Asia looks with interest to Brexit economy

Most in favor of "remain" campaign because it gives more stability to general situation. For China, an exit would lead to a loss of Great Britain’s influence. Fears of multinationals that have their headquarters in London. The problems of goods and the common market.

 

Hong Kong (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The referendum vote in Britain today, whether to stay or leave the European Union, interests Asia purely from the economic point of view, that is, if there will be consequences that will improve or worsen relations and trade. However, most voices, some even quite authoritative, are backing "remain" because it proposes greater stability.

In China, following the praxis of Beijing's foreign policy, the referendum is seen as an element of domestic policy and the Chinese government will not comment officially. But today, the Global Times, which is linked to the official Party paper the People's Daily, published a vigorous article supporting reasons for the UK to stay. " “If the UK votes to leave, it will become an Atlantic orphan and lose its special relationship with the EU. In this circumstance, its special relationship with the US will become more notable, but it may mean less to the US”. "Leaving the EU - it adds - will cost the UK a chance to exert its influence."

The "special relationship" with the EU is also important for Beijing, since it has chosen London as a European center for its trade in yuan.

The concern of Asian investors is mainly about what the period of uncertainty that would follow a Brexit[Britain’s exit from the EU] will bring. They fear that investment in Britain will fall in value.

Asian multinationals that have so far chosen their European base in London, they worry that a Brexit would create obstacles to the movement of their goods in the common market. Japan's Hitachi, for example, is already thinking about how to reduce its presence in Britain.

But there is one who thinks that the exit from the EU will help many more qualified Asians to enter the United Kingdom, doing without the European immigration rules. The wealthy financier Jim Mellon, a supporter of Brexit, argues that "Asians who want to study and work [in Britain] will find this much easier because those are the talented people we want ... what we want are skilled workers, not the unskilled workers from Romania and Bulgaria whose only skills are in cleaning the streets or making coffee.”

• Asia Hong
• Kong Great
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• Union referendum economy business yuan