{"id":372542,"date":"2026-04-10T06:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/372542\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:41:11","slug":"is-oil-crisis-just-the-start-of-economic-pain-for-hongkongers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/372542\/","title":{"rendered":"Is oil crisis just the start of economic pain for Hongkongers?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Hong Kong bus company boss Martin Lau feels overwhelmed as he attempts every option possible to minimise mounting losses wrought by runaway fuel prices.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">He has done everything he can think of, from trying to reduce services to doing his own repairs on his fleet of more than 20 coaches.<\/p>\n<p>Lau, managing director of ABC Touring Car Company, told the South China Morning Post that he and his team had no choice for now but to <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/hong-kong\/transport\/article\/3349168\/tuen-mun-bus-operator-cuts-services-amid-soaring-fuel-prices-warns-closure?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">absorb the losses<\/a> as there was no help he could access.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cThe reality is cruel, if oil prices keep rising and the government does nothing and bans us from cutting service frequencies, I don\u2019t know how long we can hang on,\u201d Lau said.<\/p>\n<p>ABC, which runs non-franchised bus services linking Tuen Mun with Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, is not the only company reeling from the sharp rise in global oil prices since the <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/us-israel-war-iran?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">US and Israel attacked Iran<\/a> on February 28.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Hong Kong, which relies entirely on fuel imports, is vulnerable to external shocks such as the Middle East war, with the conflict dealing a severe blow to sectors ranging from transport, logistics and fishing to laundry services and food and drinks.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The crisis is already unleashing a wave of unintended consequences in Hong Kong, from transport operators hurt by inflexible government red tape to threats for low-margin industries like the commercial laundry sector and construction subcontracting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hong Kong bus company boss Martin Lau feels overwhelmed as he attempts every option possible to minimise mounting&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[194612,13285,138,66794,194608,607,194609,219,46561,194607,194610,4431,89303,194611,111,139,69,2476,54681,84136],"class_list":{"0":"post-372542","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-abc-touring-car-company","9":"tag-baptist-university","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-causeway-bay","12":"tag-chau-hon-keung","13":"tag-china","14":"tag-consumer-council","15":"tag-economy","16":"tag-exxonmobil","17":"tag-federal-express","18":"tag-federation-of-hong-kong-industries","19":"tag-hong-kong","20":"tag-kowloon","21":"tag-martin-lau","22":"tag-new-zealand","23":"tag-newzealand","24":"tag-nz","25":"tag-pakistan","26":"tag-shell","27":"tag-sinopec"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}