House Panel Seeks Treasury Briefing on Hong Kong’s Sanctions Evasion
The leaders of the House Select Committee on China said Nov. 25 that they have asked for a briefing on how the Treasury Department is responding to Hong Kong’s growing role in sanctions evasion.
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In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Reps. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., the committee’s chairman and ranking member, respectively, said her department has taken "preliminary action" against Hong Kong-based entities, including sanctions announced last month (see 2410300018), and they want to know what additional steps are planned. "Specifically, we are interested in understanding how the Treasury intends to further combat the facilitation of money laundering and sanctions evasion through Hong Kong's financial system," they wrote.
The lawmakers said Hong Kong has “become a global leader in practices such as importing and re-exporting banned Western technology to Russia, creating front companies for purchasing barred Iranian oil, facilitating the trade of Russian sourced gold, and managing ‘ghost ships’ that engage in illegal trade with North Korea.” They cited a recent research report that found that “nearly 40% of goods shipped from Hong Kong to Russia in 2023 were on the U.S. and EU list of ‘common high priority items’ -- semiconductors and other technology that Russia most needs for its war in Ukraine.”