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What is the biggest irony about Hong Kong? Well, I don’t know about ‘biggest’, but what makes the city so fascinating is that it sometimes feels like the place is built on ironies and contradictions. Here are a few that come to mind:Hong Kong is considered one of the most overpopulated places on earth, yet roughly 40 per cent of its total land area of 1,108 sq km is actually designated as country parks. This figure, when combined with natural landscapes, means 75 per cent of land is protected countryside. This in a city known more for its concrete jungle rather than actual greenery;Related to point (1) above, because of the shortage of land, the government is seriously considering spending HK$624 billion to create a 2,200 hectare artificial island that could house over a million people (perhaps irony is the wrong word to describe this…);Hong Kong has more Rolls Royces per capita than any other city in the world. At the same time, more than 200,000 people live in subdivided flats, cubicles, or cage homes which are anywhere from 30–120 square feet in area. For reference, a standard parking space is around 150 square feet;Despite fears over China’s growing influence in the territory, Hong Kongers actually have more democratic rights as a Special Administrative Region under China than for most of its time as a colony under British rule;You cannot find “Hong Kong Fried Rice” in Hong Kong. It is, however, served in Singapore. Conversely, you can order “Singapore Fried Noodles” in Hong Kong — but not in Singapore;Statue Square in Central only has one statue: Sir Thomas Jackson. So London has a statue of Winston Churchill, Copenhagen has the Little Mermaid, Paris has the Thinker, and Hong Kong has a statue of … an HSBC banker? Says something about the city’s priorities;Speaking of Hong Kong’s largest bank, HSBC appropriately stands for “The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.” Except … it’s headquartered in London; andBruce Lee is perhaps Hong Kong’s most famous son; a martial arts icon and cultural phenomenon. And yet apart from one statue at the Avenue of Stars, he is largely ignored (refer to point 3 above about the statue of HSBC banker Sir Thomas Jackson for additional irony). A move to convert his home in Kowloon Tong into a commemorative museum flopped, even after its owner offered to donate it to the government. This in a city always looking for ideas to attract more tourists.Thanks for the A2A.

It is clear where his biases lie. He forgets that China does not meddle in another country’s domestic affairs as the US is doing with Hong Kong. He implies that China was a co-conspirator in the problems of Myranmar. He paints China into the image of Japan’s Co-Prosperity Sphere forgetting that Japan did that by force and occupation. China is not accused of invasion or occupation of others. He forgets that the US is the aggressor in the invasion of all but 3 countries.Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere - Wikipedia“According to Kelly and Laycock's book, the United States has invaded or fought in 84 of the 193 countries recognized by the United Nations and has been militarily involved with 191 of 193 – a staggering 98 percent.”These are the only 3 countries America hasn't invaded. He forgets that the US has let the biggest violator of US sanctions of Iran go with a paltry fine. He forgets that US friends are allowed to trade and do business with Iran even if sanctions are applied to Iran.“OFAC issues general licenses in order to authorize activities that would otherwise be prohibited with regard to Iran. General licenses allow all US persons to engage in the activity described in the general license without needing to apply for a specific license.” (see the article for specifics on companies)Iran SanctionsThe US and friends are doing a brisk business with Iran. Unfortunately the US excludes China.He forgets that HSBC Executives involved with illegal transactions and laundering were let free of indictment when the UK government requested it. HSBC was found guilty of illegal and laundering transactions involving trillions of dollars, some say $200 trillion, and they paid a fine that amounted to a few weeks of their profits. These illegal transactions were said to give HSBC a gross profit around 20%. Meng was not given that option. It is becoming pretty clear where Canada stand politically. Canadian-China relations are in decline and will continue because of this case.“HSBC admitted that it failed to apply legally required money laundering controls to $200 trillion in wire transfers alone, in only a three year period,”Money Laundering and HSBC - How It Affects You « Global Financial IntegrityHSBC escaped US money-laundering charges after Osborne's interventionWhy Corrupt Bankers Avoid JailConrad is a messenger of anti-Chinese rhetoric using false facts to paint China as evil. He fails to remember history when the UK, US and others via imperialism, colonialism, and military threats opened Asia for their own economic gain. Most would see the hypocrisy in his comments, racist hypocrisy.https://eurasiantimes.com/us-invested-time-money-resources-in-funding-hong-kong-riots-chinese-experts/And, who is Conrad Black, that tells the story of China’s evil character?“(Conrad Black) is a Canadian-born British former newspaper publisher, writer, and convicted fraudster……In 2007, he was convicted on four counts of fraud in U.S. District Court in Chicago. While two of the criminal fraud charges were dropped on appeal, a conviction for felony fraud and obstruction of justice were upheld in 2010 and he was re-sentenced to 42 months in prison and a fine of $125,000. In 2018, Black wrote a flattering biography of Donald Trump. In 2019, Trump granted him a full presidential pardon”Conrad Black - WikipediaIndeed, there is equality in the rule of law…..only some are more equal than others. Canada seems oblivious of that fact. It is pretty evident that Meng Wanzhou was kidnapped on behalf of the US and is being used as a political pawn in the war on the economic rise of China.

How many big banks you have doesn’t say anything about how advanced these banks are. Barclays and HSBC are British banks by the way, not sure what your point is of listing a mix of UK and US banks.In (western) Europe, using a signature and writing the total amount on a piece of paper hasn’t happened in several decades. No offence, but it feels like a throwback to the eighties to us. :)Here’s some more differences in payment infrastructure between Europe and the US:Giving your credit card to a waiter who takes it to the back of the store feels uncomfortable. It’s easy to copy the creditcard number and cvc number and order someting online with it. In Europe you don’t trust your card with random strangers. It has to be said that this doesn’t appear to be a big problem in the US though.On the other hand, you do easily share your bank account to strangers in Europe. It’s not like anyone can withdraw money from it when they know the number. In the US you don’t share your bank acount so easily.In the US you need third party apps like Venmo to transfer money to friends. It takes hours or days to arrive and sometimes fees apply. In Europe every bank has a free app that enables you to text someone a payment request and after one click the money arrives literally instantaneously on your account, also between different banks. No fees. Then again, Paypal is an American company of course and also used a lot in Europe, so not everything in Europe is better.Cash is used far less in northwestern Europe than in the US. I go for business to the nordics every month for almost ten years now, and I never have touched one coin or banknote there. Everything is paid with debitcard or creditcard. Even at the hotdog stand. I was baffled two years ago in the US, when at the toll station on the highway they didn’t accept cards and I had no cash on me. I just couldn’t believe it.In Europe, cheques have been obsolete since the nineties. No one recieves a real pay check. Salaries are automatically transferred to your bank account. It is weird to us that many Americans need to visit the bank weekly or monthly to collect their salary.In Europe, consumers almost never need to go to an actual bank building. Cash (even though you don’t need it anymore) can be withdrawn from an ATM and consumer business, often including applying for a mortgage, is done online. I haven’t visited a bank in over two decades. People paying cash at stores are predominantly older people. Generations under 70 years old don’t see the point of first withdrawing money and then hand it in at the shop again. :D