Former Morgan Stanley Asia chairman Stephen Roach has changed his tune on Hong Kong's prospects, admitting in a new interview that he was wrong to predict the city's demise a year ago, and he now thinks the US-China trade war is giving the SAR a chance to shine.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Roach said the conflict between the world's two largest economies is providing Hong Kong with "more of an opportunity than a threat, as I had originally envisioned."

In a controversial column, titled "It pains me to say Hong Kong is over" published in February 2024, Roach had argued that Hong Kong's close economic links to the mainland would be a drag on the city, drawing rebuttals from experts and officials in SAR.

But he now acknowledges that Hong Kong is in position to benefit from the effects of the US-China trade war precisely because of its close relationship with the mainland.

“The story that I would write, if I were writing this again, would be: Hong Kong is experiencing maybe a revival because of its Chinese characteristics, not in spite of it,” Roach said.