The Hong Kong government has hit back at a commentary published in a major business magazine, calling it a “misleading” report that made false claims against the city’s implementation of global sanction rules and national security laws.
The authorities issued their statement early on Thursday within hours of the American magazine Forbes publishing “Hong Kong’s Economy Is Now Risky Business”, written by human rights and national security researcher Olivia Enos, that highlighted findings of a report by the US’ Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.
A government spokesman called the foundation an “anti-China organisation” and slammed the article for “fabricating false and unfounded narratives” about Hong Kong’s “implementation of sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council and [its] safeguarding of national security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region”.
The spokesman added that the article “turned a blind eye to facts” and said the foundation had “demonstrated typical political hegemony and hypocrisy with double standards”. Enos is herself a former director of the foundation.
In its statement, city authorities said they had the constitutional duty to safeguard Hong Kong’s national security in a manner no different from the US, the United Kingdom and many other common law jurisdictions.
The spokesman reiterated the government’s position that national security laws would not affect the regular interaction of residents and the business sector with foreign countries.
“It is incontrovertible that safeguarding national security will provide a better business environment for businesses operating in Hong Kong,” he said.
Published on July 30 in the Eastern Time Zone, Enos’ commentary said Hong Kong was “not the world’s freest market economy that it once was” after the implementation of the national security laws as it became increasingly “a hub for rogue regimes to conduct illicit financial transactions and evade international sanctions”.
The foundation’s report cited by Enos in turn highlighted United Nations Security Council documents that said Hong Kong-registered entities had been involved in North Korea’s sanctions evasion strategies. The foundation’s report went further, claiming Hong Kong government had “played a leading role in sanctions evasions”.
The report also accused Hong Kong of contributing substantial funding towards Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, offering over $750 million in shipments of banned goods to support Russia’s war effort from August to December last year.
The city government refuted these claims, saying Hong Kong had in fact implemented sanctions imposed by the council in accordance with the instructions of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to fulfil international obligations.
It added that local authorities did not have the legal power to implement unilateral sanctions imposed by other countries, and hence would not do so.
Russia is not among the 31 countries on the UN Security Council’s list of sanctioned regimes. The council’s list does, however, name Russian individuals and entities.
The Hong Kong government spokesman said the city had a “robust system” to implement the council’s sanctions, adding that law enforcement agencies had struck off suspicious locally-registered companies and prevented suspicious vessels from entering the city.
“All these are conducive to preventing attempts to make use of Hong Kong as a base to violate United Nations Security Council sanctions, and hence safeguarding the international reputation of Hong Kong,” he said.
The government added that it would continue to maintain a stringent system of implementing sanctions and that law enforcement agencies would proactively follow up on all suspected violations and, with sufficient evidence, prosecute guilty parties.
The Post last week reported on Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu’s meeting with Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, who urged Lee to prevent Russia from using the city to circumvent Western restrictions imposed on Moscow for invading its neighbour.
But the city leader responded to Kuleba by saying the city strictly adheres to global sanctions and local laws.
