Are you saying China DIDN’T aggressively take over Hong Kong and all of the businesses that operated there?

Uh, i kinda am, yeah.

Last time I checked, Hong Kong is still a tax haven in the middle of Asia. Western companies are still opening offshore subsidiaries and bank accounts there to engage in tax evasion, and the welfare system is still as pitiful as it was before China took over.

Retirees living in literal cages or under bridges is still common, and the same 3-4 families that ran the local economy/housing market still control the city-state as they’ve always done.

By any metrics, China took control of Hong Kong on paper only. In practice, everything stayed the same.