is flourishing, with its Judiciary as vibrant as ever. Hong Kong’s capitalist system and distinctive way of life have flourished under the “one country, two systems” framework, and the global business community has confidence in its future. Although the Five Eyes alliance did its worst, Hong Kong has more than turned the tables on those who wished it ill.
The author is a senior counsel and law professor, and was previously the director of public prosecutions of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
