Patrick Ho case should serve as a lesson for Chinese firms doing business abroad

The colourful rise and fall of former Hong Kong minister Patrick Ho Chi-ping seems to have ended in a New York federal courtroom, bar the sentencing next year. He can of course appeal against the unanimous guilty verdicts returned by a jury on seven of eight charges of corrupt and illegal business practices. But the lesson of the downfall of an advocate of China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” – a trade expansion strategy – stands. It is an unambiguous reminder to Chinese companies and businessmen going abroad of the imperative of complying scrupulously with the rules of other jurisdictions. The bribery and money-laundering counts on which Ho was convicted are serious matters. They involve offers of millions of dollars to African officials for oil rights in Chad and Uganda on behalf of Chinese conglomerate CEFC China Energy.

Ho, 69, who served as the city’s home affairs secretary from 2002 to 2007 before joining CEFC, faces the prospect of a long jail sentence. The jury found the payments were bribes and not gifts. He can be expected to appeal. However, not only were the verdicts unanimous but the jury did not find them difficult, returning in only three hours. Ho was convicted of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits payments to officials to help obtain business, and anti-money-laundering laws. Firms with Chinese links have been punished before for violations, but Ho is the highest-profile case. The charges at first caused consternation and fuelled speculation about political motivation. However, they also prompted serious reflection on ways of doing business as more Chinese companies go abroad.