Hong Kong economy plunges into recession as protesters use Halloween to test mask ban
As Hong Kong officially falls into a recession, protesters taunted authorities by taking to the streets in taboo Halloween masks. SEE THE PHOTOS
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Hong Kong is in a technical recession for the first time in a decade after five months of anti-government protests tear the former financial powerhouse apart, sending tourism to its worst level since the SARS outbreak 15 years ago.
Police and protesters engaged in a standoff in Hong Kong’s night-life district after pro-democracy demonstrators urged people to celebrate Halloween by wearing masks in defiance of a government ban on face coverings.
Bars, clubs and restaurants usually abuzz with revellers on the holiday were crowded with protesters. Police fired tear gas but it wasn’t immediately clear whether there were injuries.
The increasingly violent protests, now in their fifth month, appear to have triggered the technical recession, the first for Hong Kong since the global financial crisis of 2008.
It has been described by Finance Secretary Paul Chan as a “comprehensive blow” to the once powerhouse financial hub.
Stock markets drifted lower on Thursday as new economic data showed a slowdown in Europe and Asia amid concerns about the state of trade talks between the US and China.
Hong Kong has now posted consecutive quarters of negative growth and with no end in sight to the street violence, it could remain in recession for a while despite a range of government cash injections to various sectors including travel and tourism.
Mr Chan said no growth was expected until the new year.
Hong Kong’s central bank called on the public to manage financial risks “prudently” as the economy falters.
Earlier figures released by the Hong Kong government show tourist visitor numbers had dropped by almost 50 per cent compared to travel figures from this time last year, since pro-democracy protests began 21 weeks ago, making the tourism sector now the worst it has been since the outbreak of SARS in 2003.
Average hotel occupancy was also down to 60 per cent.
Cathay Pacific has been particularly hard hit with the airline reporting inbound traffic into Hong Kong plunging 38 per cent for the second month in a row.
The revelations came as protesters defied a ban on wearing masks in public, instead hiding behind Halloween and the legal traditional excuse to wear fright night masks to celebrate.
Organisers called on supporters of the protest movement to take part in a “masquerade” on Thursday to put to the test a recent government ban on masks at public gatherings aimed at quelling the increasingly violent protests now in their fifth month.
Digital flyers circulated online called on people to wear masks depicting Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Chinese President Xi Jinping and other senior officials.
They also said people could wear a mask and dress in red for the march, which was set to begin at a large park and proceed to the Lan Kwai Fong bar and nightclub district.
Teargas was fired in multiple locations on Thursday evening, including near a popular nightclub district where thousands of protesters had gatecrashed Halloween celebrations.
Online forums used to organise the largely leaderless movement encouraged supporters to use a night when revellers traditionally embrace costumes to mock a recently enacted ban on face masks at protests.
Flashmob rallies broke out in multiple locations, hours after the city announced it has plunged into a technical recession for the first time since the global financial crisis over a decade ago.
Police set up checkpoints around Lan Kwai Fong, a tightly-packed entertainment district that hosts a large annual Halloween party, as protesters descended on the area.
Many of those protesting wore outfits poking fun at the city’s leadership. Yan Lee, an accountant in her 50s, wore a mask that combined the face of justice secretary Theresa Cheng with the Disney villain Maleficent.
“For months she has done nothing for Hong Kong but defend the authorities,” she told AFP.
Another protester, who gave her surname as Loo, had painted her face in the style of Batman’s nemesis, The Joker.
She said she was inspired by the recent Hollywood film that traces the Joker’s origin story as he launches a revolution against Gotham City’s elites.
“The idea that everyone owns the spirit to fight touched me a lot,” she said. Teargas was also fired across the harbour in Mongkok and Prince Edward where hardcore protesters had adopted a less satirical but more familiar tactic — blocking roads and setting fire to makeshift barricades.
Hong Kong has been up-ended by nearly five months of large often violent, pro-democracy protests where many wore masks. Earlier this month, colonial-era legislation was evoked for the first time in more than 50 years to outlaw face coverings at rallies.
But today protesters marched in Halloween masks about the popular tourist and party district of Lan Kwai Fong near Central.
Australian diplomatic cables have described the once popular tourist destination as “volatile” with the peaceful mass protests replaced by short bursts of violence with anarchists attacking police and even using Improvised Explosive Devices.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has revealed there are 100,000 Australian residents in Hong Kong with another 10,000 Aussie tourists at any one time in the city although that figure continues to drop.
DFAT’s North Asia Division first assistant secretary Elly Lawson told Senate hearings consular officials were watching the situation closely.
“They have settled into a pattern of more violent protests over the weekend, with less disruptive demonstrations during the week,” she said. “Overall protest numbers are down. We have seen more radical elements engaged in more aggressive attacks and vandalism. That has resulted in the use of live ammunition and attacks on police in recent weeks. We also saw a radio controlled improvised explosive device detonated near police vans on 13 October, but there were no injuries or damage.”
Hong Kong Finance Secretary Paul Chan this week appealed for peace for the sake of the state.
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“We need concerted effort of the community to stop the violence, stop damaging transport infrastructure, targeted shops, banks or organisations; stop attacking people with different views, and stop any attempt for ‘mutual destruction’,” he blogged.
“We need to restore social order, resume normal living of citizens and businesses operation, and create more rooms for rational dialogue. Our society and economy need breathing and healing spaces and a chance to start afresh. For the benefit of Hong Kong, our home, please set aside disputes, return to rational dialogue and find a way out.”