Hong Kong has gone rogue and now plays a leading role in sanctioned evasion.

Hong Kong has gone rogue, serving some of the world’s most brutal regimes and damaging international security interests by smuggling military technology, money, and prohibited commodities through the territory to flout sanctions.

The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation [TCFHK] report examines the following:-

• Hong Kong’s central role in facilitating the transfer of money and restricted technology to Russia, Iran, and North Korea, three countries that the international community has sanctioned for their destabilising actions.

The TCFHK investigation reveals a disturbing reality-in the growing alliance between China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, Hong Kong is the strategic hub, with these countries as the spokes. This situation demands immediate and serious attention.

The TCFHK's meticulous analysis and investigation, using publicly available data, has highlighted Hong Kong's indispensable role in undermining sanctions and threatening global security and stability. Data sources include:-

• Data collected by C4ADS,  a Washington, D.C.-based global security nonprofit,
• Corporate records and
• Other open-source data,

Hong Kong continues to trade on the reputation for adherence to international standards built up in the final years of British colonial rule, which ended in 1997, and in the first decade of Chinese control.

Most major international financial institutions have significant operations in the city. Until recently, its market for initial public offerings (IPOs) has regularly bested that of New York City and London.

But this reputation no longer reflects reality:

• Following Xi Jinping’s rise to power in 2012, and more forcefully since massive pro-democracy protests in 2019, China has
• Moved to assert near-total political control of Hong Kong, eliminate its democratic institutions, and steadily undermine the rule of law.
• Introduced two national security laws that have seen it imprison political opponents and co-opt the previously independent legal system while passing several constitutional “reforms” to end free elections and curtail local autonomy.

• Hong Kong’s emergence as the top global illicit finance and trade node reflects deliberate government policy.
• John Lee’s October 2022 statement, noted above that the city would not enforce sanctions on Russia, was offered in response to a mega-yacht docked in the city that belonged to a sanctioned Russian oligarch—a particularly visible symbol of the city’s embrace of sanctions evaders.
• And for years, the government has openly flouted its legal obligation to enforce the U.N.’s North Korea sanctions against evaders within its borders.
• Such failures to act served as a green light for smugglers, making it clear that sanctions will not be enforced.

• The world has changed, and the U.S. and the international community have failed to adapt.
• Hong Kong has become unrecognisable from its prior role as a reliable partner in maintaining international order and stability.
• The U.S. and the international community must quickly adjust to these new circumstances, or else Hong Kong will solidify its role as a key destabilising force.

If you would like to read more, please download the PDF above. Samuel Bickett is the author of this report. Samuel Bickett is a Hong Kong Human Rights Lawyer, Researcher and Advocate.

• See attached doc or click here:-
• https://download-files.wixmp.com/ugd/cf2871_1f84f74b6c3f4f1ebd8b268f31af8a01.pdf?token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOmU2NjYzMGU3MTRmMDQ5MGFhZWExZjE0OWIzYjY5ZTMyIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDplNjY2MzBlNzE0ZjA0OTBhYWVhMWYxNDliM2I2OWUzMiIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTpmaWxlLmRvd25sb2FkIl0sImlhdCI6MTcyMjAxMTQ5NCwiZXhwIjoxNzIyMDQ3NTA0LCJqdGkiOiJmNDBiOTZkMS1lYjA0LTRhMWMtODIwMi0yODc0ZTliM2M2OWEiLCJvYmoiOltbeyJwYXRoIjoiL3VnZC9jZjI4NzFfMWY4NGY3NGI2YzNmNGYxZWJkOGIyNjhmMzFhZjhhMDEucGRmIn1dXSwiZGlzIjp7ImZpbGVuYW1lIjoiQ0ZIS0ZvdW5kYXRpb24uQmVuZWF0aFRoZUhhcmJvci5wZGYiLCJ0eXBlIjoiYXR0YWNobWVudCJ9fQ.0-hQx2FjiZu-Rg5eF8Lbm3rFjS0n_U8pFfSv8e0Ui6E

The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation

• Was set up to fight for Hong Kong and its people as China continues its massive crackdown on the city.
• Despite legal obligations and treaties and repeated promises that Hong Kong would continue to enjoy its existing freedoms, China has, since the 1997 handover from the United Kingdom, destroyed Hong Kong’s free media, freedom of speech, free assembly, education, and many other aspects of the democratic way of life that had become the norm in Hong Kong.