The link you sent talked about changes in economic freedom... but barely made it clear what they are talking about or measuring. Nevermnind if a site dedicated

The link you sent talked about changes in economic freedom... but barely made it clear what they are talking about or measuring. Nevermnind if a site dedicated to global property purchases is likely to be an authority on economic freedom. That site does however say where they get their data: the Heritage Foundation's Economic Freedom Index. So how does that source characterize Vietnam? "Mostly Unfree", 128 in their ranking of countries. And Hong Kong... "Free", 1 in their rankings... though we'll see how well that holds up over the next few years. So not so close to Hong Kong. Heritage goes on to say... "Background The Socialist Republic of Vietnam remains a Communist dictatorship characterized by repression of dissenting political views and the absence of civil liberties. Economic liberalization began in 1986 with doi moi (renovation) reforms to transition to a more industrial and market-based economy. Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization in 2007 and signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in 2018. Vietnam’s economic growth, based on tourism and manufactured exports, was among the world’s fastest during the decade-long tenure of former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. In 2016, Dung was forced out after losing election as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam. State-managed economic liberalization continues under the leadership of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong." So while they do say that things are getting better... they aren't exactly calling it Hong Kong just yet. https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking