Hong Kong Watch launches business and human rights report in Brussels

Yesterday morning, Hong Kong Watch completed a series of launch events for our new report on the state of business and human rights in Hong Kong, visiting the European Parliament in Brussels. The report, Risky Business: how sanctioned entities access capital via Hong Kong, was previously launched in Washington, DC on 11 June at the Hudson Institute and in London on 23 June at the Houses of Parliament. 

This event was hosted by Engin Eroglu MEP, Chair of the Delegation for Relations with the People’s Republic of China of the European Parliament, and featured insights from Ray Wong, Chairman of Freiheit für Hongkong e.V. and Thomas Benson, Senior Research and Policy Advisor at Hong Kong Watch and author of the new report.

We were also honoured to be joined by Ambassador Roy Chun Lee of the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium, who attended to demonstrate his support for Hong Kong Watch’s research on this topic. 

Engin Eroglu MEP introduced the panellists and offered comments on the current status of the EU-China relationship. Thomas Benson outlined the findings of the report, including the implications of national security laws in Hong Kong for European businesses, and offered further reflections on the implications of the report’s findings for EU security and economic policy. Ray Wong commented on the broader context of Beijing’s plans for Hong Kong’s role as an international financial hub at the heart of the ‘Greater Bay Area’ development project which will see it progressively integrated into Mainland China. 

The panel concluded with a call to the EU to revise its human rights due diligence laws, including the Forced Labour Regulation, to ensure that European companies are not able to invest in human rights abuses within the People’s Republic of China.

香港監察赴歐洲議會發布商業與人權報告 促歐盟修例制止歐洲公司投資中國侵犯人權行為

昨天，香港監察到訪布魯塞爾歐洲議會發布最新商業與人權報告，為巡迴報告發布會劃上句號。報告題為《Risky Business: how sanctioned entities access capital via Hong Kong》，6月11日在美國華盛頓哈德遜研究所（Hudson Institute）發布，之後6月23日在倫敦英國國會發布。

活動由歐洲議會對華關係代表團主席Engin Eroglu MEP主持，並由Freiheit für Hongkong e.V.主席黃台仰（Ray Wong）和香港監察資深研究及政策顧問、報告作者湯柏森（Thomas Benson）展開討論。

我們亦很榮幸獲台灣駐歐盟兼駐比利時代表處李淳大使（Ambassador Roy Lee）出席發布會，以示對香港監察商業與人權研究的支持。

歐洲議會議員Engin Eroglu MEP首先介紹各位講者，然後分享對歐中關係現狀的看法。湯柏森概述報告發現，包括香港國家安全法例對歐洲企業的潛在影響，並進一步反思報告發現對歐盟安全和經濟政策的可能影響。黃台仰談到北京計劃將香港營造為在粵港澳大灣區發展擔當國際金融中心角色的背景，預期將逐步融入中國大陸。

討論最後呼籲歐盟修訂人權盡職審查法例，包括《禁止強迫勞動產品條例》，確保歐洲公司不能投資助長中國侵犯人權行為。