In an article in a local newspaper on Tuesday, Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, a political scientist at the Education University and a former minister of transport and housing, pointed out why Singapore outperformed Hong Kong’s strengths.

Cheung believed that the 2019 social movement and the epidemic widened the gap between the two cities, citing that Singapore took quicker actions to allow the resumption of social and economic activities.

“With the fear of being criticized as ‘lying flat,’ Hong Kong lost the initiative in the competition with Singapore for full recovery,” he said.

“The city left the world with an impression of skepticism and hesitation over its free opening,” said Cheung.

He added that geopolitical factors put Hong Kong in an “awkward situation,” describing that international relations have entered “Cold War 2.0” amid Sino-US tension.

“Neither will the city benefit from relying solely on the mainland nor the Western world,” Cheung noted.

Addressing the city’s situation during the “One Country, Two Systems” administrations, Cheung said Hong Kong should not “follow the mainland system just to show patriotism or seek privilege.”

“Foreign cities, like Singapore and Tokyo, will take the lead if Hong Kong loses its specific advantages which cities in the mainland do not possess,” he said.

“This will not benefit the nation,” Cheung claimed.