With closure of Apple Daily, a pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong, businesses including tech, media and banks are in fear of the possible end of their businesses in the city as China tightens its grip on a city.
Michelle Toh from CNN in her report said that Hong Kong has for decades been a critical hub for foreign businesses looking to engage with China. While Beijing largely regulates how overseas companies do business in the mainland, Hong Kong offered them the ability to operate without heavy restrictions on investment and other operations.
Media organizations have traditionally had greater freedom in Hong Kong than in the mainland, where Beijing's state-run publications are omnipresent and where foreign outlets have strict rules to follow on how they employ journalists. Tech firms, too, face major roadblocks in mainland China, with companies like Google effectively cut out altogether.