Robertson became increasingly agitated as he spoke, standing up abruptly from his chair. "It's normal for bulls to buy at the bottom, but they wouldn't buy up all the stocks and futures in Hong Kong! This is clearly the government's doing!"
The two of them were arguing and it was giving Soros a real headache.
"I don't think this is private capital, but rather a joint effort between the Hong Kong government and the mainland to stabilize the market."
Soros finally couldn't hold back and said loudly, "Such a large amount of funds for market stabilization cannot be the work of a private individual. Besides, even if there are financial tycoons in the world who can mobilize such a large amount of funds, what gives them the right to support Hong Kong's market?"
This question was posed to Cyber, but if you think about it a bit more, you'll understand that the possibility of private capital supporting the market is extremely small. You should know that even financial giants like the four major families of Hong Kong did not intervene when international speculators were shorting the Hong Kong stock index.
“If the Hong Kong authorities were to use foreign exchange to prop up the market, it would be much simpler.” Cyber looked at Soros. “Hong Kong has always prided itself on being a free port. Once the Hong Kong authorities intervene in the financial and stock markets and use official power to manipulate the market, we can seize this opportunity and launch a media offensive.”
"The Hong Kong government's methods for developing the economy have become increasingly conservative over the years, and it has even made statements about effectively controlling the free market. In other words, the political faction in the Hong Kong government actually supports macro-control. However, what surprised me was that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Financial Secretary have always stood on the side of the free market. I don't know why they took the initiative to intervene in the Hong Kong Free Port this time."
Cyber sighed, feeling that he was partly to blame. People in Hong Kong were eyeing the free market, and the market was in chaos. Naturally, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority couldn't just stand by and watch Hong Kong descend into chaos.
“This doesn’t align with their principles.” Cyber insisted on his view, “I believe that the Monetary Authority’s intervention in the free market this time is definitely supported by external forces, such as the assistance of Chinese capital.”
Upon hearing this, Soros couldn't help but sneer, "What's so strange about that? Hong Kong returned to China last year. Given the temperament of mainland China, they certainly wouldn't sit idly by while we were shorting Hong Kong's stock indexes. So it's understandable that they would put pressure on the Hong Kong Monetary Authority at this time."
“Mr. Soros, do you think the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s intervention this time is due to pressure from the mainland?” Cyber was even more surprised to hear this.
It is important to understand that although Hong Kong has been returned to China, the mainland and Hong Kong are almost independently governed, except for the ownership of the property.
Take their last attack on the Hong Kong dollar as an example. Although the mainland was also very anxious, it did not directly participate in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's market intervention. Instead, it provided support to Hong Kong through Chinese-funded institutions, mainland credit companies, and commercial banks.
In fact, to some extent, mainland China may place greater emphasis on the independence of Hong Kong's free market than political and business figures in other countries and regions overseas.
After all, public opinion can be a powerful force. The mainland once promised to grant Hong Kong a certain degree of political and economic freedom. Even if it's just to gain a good reputation, they won't easily intervene in Hong Kong's prosperous free port.
“The mainland has always been assertive. I don’t believe that just because the Hong Kong index has fallen to 6,500 points, they will obediently stay in the mainland and do nothing.” Soros analyzed, increasingly convinced that the Hong Kong authorities were able to use such a large amount of funds to support the market this time, with the joint participation of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the mainland.
However, just as Soros was confidently accusing the mainland of undermining the free market, Lin also made phone calls to the China Monetary Policy Committee and the National Development and Reform Commission.
Mr. Lin initially thought that the higher-ups had put financial pressure on Hong Kong, but after making the call, the other party replied:
“We did allocate a sum of money to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to stabilize the market, but... due to the severe floods that occurred in mainland China during this period, we suffered heavy losses and our economy was also affected to some extent. So at that time, the money was managed through a Chinese-funded institution. After the money was in the hands of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, we stopped paying attention to it.”
"Thank you very much, President Yi, for answering my questions," Old Lin said politely.
Just as he was about to hang up, the other party suddenly asked, "To be honest, Mr. Lin, we've been keeping an eye on things in Hong Kong lately. You're asking this question today because you want to know who's behind the market support in Hong Kong this time, right?"
Mr. Lin replied, "This matter concerns the stability of Hong Kong's free market, and it is of utmost importance. We cannot remain ignorant of this matter under any circumstances."
What was said in jest was taken seriously by the listener. As the governor of the People's Bank of China, Yi Shu held the economic lifeline of the mainland in his hands, but he was genuinely unfamiliar with the situation in Hong Kong.
“Old Lin…you can’t blame us for this,” Yi Shu said, somewhat aggrieved. “The mainland has repeatedly issued orders that we cannot interfere too much, lest we give others something to talk about.”
“I don’t mean to blame you,” Mr. Lin added. “Of course, the Monetary Committee has also been under a lot of pressure during this period due to the Southeast Asian economic crisis.”
"However, since you are certain that the mainland has not put pressure on the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, then the fact that the HKMA was able to obtain so many bargaining chips this time clearly means that it found private capital to take charge of the market support."
Old Lin chuckled. "I think I might be able to guess who this person is."
"Who is it?" Yi Shu asked curiously, "Who has such great abilities? Is it someone from China?"
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