By Hugo Novales

Shortly after beginning his second term as President of the United States, Donald Trump initiated another trade war and hit China with tariffs of 145%. China retaliated with 125% tariffs on US goods, before both countries declared a 90-day truce. The truce is expected to end on August 10^th while agreements with the US’ other global trade partners must be made by July 8^th — just next week. The US and China announced a trade deal in late June, but few details came out, other than an agreement to resume sales of Chinese magnets and rare earths to the US.

In her opening remarks at an FCC Club Lunch discussing US-China trade and how it may affect Hong Kong, Karen Koh remarked that anything her panel talks about may quickly become old news.

“Whatever you hear today may be out of date next week, simply because we don’t know what Mr. President is going to say week to week,” she said, commenting on the constantly in flux nature of President Trump’s decision-making.

Koh, now the First Vice President of the Club, then turned to her two panellists and asked if they could predict the future of American trade with the rest of the world.

“I think nobody really knows,” said Irina Fan, the Director of Research for the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council.

Fan explained how it takes many years, and sometimes decades, for trading partners to form agreements. Trump’s tendency to change his policies on a daily basis threatens economic stability between the US and China, as well as the rest of the world that will also have to maneuver around such steep tariffs.

However, the intended goal behind Trump’s actions isn’t clear to Fan. To her, Trump’s new wave of economic policies may not actually have any economic goal in mind, but they may rather serve ulterior (and perhaps political) purposes.

“What we’ve seen from the massive tariffs announced by the new president, to me, from an economist point of view, it doesn’t make any economic sense,” she said, citing how US consumers will feel the burden from Trump’s tariffs the most with a minimum 2.2% increase on prices and no federal strategy to offset costs.

When it comes to how Hong Kong will manage its trade relationship with the US, Fan reminded the audience that exports to US make up only 6.5% of Hong Kong’s total exports, and it’s easy for HK exporters to get growth from other markets.

Also, the city still has over 50 trade offices around the world, and will plan to diversify. While the Hong Kong Dollar is pegged to the US Dollar (US$1 = HK$7.84903), the city has plenty of other trade opportunities to keep business thriving.

“Probably, we can plan ahead with other markets,” Fan said.

Cameron Johnson, the second panellist, has spent his career — and the majority of his life — in mainland China and the US. As a supply chain expert based in Shanghai, Johnson is able to meet with policy makers in Washington DC and see both sides of trade negotiations. To him, tariffs are just another aspect of Trump 2.0 that everyone will have to live with.

“I think the reality is [that] tariffs are here to stay. It’s just a matter of how high they are. There will always be some form of global tariffs,” Johnson said.

He also addressed the spending habits of Chinese citizens under Trump’s new tariffs. Unlike US consumers who will soon face the economic burden of Trump’s trade war, the average Chinese person still has a high amount of spending power — except they’re not spending at all.

“The assumption that Chinese will spend like Americans is ridiculous. Chinese will never spend like the West. They’ll just never do it, and consumption is very much in the eye of the beholder,” he said.

Johnson clarified that lack of Chinese consumption isn’t related to inflation or rising costs of living, but can be attributed towards Chinese cultural attitudes that value getting more for less. He referenced trends of younger Chinese traveling on vacations and making competitions out of who could spend the least amount of money.

While Chinese economists are looking to create new initiatives to encourage domestic consumption, Johnson reassures that the lack thereof isn’t an indicator of economic decline or struggle due to all these new potential tariffs.

“The restaurants are okay. People are traveling. The numbers are all up. They’re just not spending,” Johnson said.

To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel:

By Hugo Novales

Polo Bourieau, a long-time FCC member, first arrived in Hong Kong in 2003. As an artist who studied at Académie de Nantes and developed his interests through his early work in France, Bourieau made a name for himself in Asia by commissioning monumental, site-specific sculptures that can be found in iconic locations across Hong Kong and mainland China.

