Dear Reader,
Happy New Year and welcome back. We hope you enjoyed a restful break – at least more restful than ours, which was interrupted by the Hong Kong authorities placing a HK$1 million bounty on my London-based colleague Chloe Cheung.
As we move into 2025, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on some of our work last year in pursuit of freedom for Hong Kong, work which has clearly touched a nerve.
In 2024, we released three hard-hitting research reports that underscore how much Hong Kong has changed under Chinese Communist Party rule: 1. Hostile Takeover: The CCP and Hong Kong’s Religious Communities
Each report garnered widespread recognition and laid the foundations for further international advocacy, including parliamentary testimony in Canada Italy, the UK, and U.S.
In Washington, CFHK Foundation U.S. Director Jonathan Stivers and his team worked to ensure the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) Certification Act passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming 413-3 majority.
In Europe, CFHK Foundation UK and EU Director Mark Sabah visited parliamentary partners in Germany, Italy, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, and Switzerland, laying the groundwork for action by the European Parliament and elsewhere in support of imprisoned publisher Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong 45 activists sentenced to nearly 250 years in prison, and the city’s roughly 1,900 other political prisoners.
We thank you for your continued support us as we champion freedom in Hong Kong through 2025 and beyond.
Mark L. Clifford
TOP NEWS
The Wall Street Journal reported on Hong Kong’s burgeoning role as a haven for sanctions evasion, citing data from the CFHK Foundation’s “Beneath the Harbor” report showing that between August 2023 and December 2023, Hong Kong companies shipped to Russia more than $750 million worth of microchips and other goods that Moscow needs in its military campaign. The article details how Maxim Marchenko used a network of front companies, including those based in Hong Kong, to purchase and deliver dual-use equipment banned under U.S. sanctions.
U.S. - Hong Kong
The Congressional Executive Committee on China (CECC) released its 2024 annual report, detailing a litany of Beijing-orchestrated human rights abuses, including the transnational repression of Hong Kongers in the U.S., as well as CFHK Foundation-backed responses like the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) Certification Act (S. 490) and the CECC’s nomination of Jimmy Lai for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.
The CFHK Foundation’s Frances Hui was featured in the CECC 2024 annual report, here delivering remarks at the Tiananmen Vigil in front of the Victims of Communism Memorial on June 3, 2024. (CECC 2024 annual report)
The CFHK Foundation joined several other human rights organisations in compiling an amicus brief on TikTok issued at the request of the Congressional Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party for the forthcoming Supreme Court hearing on whether the ByteDance-owned app should be banned in the U.S.
Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Social Workers Registration Board has suspended the social work licence of a pro-democracy activist for five years, leveraging powers introduced in July 2024 to “better protect national security.”
Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang expressed pride in seeing the unanimous passage of the new National Security Law Article 23 in the city's opposition-free Legislative Council. Describing the legislation as a "historical mission," Tang said that it marked the "biggest challenge" of his career.
Police officers have been stopping and searching attendees of an independent book fair in Sheung Wan, intercepting individuals who purchased books, checking their IDs, and inspecting their bags.
Jimmy Lai Updates
Jimmy Lai’s trial has been adjourned and will resume on January 6.
Detailed trial updates are available here: Support Jimmy Lai.
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