Author name: soraia

Every election and mandate throw up a unique message from the electorate. Arguments for or against are enticing, but ultimately pointless. The people are always right, and their collective wisdom is absolute, as it must always be in a democracy.

In the pantheon of obscure international trade terminology, the “generalised system of preferences,” or GSP, has a special place. GSP refers to an approach that has been adopted by nearly all developed countries for roughly the last half-century to offer incentives for economic reform in developing countries through lower tariffs.

Han Lin, joins an hour-long panel on BBC World Service- Business Matters to discuss, from a China perspective, a range of issues from the geopolitical and economic to the casual.

George Chen, co-chair of digital practice at Washington-based consultancy The Asia Group, said the government needed to minimise the so-called chilling effect in enforcing the order, otherwise outsiders might form the perception the city was increasingly restricting internet freedoms.

For former top US diplomat in Hong Kong Kurt Tong, that (to improve U.S.-China relations) included top-level meetings between the two powers’ presidents, greater cooperation in joint projects with a common goal – such as the development of artificial intelligence – and more private sector collaboration.

“It is not a desirable situation from the perspective of free internet and free speech,” said George Chen, co-chair of digital practice at the Asia Group, a Washington DC-based business policy consultancy. He is also former head of public policy for Greater China at Meta.  

Amb. Kurt Tong, Managing Partner at The Asia Group, joined CNBC’s Emily Chan Tan for a wide-ranging discussion on key policy matters including new U.S. tariffs on China, the Taiwan inauguration, and Hong Kong issues.