Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) yesterday said that he would only implement UN sanctions, after the US warned the territory’s status as a financial center could be affected if it acts as a safe haven for sanctioned people.
Lee’s statement came days after a luxury yacht connected to Russian tycoon Alexey Mordashov docked in the territory.
Mordashov, who is believed to have close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was sanctioned by the EU, the UK and the US in February after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Hong Kong authorities have said that they do not implement unilateral sanctions imposed by other governments.
Photo: AP
“We cannot do anything that has no legal basis,” Lee told reporters. “We will comply with United Nations sanctions. That is our system, that is our rule of law.”
A US Department of State spokesperson in a statement on Monday said that “the possible use of Hong Kong as a safe haven by individuals evading sanctions from multiple jurisdictions further calls into question the transparency of the business environment.”
The spokesperson also said that Hong Kong’s reputation as a financial center “depends on its adherence to international laws and standards,” and that US companies “increasingly view Hong Kong’s business environment with wariness” due to an erosion of the territory’s autonomy and its freedoms.
The US$500 million yacht Nord, allegedly owned by Mordashov, moored in a Hong Kong harbor on Wednesday last week, following a week-long journey from the Russian city of Vladivostok.
Mordashov is one of Russia’s richest men, with an estimated wealth of about US$18 billion. He is also the main shareholder and chairman of Severstal, Russia’s largest steel and mining company.
US and European authorities have seized more than a dozen yachts belonging to sanctioned Russian tycoons to prevent them from sailing to other ports that are not affected by the sanctions. Russian oligarchs have begun docking their yachts at ports in places such as Turkey, which has maintained diplomatic ties with Russia.
The Nord has two helipads, a swimming pool and 20 cabins. It is operating under a Russian flag.
Following passage of Hong Kong’s National Security Law in 2020, the US sanctioned Lee, then-Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) and other Hong Kong and Chinese government officials, for “undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy and restricting the freedom of expression or assembly.”
Lee blasted the ban on personal and official travel to the US, and access to the US financial system.
He was responding to a question about whether he is paid in cash, as was the case for Lam, who was also placed under US sanctions that limit the ability of those designated for such penalties to transfer funds across national boundaries or convert them into different currencies.
“The second thing about the so-called sanction imposed on people in Hong Kong without justification, it is a very barbaric act, and I’m not going to comment on the effect of such barbaric act, because officials in Hong Kong do what is right to protect the interests of the country, and the interests of Hong Kong, so we will just laugh off the so-called sanctions,” Lee said.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
INTERCEPTION: The 30km test ceiling shows that the CSIST is capable of producing missiles that could stop inbound missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere Recent missile tests by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) show that Taiwan’s missiles are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere and pose a significant deterrent to Chinese missile threats, former Hsiung Feng III missile development project chief engineer Chang Cheng (張誠) said yesterday. The military-affiliated institute has been conducting missile tests, believed to be related to Project Chiang Kung (強弓) at Pingtung County’s Jiupeng Military Base, with many tests deviating from past practices of setting restriction zones at “unlimited” and instead clearly stating a 30.48km range, Chang said. “Unlimited” restrictions zones for missile tests is
RSS