The Pulse：China stock market crisis, discussion with broker Francis Lun and Li Xi, asst. prof. of

Greece’s financial woes and position within the European community may be dominating European headlines, but in the eyes of many, a much bigger concern for the world’s economy could be the turbulence in China’s stock markets and the apparently ham-fisted attempts of the country’s leadership to control it. For them this may be not just a financial crisis but a political one. With us in the studio are broker Francis Lun and Li Xi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Accounting of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
July 1st marked the 18th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule. It also marked the adoption, with immediate effect, of a swingeing new national security law.
This law covers a range issues from finance, politics, the military, and cybersecurity to ideology and religion. And, for the first time, it stipulates that Hong Kong and Macau have obligations to “fulfill responsibilities to safeguard national security”. In terms of security issues, Japan and China have long been thorns in one another’s sides. These wounds stretch from the two Sino-Japanese wars to ongoing disputes over islands in the East China Sea. Last month, we spoke to former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama who, during his nine months in office, tried to improve relations between the two nations.
I’m afraid that’s all we have time for this week. Don’t forget that if you missed part of the show, want to see more, or even see it again, you can go to the RTHK website. You can also chat to us on our Facebook page, RTHK The Pulse. We will leave you with some images of Amos Yee leaving court in Singapore on Monday after being sentenced to four weeks' jail for obscene Internet postings and wounding Christian feelings. Others see this as a straightforward freedom of speech issue. Before his release Yee was sent to a mental hospital for two weeks for mandatory treatment.