At the Koon Chun Sauce Factory, workers were scrambling to cover hundreds of thousands of bottles with new “Made in China” labels as the popular Hong Kong brand fell victim to spiraling diplomatic tensions.
Founded nearly a century ago, the family-owned factory has survived a world war, multiple economic crises and the slow withering of Hong Kong’s manufacturing base as companies looked for cheaper labor in mainland China.
It remains one of the territory’s most enduring brands, churning out culinary staples, such as soy, hoisin and oyster sauces, found in Chinese restaurants and kitchens around the world.
Photo: AFP
However, from November it can no longer place the words “Made in Hong Kong” on any products exported to the US — part of Washington’s response to Beijing imposing a tough new National Security Law on the restless territory.
The new rules, announced by the US Customs and Border Protection in July, came just two days before a Koon Chun shipment of 1,300 boxes was about to set sail for Atlanta, Georgia.
The factory suddenly had to relabel the entire shipment and all other cargo the firm planned to ship to the US this summer.
“It was a mission impossible,” Daniel Chan told reporters from the factory his great-grandfather founded in 1928.
China blanketed Hong Kong in the security law to stamp out huge and often violent pro-democracy protests that convulsed the territory last year.
Beijing and local authorities said it would have no effect on businesses and would restore stability.
However, economic consequences have rippled through the recession-hit territory as authorities use the new powers to pursue political opponents.
Rattled tech firms have declined to share data with local police, while some companies and universities are struggling to attract international talent.
Banks have found themselves caught in an impossible situation. The US has sanctioned key Chinese and Hong Kong officials in response to the law.
However, that same law also forbids companies from complying with any foreign sanctions regime.
Another victim has been the “Made in Hong Kong” brand, a label that companies can place on products made exclusively in the territory.
US President Donald Trump has turned increasingly hawkish toward China as he seeks re-election and the crackdown on democracy supporters in Hong Kong has given him fresh ammunition.
This summer, his administration declared Hong Kong no longer sufficiently autonomous to justify special trading status. Instead it would be treated like any other Chinese city.
Chan, who studied at Harvard University, said that he expected the political landscape would shift in Hong Kong.
However, he never thought it would come so fast.
“I envisioned something closer to 2047, when Hong Kong is officially without ‘one country, two systems,’” Chan said, referring to China’s promise to let Hong Kong keep key liberties and autonomy for 50 years after its 1997 handover from the UK.
The past few weeks have been a blur of activity at the sauce factory as its 90 employees tried to adjust to the new reality.
On top of the stop-gap stickers, new labels are being drawn up for US exports — the large “Made in Hong Kong” lettering replaced with a much smaller “Made in China” declaration.
Much time has been spent rearranging storage for now-delayed cargo shipments.
Companies were given a reprieve when Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau (邱騰華) said that Washington had postponed the label rule until early November, after the US presidential election.
“This buys us a little bit of time,” Chan said.
However, he described it as “a short-term solution to this whole politically inspired fiasco.”
Yau has slammed the labeling change and threatened to take the US to the WTO.
He also said that Hong Kong-made shipments to the US were worth just HK$3.7 billion (US$477 million) last year, less than 0.1 percent of the territory’s exports.
However, that is little consolation for Chan, who said that about half of his products go to the US, where the brand is especially popular with the large Chinese diaspora in North America.
“I would say we are the only company which is only based in Hong Kong and still doing this kind of mass production and shipping it to US,” he said.
Looking ahead, Chan feared that more international markets might follow the US.
“In 20 years, 30 years from now, people will only have ‘Made in China’ and forget about Hong Kong,” Chan said. “That’s very sad.”
The military is to begin conscripting civilians next year, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said yesterday, citing rising tensions with Thailand as the reason for activating a long-dormant mandatory enlistment law. The Cambodian parliament in 2006 approved a law that would require all Cambodians aged 18 to 30 to serve in the military for 18 months, although it has never been enforced. Relations with Thailand have been tense since May, when a long-standing territorial dispute boiled over into cross-border clashes, killing one Cambodian soldier. “This episode of confrontation is a lesson for us and is an opportunity for us to review, assess and
The Russian minister of foreign affairs warned the US, South Korea and Japan against forming a security partnership targeting North Korea as he visited the ally country for talks on further solidifying their booming military and other cooperation. Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov spoke on Saturday in Wonsan City, North Korea, where he met North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and conveyed greetings from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim during the meeting reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “unconditionally support and encourage all measures” taken by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine. Pyongyang and Moscow share identical views on “all strategic issues in
‘FALSE NARRATIVE’: China and the Solomon Islands inked a secretive security pact in 2022, which is believed to be a prelude to building a Chinese base, which Beijing denied The Australian government yesterday said it expects China to spy on major military drills it is conducting with the US and other allies. It also renewed a charge — denounced by Beijing as a “false narrative” — that China wants to establish a military base in the South Pacific. The comments by a government minister came as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made a six-day visit to China to bolster recently repaired trade ties. More than 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are set to join in the annual Talisman Sabre exercises from yesterday across Australia and Papua New Guinea. “The Chinese military have
The US Department of Education on Tuesday said it opened a foreign funding investigation into the University of Michigan (UM) while alleging it found “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures” in a review of the university’s foreign reports, after two Chinese scientists linked to the school were separately charged with smuggling biological materials into the US. As part of the investigation, the department asked the university to share, within 30 days, tax records related to foreign funding, a list of foreign gifts, grants and contracts with any foreign source, and other documents, the department said in a statement and in a letter to
RSS