HONG KONG — Hong Kong has been removed from an annual index of the world’s freest economies because the think-tank that compiles the league table said the city was now directly controlled by Beijing.
The announcement is a reputational blow for Hong Kong and comes as Beijing ramps up its bid to quash dissent after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative US think-tank, publishes an annual Index of Economic Freedom ranking countries and territories for how business-friendly their regulations and laws are.
Over the last 26 years Hong Kong topped the table for all but one year — a source of pride to the city’s govern…
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