Guest post by Joe Hoft

Hong Kong continues to record record surpluses after 20 years of Communist rule.

Meanwhile, Chicago is facing bankruptcy and a murder rate that rivals war zones after decades of Democrat rule.

(Chicago picture from Insider Chicago article of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods – and a recent photo of Hong Kong, China)

Hong Kong

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This Saturday, July 1st, will mark the 20th anniversary of the British handover of Hong Kong in 1997 to Communist China. The peaceful handover occurred after 150 years of British rule over the colony. China first ceded Hong Kong to the British after the First Opium War in 1842. Then in 1898 China leased the New Territories together with 235 islands (collectively referred to as Hong Kong) to the British for 99 years starting on July 1st.

The British rule over Hong Kong lasted through World War II. Few Americans realize that Hong Kong was bombed by the Japanese on the same day as Pearl Harbor. Eventually the Japanese surrendered to the US and Hong Kong was set free after five years of brutal Japanese rule. A few years later many Chinese fled to Hong Kong to escape the Communist takeover of China.

As the 99 year lease expiration approached in 1997 the British decided not to renew their lease and therefore hand Hong Kong back over to China. The British worked to influence the post handover government and China eventually agreed to the “one country, two systems” approach to Hong Kong after the hand over. The Communist Chinese recognized the crown jewel it had in Hong Kong and decided to step back in many ways from taking over total control of the economic and government systems present in Hong Kong. The Chinese Communists fell far short for providing for universal suffrage but they did decide for the most part to leave the economy and social policies alone.

Today Hong Kong is recognized as a separate country in most country classifications because of the “one country, two systems” approach by the Communist Chinese. Hong Kong has a budget surplus nearly every year. This is in spite of the country providing basically free health care to all its citizens and proving free housing for 30% of its population. Hong Kong is rated number one in the world with the world’s freest economy and Hong Kong is known as the financial center of Asia.

Chicago is a different story

Two years ago Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Chicago’s debt to junk status, the decision equated to a 5% chance of Chicago defaulting on its bond obligations in the next three years, meaning bondholders wouldn’t get back all they have lent the city. At that time Chicago’s far left newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, reported that Chicago wasn’t Detroit and it wasn’t going bankrupt. Now politicians in Chicago are arguing that maybe bankruptcy is not such a bad thing. Chicago currently faces $25 billion in pension promises that it cannot pay.

Chicago also faces a horrible murder rate:

With more than 760 murders last year [2016], Chicago tallied more killings than New York City and Los Angeles combined. It was the highest murder toll for the city in nearly two decades.

Members of the main stream media (MSM) who have reported on the problems in Chicago rarely, if ever, point out that the city has been run by the Democrat Party for nearly a century. Chicago is basically under a one-party rule because the last Republican mayor of Chicago left office in 1931. The city is famous for Democrat charlatans who thrive on corruption.

By late 2016 police morale was very low. Actions by President Obama to support hate group ‘Black Lives Matter’ promoted violence against police. As reported at that time:

Chicago is in the process of surrendering to its gangs, all because too many people, including President Obama, cling to the childish fantasy that crime would disappear if only the cops were nicer.

Comparison of Hong Kong and Chicago

Chicago and Hong Kong are roughly the same size with the Chicago area reporting 9.8 million inhabitants and the Hong Kong area reporting 7.3 million. However, one of these cities is rampaged with crime, insolvency and terrible management. It doesn’t take long for the casual observer to see that Hong Kong is thriving while Chicago is in despair. It is also apparent that the Communist Chinese have done a much better job of managing Hong Kong when compared to the Liberals in Chicago.

The Communist Chinese show that capitalism works as exemplified by their policies and actions with Hong Kong since 1997, while Liberals in Chicago show through their policies and actions that they believe communism is the answer.

It’s ironic that Communists in China know better than the American Democrat Party that to ensure prosperity and stability, the less the government does to impede capitalism the better.