Hong Kong minister urges a halt to violence as unemployment increases

Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung expressed disappointment at the latest violent demonstration last Sunday after police fired tear gas at protesters.

“The work of stopping the violence has not yet been completed, we need to keep working on it. At the same time, we need to put effort on resolving deep rooted problems,” Cheung said as quoted in a report by Reuters.

Latest figures showed that unemployment rates increased from 3.1 percent in August to October to 3.2 from September to November.

The tourism and food and beverage service industries were hit hard by the ongoing turmoil with unemployment rising to 5.2 percent and 6.2 percent respectively.

“The labor market will be under even more pressure in the near term if the overall economy continues to weaken,” said Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong in a previous statement.

Survey: Thousands of job cuts, company closures in Hong Kong in upcoming months

The Hong Kong Free Press reported that total employment decreased from 3,843,800 in August to October 2019, to 3,830,600 in September to November 2019 which indicates a drop of 13,200. The labour force also decreased from 3,969,300 to 3,956,000 which indicates a drop of 13,300.

Hong Kong has been steeped in more than six months of protests which have affected the city’s economy, and pro-democracy protesters are planning even more demonstrations next week from Christmas into the New Year.

The latest wave of demonstrations was partly fuelled by the arrest of a 53-year-old Hong Kong resident by Chinese security officials at a checkpoint connecting Hong Kong, Macau, and Zhuhai in China.

The man was reportedly arrested for being a part of a mobile phone smuggling syndicate as reported by Chinese police, making his arrest “entirely legal and justified” according to Minister Cheung./TISG

800,000 take to the streets in Hong Kong on Sunday, marking 6 months since protests began