US-China tensions continue to be a risk for Hong Kong. This time, American lawmakers penned a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to rethink ties with the city, which it called a hub for financial crimes.
Lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have written a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, asking her to reconsider ties with the banking sector of Hong Kong, which they say has become a major hub for money laundering and sanctions evasion.
«Hong Kong has shifted from a trusted global financial center to a critical player in the deepening authoritarian axis of the People’s Republic of China, Iran, Russia and North Korea,» said Michigan Republican John Moolenaar and Illinois Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi in a draft letter cited by «Wall Street Journal».
«We must now question whether longstanding US policy towards Hong Kong, particularly towards its financial and banking sector, is appropriate.»
Hong Kong-Russia Trade
According to research cited by the lawmakers, who are leaders of the House of Representatives Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, nearly 40 percent of goods shipped from Hong Kong to Russia in 2023 were high-priority items such as semiconductors that the latter could use for the war in Ukraine.
In response, a spokesperson for the Hong Kong government said that the allegation that the city is a money laundering hub is unfounded, adding that there is a vigorous local enforcement system to prevent the illegal diversion of strategic commodities.