Bourieau recently documented his artistic journey in his book, Written in Stone: A Journey Shaping Places in New Millennium China, which was published by HKU Press earlier this year. Filled with photographs of his unique and though-provoking creations, Bourieau’s new book explores the relationship between sculptures and urban spaces, as well as how this relationship creates community and identity amongst the everyday people that interact with his art.

Sitting alongside Associate Board Governor Barbara Yu Larsson at an FCC Club Lunch in early June, Bourieau discussed the ideas behind his new book and the impact he hopes to achieve through his sculptures.

“I like this idea that art is for the people. It should be known in the street, not only within the white walls of the galleries and museums, and in a city like Hong Kong, I think we need more art history,” Bourieau said, kicking off the discussion.

He explained the relationship between artists and property developers, who often only allocate 1-2% of their budget for artistic works that may complement a pond, a public square, a wall, or other types of urban features. This relationship — and how it can be improved — is what motivated Bourieau to write Written in Stone.

“I hope this book is going to inspire the city planners and urbanists to create some format of incentive for the developers, because this book proves – and illustrates, pretty much – how developers and architects are ready to collaborate with artists like me,” he said.

With all the developers, architects, and other stakeholders that may be involved with the commissioning of one of Bourieau’s sculptures, one question remains: Who are these sculptures for? Are they for the developers? The architects? Are they for Bourieau himself? 

The answer: none of the above. Bourieau’s personal philosophy is that his art is for the people who will interact with it on a daily basis.

“Art is for the people. So typically, my clients are these anonymous people who cross the square every day. I’m working for them,” he said.

The intersection between the art world and advancing technology also became a talking point during the discussion.

When he first started working, Bourieau didn’t have the level of computers, software, or AI programs that are easily accessible today. He explained how his career progressed alongside the technological revolution of the 21st century, but that the vision and creation of a sculpture is still within the hands of the artist.

“The artist, the sculptor, should be the guy who masters the tool… he’s the one who is handling it, because if not, where is the art? From chisel to robot, there is not really too much [of a] difference. It’s just an extension of your hand that you need to control,” he explained.

During the audience Q&A session, Bourieau was asked if he has ever felt any kind of attachment to a particular piece, and if so, how does he manage to control such feelings.

Bourieau advised that it’s important to let the piece go in the same manner in which parents must let their children grow up. However, he clarified that while this attachment to art may be the case for other artists, this is not how he views his own art. Finishing each piece, no matter how much he liked it or felt proud about his work on it, gives him room to begin something new.

“My favorite piece is the next one,” Bourieau said.

To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel:

By Hugo Novales

Hong Kong is often referred to as “Asia’s World City” and is home to over 7.5 million people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Over 90% of the city’s residents are ethnic Chinese, while the remaining population comes from South and Southeast Asia, Europe, North America, Africa, and other regions.

Despite featuring such a multicultural landscape, racial tension still exists in Hong Kong. Ethnic minorities (Indonesians, Filipinos, Indians, Pakistanis, and Nepalese) face systemic challenges when it comes to education and employment, even if their families have lived in Hong Kong for generations. These groups have also been depicted negatively in local media whenever reports of crime or societal issues make the headlines.

To discuss race relations in Hong Kong, the FCC held a dinnertime discussion with three experts: Jeffrey Andrews, the city’s first-ever ethnic minority social worker; SCMP’s Kathryn Giordano; and Innocent Mutanga, a former asylum seeker who founded the Africa Center Hong Kong.

Leading the discussion was FCC Clare Hollingworth Fellow Jay Ganglani, who also grew up in Hong Kong and has covered issues relating to the city’s ethnic minorities throughout his journalism career.

Ganglani first asked if each of the panellists believed that racial equity (fairness and impartiality) exists for Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities. They all agreed that equity was still a long-term goal.

“[Racial equity] is still a challenging thing we’re going through in Hong Kong,” said Andrews as he recalled many instances of being stopped by the police who wanted to check his HKID. He also cited the lack of Cantonese education in non-Chinese schools — and the mere existence of segregated schools — which can result in diminished job prospects for the city’s ethnic minority youth.

