Hong Kong Watch launches latest business and human rights report and engages with Congress in Washington, DC

Last week, Hong Kong Watch had a successful visit to Washington, DC where we launched our latest research report on business and human rights, and met with Representative James McGovern and other government departments, Senate and House Committees, and civil society organisations.

On 11 June, we launched our new in-depth report, titled Risky Business: how sanctioned entities access capital via Hong Kong, at the Hudson Institute. The panel featured lawyer and human rights activist Samuel Bickett, Hong Kong activist Joey Siu, our Senior Research and Policy Advisor and author of the report Thomas Benson, and Hudson Institute’s senior fellow Michael Sobolik. The discussion highlighted the main findings of the research and insights into how the US government can ensure PRC entities implicated in human rights violations are not able to access US dollar-denominated capital from American investors via Hong Kong equity markets.

During a high-level meeting with Representative James McGovern (D-MA), member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), we discussed the findings of our research and possible legislative solutions to the issues outlined within it.

Hong Kong Watch also had productive meetings with the offices of Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Representative French Hill (R-AR), as well as the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the CECC, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) and the State Department.

Our Senior Research and Policy Advisor, Thomas Benson, also spoke at an event organised by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the CECC on the deterioration of Hong Kong’s rule of law and its impact on commercial activity within the city.

We express our sincere gratitude to all Members of Congress and their staff, as well as US government officials, for their support and commitment to safeguard human rights and freedoms in Hong Kong.

香港監察赴華盛頓發表商業與人權研究報告  會晤兩黨國會議員

上週，香港監察再次造訪華盛頓，發表最新商業與人權研究報告，並會晤美國國會議員麥高文（James McGovern），以及其他政府部門、參眾兩院委員會和民間社會組織。

6月11日，我們在哈德遜研究所（Hudson Institute）發布新報告《Risky Business: how sanctioned entities access capital via Hong Kong》。發布會講者包括律師兼人權運動者Samuel Bickett、香港社運人士邵嵐（Joey Siu）、香港監察資深研究及政策顧問、報告作者湯柏森（Thomas Benson），以及哈德遜研究所資深研究員Michael Sobolik。討論重點提到報告的主要發現，講者亦就美國政府能夠採取的措施分享見解，相關措施旨在確保涉嫌侵犯人權的中國實體無法透過香港股市從美國投資者手上吸納美元資金。

我們與民主黨眾議員兼國會及行政當局中國委員會（Congressional-Executive Commission on China, CECC）委員麥高文（James McGovern）展開高層會議，討論香港監察研究的發現及美國政府可以因應問題而制訂的立法方案。

香港監察亦會見了民主黨參議員Jeff Merkley、共和黨參議員Roger Wicker、民主黨眾議員Raja Krishnamoorthi和共和黨眾議員French Hill的辦事處，以及中國共產黨問題特設委員會（Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party）、CECC、參議院外交委員會（Senate Foreign Relations Committee）和國務院官員。

另外，香港監察資深研究及政策顧問湯柏森在由美國國家民主基金會（National Endowment for Democracy）和CECC舉辦的活動擔任講者，探討香港法治退步及其對商業活動的影響。

香港監察衷心感謝美國國會議員、議員辦事處職員和美國政府官員對維護香港人權和自由的支持和承諾。