As expats leave, officials say they’re unconcerned — but their reaction to criticism says otherwise.

Opinion|Democratic Sen. Peter Welch: Biden should withdraw for the good of the country

Hong Kong recently marked 27 years since the former British colony was handed over to China. In this time, the city has become less autonomous, more uncertain about its economic future and gripped more tightly by the Chinese Communist Party than most people, including me, ever imagined it would be.

It has also become less international.

“Asia’s World City,” as Hong Kong calls itself, has seen a mass departure of expatriates, mostly from Western countries. Foreign teachers at international schools and university professors have left. Foreign law firms have closed their Hong Kong offices. Some foreign correspondents in the city packed up for other pastures, many to rival city Singapore.

Much of this exodus was spurred by the covid pandemic; Hong Kong’s draconian quarantine rules curtailed overseas flights, canceled school and strictly........

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