US Director, Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation @thecfhk • Commissioner @USCC_Gov • fmr Staff Director @CmteOnCCPDems @CECCgov
Washington, DC
Joined June 2010
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"Constructive Strategic Stablity" is just a policy of holding back real actions to compete & counter China. @MichaelKovrig succinctly said "Beijing wants a Washington that competes less, within limits the CCP defines, for long enough that the power balance keeps shifting its way"
I've heard from many in Beijing that they like Trump's accommodating China policy. But this quote is quite striking:
"The Chinese are very realistic that a new president might be very different (from Trump)," said Shen Weizhong, a former Chinese Foreign Ministry official.
"But if we can have two more years of stability, that's already a good thing for China ... The more time we have, the better prepared we might be towards a final showdown on Taiwan or maybe another trade war," added Shen, who now works for Beijing-based think tank Global Governance Institution.
Good point @HenryVConnelly. Some other "rules"
1 Winning vote count should be +10% of the actual number
2 Public endorsements are key but asking is delicate
3 Contact every member & patiently listen
4 Show confidence. No one wants to vote for the losing side
Joshua Wong should be free. This is a cruel and cynical act by Beijing coming right after Hong Kong's Global Financial Summit and US elections. US, UK and international government and corporate leaders should condemn this act and not travel to Hong Kong until Joshua is released.
Joshua Wong, one of Hong Kong's best-known pro-democracy activists, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday in a fresh national security prosecution brought while he was already serving time behind bars.
Wong, who has been imprisoned since November 2020, was due to be released in January 2027, having been sentenced to four years and eight months for conspiracy to commit subversion in the landmark Hong Kong 47 case. But on June 6, 2025, national security police arrested him again, inside Stanley Prison, and charged him with conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.
We urge the international community to demand Joshua Wong's immediate release and hold Hong Kong and Chinese officials accountable for their ongoing repression. The world must not stay silent as Hong Kong's pro-democracy voices are silenced.
thecfhk.org/hong-kong-senten…
Jonathan Stivers retweeted
In 2021, then-Senator Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) urged the U.S. to “open our doors” to Hong Kongers persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party. Now, as Secretary of State, he can help keep those doors open.
Unless action is taken, Deferred Enforced Departure protections allowing Hong Kongers to remain in the U.S. will expire in February. Meanwhile, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained at least a dozen Hong Kongers who are still legally living and working here.
We call on @SecRubio to act now to extend these protections so no one is returned to suffer punishments like those inflicted on publisher Jimmy Lai and former student activist Joshua Wong, both imprisoned in Hong Kong without prospect of release.
@PostOpinions makes clear what’s at stake:
“President Trump has said that #FreeJimmyLai is a priority in his dealings with Xi Jinping. That was welcome news. Wong and others unjustly imprisoned in Hong Kong deserve similar efforts.
"The least the Trump administration can do is stop the harassment of exiled Hong Kongers who might have to join China’s political prisoners if denied the right to stay in America.”
washingtonpost.com/opinions/…
Hong Kong has become the world’s capital of sanctions evasion for Russia, Iran and North Korea. In @japantimes today, I call on the U.S., Japan and allies to stop chasing shell companies and go after the Hong Kong banks that finance this trade. 👇
In 2022, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee invited sanctions evaders in to set up shop.
"Hong Kong is now the connective tissue between Western suppliers and three of the world’s most heavily sanctioned regimes, supplying the finance, technology, and weapons components that keep their militaries running."
For @japantimes, our U.S. director @jonstivers argues that Tokyo should act to target Hong Kong-based sanctions evasion networks supplying North Korea with illicit resources.
"Tokyo has already shown, in its Russia sanctions, that it will act against third-country facilitators. It should extend that resolve to the Hong Kong networks serving Pyongyang."
japantimes.co.jp/commentary/…
Jonathan Stivers retweeted
🧵1/6 As @USTreasury officials hold talks at the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting in Hong Kong, we release a new report, "Safe Harbor for Sanctions Evaders: Hong Kong’s Brazen Support for Iran and Russia."
The research examines Hong Kong's role as the global hub for Iran and Russia to obtain Western finance, technology, and weapons components needed to sustain their military operations and evade United States and international sanctions and export controls.
Report author @jonstivers, CFHK Foundation U.S. director, said, "This week, top U.S. Treasury Department officials will hold talks at the APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting in Hong Kong, the world’s capital of sanctions evasion for Iran and Russia.
"Since taking office, Secretary Bessent (@SecScottBessent) has played an ineffective game of whack-a-mole, sanctioning Hong Kong shell companies only to watch them reappear under new names within days.
"Secretary Bessent needs to get serious: impose secondary sanctions on the Hong Kong banks financing this trade and designate Hong Kong a Primary Money Laundering Concern.
"Only actions on that scale will disrupt the financing and facilitation that sustain the world’s most ruthless and deadly regimes."
