The decision by both Taylor Swift and Coldplay to skip Hong Kong on their 2024 world tours has sparked soul searching in the city, with the Hong Kong Free Press claiming musical acts are “shunning” the region.

The snub is emblematic of a broader shift: Western banks, their expat workers and foreign capital are all taking flight from Hong Kong as Beijing exerts an increasingly authoritarian grip on the region.

It is a theme explored in the recent Amazon Prime TV series Expats, starring Nicole Kidman. Tellingly, the series is not available in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s deficit is projected to be HK$101.6 billion by the end of March – nearly twice what was estimated a year ago.Credit: Bloomberg

Beijing’s tightening grip, and the associated chilling of free speech and capitalism in the region, is coming at a cost.

Hong Kong’s financial secretary Paul Chan announced the first increase in income tax in the region in 20 years last week, as authorities scramble to fill a growing budget black hole.

In a surprise move, a new top tax rate of 16 per cent for earnings above HK$5 million ($1 million) will be launched from April.

Currently, Hong Kong has a flat tax rate of 15 per cent for all earnings. The last time it raised income taxes was in 2003, when the flat rate went from 15 per cent to 16 per cent. This decision was reversed in 2008.

The new top rate will hit 12,000 high earners in Hong Kong and will bring in an extra HK$910 million for the government.

QOSHE - How China strangled its golden goose – and paid a terrible price - Melissa Lawford
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How China strangled its golden goose – and paid a terrible price

33 1
06.03.2024

The decision by both Taylor Swift and Coldplay to skip Hong Kong on their 2024 world tours has sparked soul searching in the city, with the Hong Kong Free Press claiming musical acts are “shunning” the region.

The snub is emblematic of a broader shift: Western banks, their expat workers and foreign capital are all taking flight from Hong Kong as Beijing exerts an........

© The Sydney Morning Herald


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