Despite good intentions of the US to safeguard its technology there are no actions capable of blocking HongKong from trans shipping sanctioned Nvidia hardware.
Wonder if Hong Kong is letting the US keep tabs on what Iran/Russia are specifically importing. Might be useful info.
It isn’t Hong Kong any more. Its China.
Sanctions are useless when global trade exists. There are plenty of third party trading hubs like Hongkong and they are profiting heavily by reselling sanctioned goods.
And why wouldn’t they? It’s not like the US has authority to control their trading policy.
That’s why I heavily oppose this recent sanction-based dick-swinging policy from the US and the EU. When we sanction everyone we are essentially sanctioning ourselves.
All it achieves is it makes everything more expensive for common people, and middle men profit at our expense.
* Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee’s statement in October 2022 that the territory would not enforce global sanctions on Russia gave a green light to illicit operators to set up shop in the city. Many have done so, from Russian tanker owners to Iranian exporters of drone technology. * The Hong Kong government’s regulatory environment, which provides for easy concealment of corporate ownership and rapid creation and dissolution of companies, has facilitated sanctions evasion. * The slow and inconsistent enforcement of international sanctions by governments around the world has allowed evaders to adapt and continue their operations with relative impunity
“Sanctions don’t work” is not analysis. First – the Chinese Chief Executive in Hong Kong has explicitly stated they will not enforce sanctions. Second – rule of law no longer exists in Hong Kong. Third – other governments are looking the other way.
The report lists the names of companies involved. This is a solid report and now the ball is in the court of governments that are serious about enforcing sanctions to use the tools they have available to respond.
5 comments
Despite good intentions of the US to safeguard its technology there are no actions capable of blocking HongKong from trans shipping sanctioned Nvidia hardware.
Wonder if Hong Kong is letting the US keep tabs on what Iran/Russia are specifically importing. Might be useful info.
It isn’t Hong Kong any more. Its China.
Sanctions are useless when global trade exists. There are plenty of third party trading hubs like Hongkong and they are profiting heavily by reselling sanctioned goods.
And why wouldn’t they? It’s not like the US has authority to control their trading policy.
That’s why I heavily oppose this recent sanction-based dick-swinging policy from the US and the EU. When we sanction everyone we are essentially sanctioning ourselves.
All it achieves is it makes everything more expensive for common people, and middle men profit at our expense.
[From the report](https://www.thecfhk.org/post/beneath-the-harbor):
* Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee’s statement in October 2022 that the territory would not enforce global sanctions on Russia gave a green light to illicit operators to set up shop in the city. Many have done so, from Russian tanker owners to Iranian exporters of drone technology.
* The Hong Kong government’s regulatory environment, which provides for easy concealment of corporate ownership and rapid creation and dissolution of companies, has facilitated sanctions evasion.
* The slow and inconsistent enforcement of international sanctions by governments around the world has allowed evaders to adapt and continue their operations with relative impunity
“Sanctions don’t work” is not analysis. First – the Chinese Chief Executive in Hong Kong has explicitly stated they will not enforce sanctions. Second – rule of law no longer exists in Hong Kong. Third – other governments are looking the other way.
The report lists the names of companies involved. This is a solid report and now the ball is in the court of governments that are serious about enforcing sanctions to use the tools they have available to respond.
People who think (or wish) that governments lack the tools and the will to enforce sanctions are [once again](https://www.reddit.com/r/geopolitics/comments/ti97yf/have_american_sanctions_ever_actually_gotten_a/) [setting themselves up for disappointment](https://www.state.gov/taking-additional-measures-to-degrade-russias-wartime-economy/).