To read the full report, visit: thecfhk.org/research/safe-ha…
If true, @SecScottBessent is making the right call. Traveling to Hong Kong now, while Hong Kong entities & banks actively help Iran and Russia evade U.S. sanctions and export controls would be a big mistake and send exactly the wrong signal. scmp.com/news/china/diplomac…
Hong Kongers currently living in the US are now facing the prospect of being sent back to China where they may face imprisonment and political persecution. Congress should stand up for freedom and human rights by hotlining this legislation before the end of the year.
Today, @SenJeffMerkley and @RepMcGovern, ranking members of @CECCgov, introduced the Hong Kong Promise of Refuge Act to protect Hong Kongers living in the U.S. from being deported back to Hong Kong, where they could face persecution and political imprisonment.
Deferred Enforced Departure currently shields at least 3,000 Hong Kongers from removal, but it expires on Feb. 5, 2027, with no guarantee of renewal. Modeled on the 1992 Chinese Student Protection Act, the bill would give them a path to permanent residency.
"It's time for Congress to stand up for freedom and human rights and pass this legislation in 2026 so that Hong Kongers aren't forced back into the hands of an authoritarian regime. Time is short, and action is necessary," said @thecfhk U.S. Director @jonstivers.
➡️thecfhk.org/members-of-congr…
Agreeing to an "official AI dialogue" with China was a low bar. Expect Beijing to treat it the way it treats all dialogues - as leverage. Beijing will use the prospect of meetings to extract concessions & slow-walk any efforts to contain risks. Meetings are not accomplishments.
Jonathan Stivers retweeted
anti-Xi protesters can still be heard, despite a band trying to drown them out, as Trump and Xi pose for photos
If Chinese or Hong Kong diplomats are attacking peaceful human rights protestors then they should be expelled from the US ASAP. This cannot be normalized and a public example needs to be made @ChinaSelect @CECCgov
Police told @SFTHQ that one of the attackers was not detained "because he had diplomatic immunity." This raises the question of the extent to which Chinese officials may be directly involved in attacks on protesters against Xi Jinping.
It is difficult to watch American service members kneeling to sweep a red carpet as Xi Jinping looks on. Those who serve our country deserve to be treated with more respect especially in front of the leader of the Chinese Communist Party.
The title from which Xi Jinping derives his authority is "General Secretary." Calling him "President" is both inaccurate and it lends an undeserved veneer of democratic legitimacy. @donaldcclarke @isaacstonefish @USCC_GOV have all made that same argument.
In "The Art of the Deal," Trump wrote that the worst thing you can do in a negotiation is seem desperate. Personally greeting Xi on the tarmac (something Xi would never do in return) sends Chinese officials exactly that message.
Details on Xi's visit. Trump not only will greet Xi on the tarmac but also do a military flyover as part of a welcoming ceremony. Wondering where 'perfect reciprocity' went. (Trump did not get this in Beijing. He got singing children.)
whitehouse.gov/briefings-sta…
Cancel the State Dinner. Sell the weapons to Taiwan as required by US law. Sanction Hong Kong banks that are providing $$$ to Iran that results in American service members being killed. No Chinese cars. Support our allies. US-China policy is off the rails right now.
Chinese diplomats have signaled this for months. Least damaging option is Trump okays the $14B arms sale in early 2027 after mtgs w/ Xi Jinping at APEC and G20 in Nov/Dec. But that delay will severely impact delivery of weapons that Taiwan needs right now english.kyodonews.net/articl…
Jonathan Stivers retweeted
.@thecfhk President @MarkLClifford said:
“The Hong Kong authorities have tried to pretend these kangaroo-court proceedings weren’t a political trial – but no one is fooled. These long jail sentences send a chilling message: If you challenge the government, even peacefully and legally, you risk years behind bars.
“The criminals here are the judges who’ve handed down these sentences. Remember their names: Alex Lee, Johnny Chan, and Anna Lai. They’ve punished the Hong Kong Alliance and its leaders for exercising the fundamental right to freedom of expression.
“Albert Ho, Chow Hang-tung, and Lee Cheuk-yan are prisoners of conscience who should be freed now."
The comment is totally inappropriate but @robert_spalding & others should listen to her message, which hasn’t changed regarding the nature of the Chinese government. She was right back then, and both Republicans and Democrats should’ve listened.
.@SecScottBessent continues his ineffective game of whack-a-mole while China continues to provide indispensable support to Iran (and Russia) through Hong Kong's financial system. When will Chinese & Hong Kong banks be sanctioned??? @POTUS @SecRubio @SecHegseth
Important point by @RayhanAsat. Sadly we see it too often these days. I miss ideological consistency.
Excellent point by @RayhanAsat:
“What is troubling is the selective application of moral principle: speaking confidently about justice when it enhances one’s public identity, while retreating into professed uncertainty when the victims are politically inconvenient.”
I've been in DC for a long time but it is still perplexing that so many people who decried Tiktok as a threat to national security are now silent. It is still controlled by China and we will rue the day we didn't enforce our own law
It is utterly disturbing that both in the US and in Europe, we allow a social media platform that is run by a de facto CCP-controlled algorithm. Trump allows this because he is so popular on it (Haberman, Swan, 2026, p. 179). Europe allows it because our politicians are both gullible and fearful of retaliation by Beijing.