In Hong Kong, decades of wealth gains evaporate on Beijing’s watch
Al Jazeera
Hong Kong’s stock market is lower today than it was in 1997 when the territory returned to Chinese sovereignty. ]
Taipei, Taiwan – Like many Hong Kongers, accountant Edelweiss Lam spent the last week watching the city’s stock market wipe out 14 months of gains as the Hang Seng Index fell below the psychological threshold of 15,000 points.
It was not the first time Lam, who has been investing on and off in Hong Kong stocks since the late 1990s, had seen it happen.
The index dropped below 15,000 points during SARS in 2003, the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, and zero-COVID lockdowns in 2022.
But while ebbs and flows are part of the investment game, Lam said watching the key measure of Hong Kong’s stock market tumble “back to square one” felt different this time.
“It seems I cannot see the future,” Lam told Al Jazeera by phone from Hong Kong.
