b'4American Journal of Transportation ajot.com(FUTUREcontinued from page 2) the index as follows: Hong Kong andCOSCO ramping upto being a speck of landa mere 428Macau are thus no longer included in sq/mileson the Southern tip of anthe Index. No doubt both Hong Kong immense continental China. The ter- and Macau, as Special AdministrativeCOSCO Shipping Holdings, rankedtry is a subsidiary of the overarching ritory with a population of over 7.5Regions, enjoy economic policies thatnumber4intheworldintermsofCOSCO Group, which also controls millionisandhasbeenstrugglingin many respects offer their citizensTEUs (twenty foot equivalent units), isCOSCOShipping.Thevesselsare withhousing,employment,eco- more economic freedom than is avail- adding to its already extensive boxshipexpected to be delivered to COSCO nomicmobilityandotherproblemsable to the average citizen of China,fleet.TheShanghai-basedCOSCO,from the end of 2023 through to the ofahighlyurbanizedsocietywhilebutdevelopmentsinrecentyearsowns and operates 526 container ves- second half of 2025. battling COVID-19 and the financialhavedemonstratedunambiguouslysels with a total capacity of 3.02 mil- IntheHongStockExchange falloutfromboththepandemicandthat those policies are ultimately con- lion TEUs, as of June 2021.filing, COSCO Shipping indicated the theongoingpoliticalstrifebetweentrolledfromBeijing. AsappropriateCOSCOSHIPPINGLinesoper- newbuildings are part of the 14th five the US and the PRC. In tandem within the future, developments in Hongates398internationalanddomesticyear plan, reportedly with 60% of the geo-politicalwrestlingbetweentheKongorMacauthatarerelevanttoshippingroutes,consistingof264cost financed by bank loans and the US and China is Hong Kongs owneconomic freedom will be consideredinternational services (including inter- remaining 40% covered inhouse.domestic unrest, that has seen manyin the context of Chinas evaluation innational feeder services), 54 domesticThe newbuilds were only part of dissidentsdetained,autonomycur- the Index. services, 80 Yangtze River and PearlCOSCOs recent ramping up. On June tailed, and attracted the ire of WesternIt is worth noting that Hong KongRivershippingservices,havinga24th COSCO and Hong Kong-based nations with the UK taking the unusualwasa90.2(number1)whenlastpresencein329portscovering105containershipownerSeaspanCor-step of agreeing to take in Hong Kongranked. In the current rankings Chinacountries and regions worldwide. porationforwardedfixedcontracts, holders of British National Overseason the other hand was ranked 107thInJulyCOSCOShipHoldingsextending current lease terms for 17 (B.N.O.)passportsandgivingthewithascoreof20whileSingaporeplaced an order for ten neo-panamaxcontainerships.As disclosed, the ves-holders a pathway to citizenship. Ear- ranked number 1 with a score of 89.7. containershipsfromCOSCOShip- sels were initially scheduled to con-lier,theUSremovedHongKongsThere is also the potential for theping Heavy Industry (Yangzhou) forcludecurrentcharterswithCOSCO previouspreferentialtradingstatus,geo-political situation to worsen. a reported $1.5 billion deal. The orderfor a period of three years and now and also sanctioned officials, includ- OnJune10thChinasNPCbreaks down assix 14,092 TEU box- theyareextendedforathree-year ingHongKongsChiefExecutive(NationalPeoplesCongress)adoptedships at $146 million apiece and forterm beginning at the end of their cur-Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. a blocking statute which enables the16,180 TEU vessels at $155 millionrent charter period.(FUTUREcontinued on page 7) each. COSCO Shipping Heavy Indus- (RAMPINGcontinued on page 7)H ongK ong : B EtwEEn aR ocK anda notHERR ocKInresponsetonumerouspro-tests, Beijing has taken to exerting a firm hand with the unruly region. On June 30th 2020 Chinas The Standing CommitteeoftheNationalPeoples Congress enacted the National Secu-rity Law and listed the legislation in Annex III to Hong Kongs Basic Law. Thislegislationeffectivelyaligned HongKongsregulatorysecurity apparatus with that of the PRC. The NationalSecurityLawtookaimat opposition to the regime from all quar-ters with the goal of returning Hong Kong to a version of normalcy. HongKongsChiefExecutive Mrs. Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on July 5th at the National Security Law Forum entitled Security Brings Pros-perity the governments view of the of the legislation said, Indeed, safe-guardingthecountryssovereignty, securityanddevelopmentinterests is the constitutional responsibility of the HKSAR.They are also the pre-requisites for Hong Kongs long-term prosperityandstability.Theimple-mentationoftheNationalSecurity Law therefore not only aims to end thechaosandviolenceassociated with the legislative amendment exer-cise in June 2019, but also to uphold and improve the institutional system of One Country, Two Systems fun-damentally, ensuring the steadfast and successfulimplementationofOne Country, Two Systems.Still,nothinginvolvingHong Kong,noteventhenewNational Security Law, can be viewed in iso-lationtogreatergeo-politicalissues between China and the US and indeed the West as a whole. Simply put, Hong Kongisstuckbetweenarockand another rockand the gap between hard places is narrowing. Fromtheperspectiveofforeign businesses domiciled in Hong Kong the vagueness of the security regula-tions is troublesome, as is the deterio-ration of internationalism for a City that was often considered among the very top of international cities.ComingbacktotheHeritage Foundation 2021 Index of Economic Freedom Hong Kong was nowhere to be found, as the territory has been dropped from the ranking. The Foun-dationexplainedtheomissionfrom'