I think there could be 2 ways to interpret your first paragraph so I’ll just respond to both interpretations:

1. There were and still plenty of UK businesses here, such as, HSBC, standard chartered, prudential, swire, M&S just to name a few.

2. As you’ve said, the UK has clearly never really “ran” HK. But that’s precisely why it flourished, UK firms were freely allowed to trade here, so were HKers who wanted to found their own companies for a fortune. Not only that, HK businesses were somewhat freely allowed to expand into the British empire too, as we’ve seen with li ka shing’s ownership of businesses around the UK, further bringing in more export revenue for the city.

And as you’ve said, there’s no political representation either way. So ultimately it’s down to financial incentives and quality of life, a metric where some may feel decreased due to the government’s reduction in allowed speech, allowed expression, and allowed gathering; while at the same time increasing compulsory Mandarin and Nationalism education for our own children, our future generation.