At the start of May,three men were arrested and charged in the United Kingdom for allegedly violating the UK’s 2023 National Security Act by assisting Hong Kong’s intelligence service and engaging in foreign interference on behalf of Hong Kong.
They are Bill Yuen, Peter Wai and Matthew Trickett, British and Hong Kong nationals aged 37-63. They are accused of surveillance, harassment and even attempting to break into a home of Hong Kong people who are settled in the UK under theBN(O) Visa Scheme, which has enabled more than210,000Hong Kongers to apply to move to the UK and start the path to British citizenship.
Bill Yuen was a manager at theLondon Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), which is Hong Kong’s representative office in the UK.He is accused of acting on behalf of the London HKETO in hiring Wai and Trickett to target Hong Kong pro-democracy activists in the UK. Bank records show transfers from the London HKETO to Wai’s security firm. Trickett was later found dead; the policestate“[it] is currently being treated as unexplained. The case is ongoing.
There are 14 HKETOs around the world, representing Hong Kong with an annual budget of HK$601.5 million ($76.90 million USD) to engage in commercial relations, public relations and investment promotions. Many of them have diplomatic privileges and immunities, including three such offices in the U.S.
Under its high degree of autonomy, Hong Kong was granted overseas representative offices, which are distinct from Chinese embassies and consulates around the world. In the U.S., there are HKETOs inWashington, D.C.,New York City andSan Franciscoin addition to other Chinese and Hong Kong government-affiliated cultural and business institutions.
However, Hong Kong is beginning to lose this autonomy. This means that the Chinese Communist Party is increasingly controlling Hong Kong, and that Hong Kong’s overseas representative offices, the HKETOs, are increasingly under their direct control as well.
Since 2019, Beijing has aggressively cracked down on Hong Kong by ordering the brutal suppression of pro-democracy protests, imposing a national security law and introducing other new reforms, regulations and policies that assert their direct oversight. In just a few years, Hong Kong has morphed from one of Asia’s freest cities to another Chinese Communist Party-controlled territory.
Hong Kong people have relentlessly fought for democracy, fundamental rights and freedoms. We now havepolitical prisonersbehind bars, many of whom are awaiting or going through trials today. Newspapers have beenshut down,editors are on trial,over 100 civil society organizations have disbanded and the list goes on.Just today, in the Hong Kong 47 case — the biggest national security law case since the law was imposed in 2020 — former and aspiring legislators were found guilty of violating the law for organizing peaceful “unofficial” election primaries. They are punished for attempting to have democracy.
The U.S. has supported the Hong Kong people by introducing the2019 Human Rights and Democracy Act and theHong Kong Autonomy Act, and by offeringDeferred Enforced Departure (DED) statusfor Hong Kong people in the U.S. This has not gone unnoticed, but it is simply not enough.
Today, the three HKETOs in the U.S. maintain their status, including diplomatic privileges and immunities. Even after the U.S. has acknowledged Hong Kong’s diminishing autonomy, it has not reviewed the HKETOs. In other words, the Chinese Communist Party has two outposts with diplomatic privileges in Washington, D.C., New York City and San Francisco.
We can already see the UK government arresting and charging HKETO staff for national security violations and transnational repression. It is likely just a matter of time before the HKETOs and their staff in the U.S. commit the same violations, if they are not doing so already.The writing is on the wall.
Last week, HKETOs in the U.S. supported Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan’s visit to the United States. Despite his key role in Hong Kong’s leadership, he was not sanctioned by the U.S. This week, Secretary of Education Dr. Choi Yuk-linwill be visiting the U.S. as well, on a similar propaganda trip, no doubt with the HKETOs’ support and with little criticism.
This is not only a threat to Hong Kong pro-democracy activists in the U.S. —some of whom have receivedarrest warrants and bountiesfrom the Hong Kong government, and assurancesfrom the U.S. —but also to U.S. national security.
Two of these activists spoke at the House Select Committee on the CCP’shearinglast week, where they called for the review and closure of HKETOs in the U.S. They mentioned passing relevant legislation including theHong Kong Economic and Trade OfficeCertification Act.
It is detrimental to U.S. national security to have so many Chinese Communist Party outposts (HKETOs in addition to the embassy and consulates) in the middle of our cities, with diplomatic privileges and immunities including tax benefits and diplomatic staff.This is a threat to Hong Kongers who seek safety in the U.S., as well as Amercians, and a gift to the Chinese Communist Party that we must stop granting as soon as possible.
The U.S. must review the status of the HKETOs and urge the Chinese Communist Party to grant Hong Kong its high degree of autonomy if they are to retain HKETOs under the current status —or strip them of their benefits.
Anouk Wearis a research and policy adviser atHong Kong Watch, a non-profit that focuses on human rights in Hong Kong.
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