香港賣地現附國家安全警告

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Hong Kong Land Sales Now Come With National Security Warning

Krystal Chia

Mon, February 13, 2023 at 12:36 a.m. PST

(Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong’s government, which owns virtually all the land in the city, has inserted a national security clause into land sales in a warning to property developers.

An official tender document for a site on sale in Kowloon says a buyer can be disqualified if they or their parent firms engage in activities that endanger national security or affect public order.

The move underscores the risks for the tycoons who control Hong Kong’s biggest developers, although it’s not seen changing the way they do business. A gauge of property stocks listed in the city tumbled as much as 4.9%.

The government updated its internal guidelines for procurement in August to include security law requirements, the Hong Kong Economic Times reported Monday, citing a government spokesperson. The clause was first included in its tender for a Kai Tak site in November, the newspaper reported.

“The potential impact of this clause may be limited,” said Patrick Wong, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. “It has been added in the land tenders for a few months and major developers like Sun Hung Kai, CK Asset and Henderson Land have also submitted their bids on recent tenders.”

Hong Kong’s Broken Billionaire Factory Shows City Losing Step

The government relies on land auctions to the highest bidders for the bulk of its revenue. Land premium and stamp duties account for almost a third of the government’s total income.

New World Development Co. shares led the plunge, falling almost 7% at the close, while Henderson Land Development Co. slid 4.8%. Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. dropped 2.6%. Sentiment was exacerbated by Link REIT’s plan to conduct a $2.5 billion rights offering.

Beijing imposed the security law on the city in 2020 to prevent dissent in the wake of often-violent protests the year before.

The clause is also part of the contract when leasing government properties. The Foreign Correspondents Club said in November, when renewing its lease of a former ice house, that the government introduced standard clauses in the new tenancy to safeguard national security.

Land has played a key role in Hong Kong ever since the territory was colonized in the 1840s. Almost all land in Hong Kong is leasehold and owned by the government, with the exception of the 173-year old St John’s Cathedral site in Central.

Translation

（彭博社）- 幾乎擁有該市所有土地的香港政府已將國家安全條款加入土地銷售，以警告房地產開發商。

一份九龍待售地塊的官方招標文件稱，如果買家或其母公司從事危害國家安全或影響公共秩序的活動，買家可能會被取消資格。

此舉凸顯了控制香港最大開發商的大亨們正面臨的風險，儘管人們認為這並未改變他們的經營方式。 該市上市的房地產股指數下跌了 4.9%。

香港經濟日報週一援引政府發言人的話說，政府於 8 月更新了內部採購指南，將國安法要求納入其中。 據該報報導，該條款首先出現在 11 月的啟德地皮招標中。

彭博情報分析師 Patrick Wong 表示:“該條款的潛在影響可能有限”;  “它已經加入了土地的招標幾個月，新鴻基、長江實業和恆基兆業等主要開發商也在最近的招標中提交了標書。”

被摧殘的香港億萬富翁工廠顯示城市正在倒退

政府的大部分收入依賴於向最高出價者拍賣土地。 地價和印花稅佔政府總收入的近三分之一。

新世界發展公司股價領跌，收盤下跌近 7%，而恆基兆業地產下跌 4.8%。 新鴻基地產發展有限公司下跌 2.6%。 領匯計劃進行 25 億美元的供股，加劇了市場情緒。

北京在 2020 年對這座城市實施了國安法，以防止異見出現。在之前一年經常發生暴力抗議活動。

該條款也是租賃政府財產時合同的一部分。 外國記者俱樂部表示, 在 11 月在續租前冷倉庫時，政府在新租約中引入了標準條款，以維護國家安全。

自香港在 1840 年代成為殖民地以來，土地一直在香港發揮著關鍵作用。 除了中環擁有 173 年歷史的聖約翰大教堂遺址外，香港幾乎所有土地都是租賃地契並歸政府所有。

              So, an official tender document for a site on sale in Kowloon stipulates that a buyer can be disqualified if its activities may endanger national security or affect public order. We can see more and more controls are being exercised by the HK government in the name of national security, this security concept is so generalized that from individual’s private life to business activities are covered.