Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba visited Hong Kong and called on Hong Kong leader John Lee to prevent Russia from using Hong Kong as a way to circumvent Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its wider war in Ukraine.
This request is important because both Hong Kong and China are seen by the US government as one of the key routes through which Russia supplies materials for its military, including semiconductors and drone parts.
“Dmytro Kuleba called on the Hong Kong administration to take measures to deprive Russia and Russian companies of the opportunity to use Hong Kong to circumvent restrictive measures imposed due to Russian aggression against Ukraine,” the Ukrainian authorities said in a statement.
Hong Kong remains a global sanctions avoidance point, even though semiconductors and other restricted goods shipped through China and Hong Kong have fallen by a fifth this year, according to previously undisclosed US Commerce Department data released by Reuters.
China, the world’s second largest economy, is positioning itself as neutral in the Ukraine war, but days before the 2022 invasion, it declared a ‘borderless’ partnership with Russia. They also provided diplomatic support to Russia and helped keep Russia’s war economy afloat.
‘Despite sanctions, London is still a laundromat for dirty money from Russia’