Giordano, an SCMP reporter who specialises in covering ethnicity and race stories in Hong Kong, agreed that improving the local education system would help the city’s non-Chinese population.

“With hopefully more education and exposure, [we] can slowly start to help these students and these members of society,” she said.

Giordano also explained how newsrooms may accidentally mislead their audiences to draw unfair conclusions about different ethnic groups. She finds that the media in Hong Kong and the US (where she’s originally from) can both improve how they handle stories on diversity. Given this shortcoming, she aims to set a good example for other reporters to follow and help improve the lives of Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities.

“I hope I’ve been able to highlight some of these ways in which young people, students, and people who are starting their careers [all] have such obstacles to overcome just [because of] their background,” she said.

For Innocent Mutanga, his evolution from asylum seeker to investment banker has shown him how both status and race intersect in Hong Kong. Throughout his time in Hong Kong, he’s noticed how people may interact with him differently if depending on how they view him — as an African, or an asylum seeker, or an investment banker.

These nuances in his own personal identity are what motivates Mutanga to continue his work as a community leader aiming to change racial stigma and bias in Hong Kong.

“What I do in terms of the refugee or asylum-seeking community, I do it because I’m part of the community. I’m never out of it. I’m still part of the community,” Mutanga said. “If I think I have made it, but somebody else hasn’t made it, it means we all haven’t made it.”

Like Mutanga, Andrews also believes that despite defying adversity and becoming an impactful leader, he’s still part of the community as well. For him, truly “making it” would mean that all of Hong Kong’s ethnic minorities would simply be viewed as regular citizens.

“Hopefully in a few years’ time, we can just be called Hong Kongers. In America, you’re called American. In Singapore, you’re Singaporean. But in Hong Kong, you’re still ethnic minority, refugee, [or] domestic helper,” he said.

This Club Lunch is available on the FCC’s podcast The Correspondent: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2M9CDzm6Fufjy4K2vbmAEW?si=o-u0SYDPS_-TQF6fHD50vQ

To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel:

By Hugo Novales, FCC In-House Journalist

Han Shih Toh, a native Singaporean who’s been based in Hong Kong for the past few decades, has paved an uncommon career path. He has a PhD in theoretical physics from Oxford University, works as a full-time consultant for Headland Intelligence, and freelances as a  business and economics reporter for various news outlets.

If that’s not enough, he’s now written not just one, but two books.

Following up on the question posed in his previous book Is China An Empire? (2016) in which he described China as a “semi-empire” for its economic and military strength, Toh’s new book Is China a Menacing Empire? (2024) examines China’s relationship with the rest of the world to determine if it’s a benign or malevolent superpower.

In short, Toh finds that China’s actions cause unintended disruptions in other countries, making it a “risky” semi-empire — just like the United States.

At an FCC Club Lunch, Toh sat alongside William Zheng, a Senior Reporter for SCMP and a Correspondent Board Governor of the Club, for a detailed discussion about his latest book.

His reasoning for not describing China as a full-blown empire is due to its choice to not invade other countries that fall behind on repaying Chinese loans, which contrasts with how other superpowers have historically handled debt. He cited the British invasion and occupation of Egypt in 1882 and British-French takeover of the Suez Canal in 1956 as clear traits of “menacing empires” and how other superpowers, primarily the United States, perceived these events negatively.

“China doesn’t invade other countries, but they should make sure their economic influence doesn’t affect other countries so much that you see cartoons of Chinese octopuses in other countries’ newspapers,” Toh said, referencing political cartoons that depicted the UK as an octopus for its previous colonial actions.

Toh’s added description of China as a “risky” semi-empire is linked to the country’s expansive economy that has the potential to create unplanned challenges for its trading partners in property, investments, and more.

“China can unintentionally create problems for other countries… not so menacing, but a risk. China is a risky, semi-empire,” he said.

Toh further explained this concept during the audience Q&A session. The primary risk is the public opinion of China in countries that may perceive its actions as a threat to the local economy or political landscape. While China may be seeking a deal, it may also cause political tension, and even backlash leading to a change in government, in the countries it wishes to do trade with.

