The establishment of the Hong Kong Coalition, a new civic alliance, is paradoxically both bad and good news for Hong Kong people.

It is bad news because its creation suggests Hong Kong is facing so great a danger that leaders from various sectors believe they must do something now or the city will fall into an abyss — both economically and politically. The alliance was also formed in response to growing public calls for well-coordinated efforts by people from all walks of life to help the Hong Kong government fight the economic and political crises facing the city.

Indeed, the local economy is already in a free fall. Latest economic figures released by the government show the city’s gross domestic product plummeted 8.9 percent in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same period last year. This is the worst decline ever recorded in Hong Kong history. This figure is more severe than the city’s 8.3 percent contraction during the 1998 Asian financial crisis and the 7.8 percent fall in early 2009 following the global financial tsunami. It’s also the third consecutive quarter that the economy has declined — leading to the longest recession since 2009.

This unprecedented economic downturn has been triggered by persistent violence and vandalism instigated and orchestrated by the opposition camp with the backing of anti-China foreign forces. It was then aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is more worrying is a constitutional crisis is looming as the September Legislative Council election approaches. Members of the opposition camp have made it known that they would disrupt the normal operations of the SAR by taking control of the legislature with whatever tactics that are needed and paralyzing it after the election. The desperate filibustering stunts aimed at stalling the election of the House Committee chairperson and disrupting the operation of the legislature are part of the opposition’s scorched-earth politics. 

However, the creation of the coalition is essentially good news for people who love and care about Hong Kong. The broad base of supporters for the alliance, which include political and business leaders, prominent professionals, young people and members from many other sectors and quarters of society, indicates a crucial consensus is building among a great majority of citizenry that the government shouldn’t continue to fight alone, that people from all walks of life must now do their parts in fighting off the crises for the sake of their own city. It is safe to say that the Hong Kong Coalition, which is essentially an alliance of Hong Kong-loving people, will go a long way in helping the SAR government bring Hong Kong back on track.