A network of Hong Kong government organizations in the United States is pushing Beijing’s agenda at state and local levels, according to a new report.
The report, published on Oct. 29 by Washington-based pro-democracy group Hong Kong Democracy Council (HKDC), alleged that the Hong Kong government is strategically targeting state and local media, think tanks, business communities, and academia in the United States, promoting Beijing’s foreign policy initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative and “whitewashing” the Hong Kong government’s human rights abuses.
According to the report, official agencies of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR)—Hong Kong’s official name since Beijing regained control of the former British colony in 1997—and Hong Kong government-backed local associations have hired U.S. consultants to parrot pro-Beijing propaganda, connected Hong Kong and local U.S. officials, and purported to represent the Hong Kong diaspora in the United States, crowding out pro-democracy voices….