Motley Fool to Leave Hong Kong, Citing National Security Law
Motley Fool to Leave Hong Kong, Citing National Security Law
(Bloomberg) -- Motley Fool, the investing news site, said it will shut its Hong Kong operations because of the growing uncertainty of doing business in the city.
The publication, which expanded into Hong Kong in 2018, made the decision because of the difficulty foreseeing how the company would fare in the city in the coming years in the wake of the turmoil that’s been gripping the financial hub since last year, Hayes Chan, lead analyst at Motley Fool Hong Kong, wrote on the site this week.
Chan cited the flaring of the anti-Beijing protests last year, followed by the national security law and the ongoing decoupling between the U.S. and China as factors contributing to uncertainty and the publication’s decision.
The controversial new law, which went into effect in late June and grants Beijing sweeping powers to clamp down on dissent in the name of national security, has raised concerns that freedoms will deteriorate in one of the most freewheeling cities in the world. Soon after the legislation’s enactment, the New York Times announced it would move some of its Hong Kong operations to Seoul, South Korea.
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