Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that the U.S. Heritage Foundation just released its 2021 Economic Freedom Index Report. For the first time in history, Hong Kong was kicked out of the ranking system. Singapore replaced Hong Kong last year to hold the top of the world position. This year, Singapore remains at the top. Before last year, Hong Kong had been sitting at the top of the list continuously for a quarter century. However, this year, the city didn’t even make it to the list. Macau, which ranked number 35 last year, was removed from the list this year as well. The Heritage Foundation used to praise Hong Kong for its independent legal system, freedom of the press and deep financial market. However, with the Hong Kong National Security Law, Beijing’s influence on Hong Kong’s policies has vastly deepened. The Wall Street Journal, which participated in the forming of this Index, explained that Hong Kong is now essentially the same as other Mainland cities like Beijing and Shanghai due to the level of policy control Beijing has, although Hong Kong residents have more economic freedom than average Mainland citizens.
Sources:
(1) Lianhe Zaobao, March 4, 2021
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20210304-1128662
(2) Heritage Foundation Official Site
https://www.heritage.org/index/