“After the harvest, settle accounts.” The Chinese saying means to take revenge when the time is right.

After a summer and fall of antigovernment protests that shook Hong Kong, and with the world in the grip of a devastating pandemic, Beijing has found its moment. On 22 May, China’s parliament opened discussions on a resolution to establish a national security law for Hong Kong. The initial verdict from business was unequivocally negative. Hong Kong’s benchmark stock index closed 5.6% lower, its sharpest daily fall in almost five years. Real-estate stocks led declines, with Swire Properties shedding 10.2%.