XI’S GOTTA HAVE IT: Hong Kong is seeing growing internet censorship, and some American companies are using burner phones when visiting, says a top US diplomat.

In his first interview since taking up the post in 2022, US Consul General Gregory May cautioned that connectivity issues and data security concerns had prompted some American companies to use burner phones and laptops when visiting the once free-wheeling enclave.

“Hong Kong is starting to go down the slope of trying to take certain content off the internet and blocking certain websites,” he told Bloomberg News on Thursday. “It is kind of a slippery slope once you start that internet censorship. Where does that end?”

The government’s campaign to wipe Glory to Hong Kong, a song popularized during 2019 anti-government protests, from the city’s internet has highlighted operational risks for Western tech giants such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Meta Platforms Inc. The city’s internet service providers have also blocked access to a small number of websites, including from the UK-based rights group Hong Kong Watch. Officials have defended such actions on national security grounds.

While Hong Kong’s internet remains largely free, initial curbs have sparked concern the tight controls of mainland China, where many Western platforms are blocked and censors routinely scrub content critical of the government, could spill over into Hong Kong.

The American diplomat’s criticism comes as Hong Kong tries to bolster its position as an international business center and attract tourists to boost its flagging economy. The city’s global reputation took a hit after years of pandemic isolation drove an exodus of talent and a sweeping crackdown on political freedoms turned it into a flashpoint in fraught relations between the world’s two superpowers.

Hong Kong isn’t really a Great Powers struggle. Or at least not nearly as much as it is another example of Xi’s eagerness to stamp out political threats — real or merely perceived — no matter the economic cost.