Nation is a lifeline, not a burden

The business community did not appear disturbed after Moody's Investors Service followed its downgrade of the Chinese mainland's sovereign rating on Wednesday with a downgrade of Hong Kong's from Aa1 to Aa2, reflecting its view that credit trends on the mainland will continue to affect Hong Kong given their close economic, financial and political ties.

It is not the first time the United States-based ratings agency has done so, and few if any people expect its conservative forecast to come true. After all, the conventional wisdom about the global economy nowadays is that economic ties with the Chinese mainland are a gift no other economy can refuse. Hong Kong's economy could not have fared so well, compared with other developed economies, had it not been so closely linked to the national economy.

Nevertheless, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po quickly issued a statement expressing the special administrative region government's disagreement with Moody's decision, emphasizing Hong Kong's financial strengths on top of all the perks of having the national economy to fall back on and profit from. Indeed, Moody's logic for the downgrade is so mechanical one can safely describe it as lazy, if not misguided.

It's been almost 40 years since the mainland's reform and opening-up drive started in the late 1970s. Hong Kong has benefited from it more than any other market economy, not only because of its proximity but more importantly also because it was there at the very beginning. In the past 20 years the SAR experienced several bouts of economic turmoil caused by external crises but has emerged only stronger thanks to its own sound fundamentals and unmatched support from the nation. Let's not forget that Moody's downgraded the mainland's credit ratings quite a few times in those years and was proven wrong repeatedly. The fact is that the central government is very much in control of the mainland's financial situation and aware of all the risks Moody's cited as the reason for its less-than-stellar assessment. Moreover, Beijing is taking necessary measures to prevent those risks from becoming real "bombs".

Hong Kong's economy has been steadily integrating with the national economy for decades, simply because it is inevitable and the right path to follow. This economic integration has kept Hong Kong from being marginalized amid economic globalization and will continue despite temporary difficulties and certain parties having second thoughts about pushing forward. State leaders have repeatedly called upon Hong Kong to jump on the country's "economic express", and jump the SAR should despite all the background noise. Besides, Hong Kong is not onboard just for the ride. It has an important role to play that will pay better and better down the track.

(HK Edition 05/26/2017 page1)