“China inadvertently can create social instability in other countries, even though it doesn’t plan to. And China has a dilemma because China’s foreign policy is not to interfere with other countries, but they do business with some corrupt dictators in other countries. That creates a lot of resentment among the local people, and these corrupt dictators lose power,” Toh said.

To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel:

By Hugo Novales, FCC In-House Journalist

David Webb first arrived in Hong Kong in 1991 as a young investment banker, unaware that his new, two-year assignment would turn into a lifetime. He got married, had children, and founded Webb-site.com — a free online site that offers stock market news and data while advocating for better corporate and economic governance.

Five years ago, Webb was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer, a disease for which there is no cure. As he approached the half-decade mark of battling this type of cancer, Webb announced in February that he would shut down Webb-site.com and release the database for public download, making this his final contribution to Hong Kong.

But before his time comes, he bade farewell to the city that has become his home. 

On May 12, Webb spoke at his final Club Lunch at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong, where he had given several public talks over the past few decades. Over 230 FCC members and their guests – along with a heavy media presence – packed into the Club to hear his final words that he shared alongside Philip Bowring, a longtime associate of Webb and veteran journalist who’s also a member of the Club’s Professional Committee.

Bowring’s first question to Webb: “Why did you do it?”

“I wanted to use the platform to advance corporate governance [and] reforms in Hong Kong,” Webb said, adding later that, “I’ve always been a bit of an activist. Probably if I stayed in the UK, I might have ended up in politics.”

Bowring then mentioned the local media’s initial description of David Webb as the “Long Hair of finance,” a reference to Hong Kong politician and social activist Leung Kwok-hung. Webb pointed out his choice of a much shorter hairstyle as a surface-level difference between him and Long Hair, but that he is “certainly not a Marxist.”

Directing their focus back on Hong Kong, Bowring then asked how Webb would rate the city’s performance over the past few decades.

Webb was critical. He noted that the “laissez-faire” economy that the city was once known for was gradually being replaced with a “central planning” system that mirrors Mainland China, except that there is less disclosure on this side of the border. Webb believes this is contrary to previous economic policies that allowed Hong Kong to thrive, particularly from the 1970s to the 1990s.

“What made Hong Kong special was differentiation… It was doing our own thing best and not trying to sign up for some economic planning. Instead what we’re doing is pumping hundreds of billions of Hong Kong Dollars into ‘white elephants’ near the border,” he said, referring to the HKSAR government’s infrastructure projects along the Hong Kong-Shenzhen border that aim to increase technology investments and collaboration between both cities.

During the audience Q&A session, Webb was asked if he had any parting thoughts for Hong Kong’s journalism community, as well as any advice he could give to anyone living under difficult circumstances. He reflected on his own past membership of the Hong Kong Journalists Association and expressed optimism for the future of the city and its media.

“I believe – in the long run – that China and Hong Kong will be less autocratic, more democratic, and will move away from the authoritarian system. There’s no way to maintain economic growth through central planning. It’s much better to let the free markets work to produce growth,” he said.

Webb added that these conditions will ultimately lead to a better media environment in Hong Kong, which he believes will open up having reached “peak authoritarianism.”

“Speaking truth to power and holding people to account and transparency is all good for the economy and the people,” he said.

To conclude their talk, Bowring thanked Webb for his contributions to Hong Kong and expressed his sincere gratitude for all the work he has done. Webb smiled, and finished his talk with hope and confidence — hope that he’ll live long enough to see his 60th birthday on August 29, and confidence that he lived a meaningful life.

“I will die confident that I did my best, and Hong Kong is my home,” Webb concluded.

As he walked off the stage, the audience gave David Webb a continuous standing ovation and rushed to take photos with him before he departed the FCC for the final time alongside his wife Karen and Philip Bowring.

This Club Lunch is available on the FCC’s podcast The Correspondent: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5RvTjoXDeFwgNBZFBx0JuK?si=0JqY38VxQri5WLYth14_fA

To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel: