Leaders | Three strikes

Hong Kong’s economy is in peril, but its financial system is not

Its property market and finance industry are somewhat insulated from local worries

AS THEY REPAY their debt to society, many Hong Kong prisoners are put to work making useful items like road signs, uniforms, furniture—and the surgical masks that now obscure the faces of almost everyone on the city’s subdued streets. To help stop the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus, which has infected over 28,000 people worldwide, prisoners will now be employed round the clock, boosting mask production by as much as 60%.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Three strikes”

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