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Winston Fung
Winston Fung

Opinion | Russian superyacht row highlights need for Hong Kong to define its international role

  • To avoid being a pawn in geopolitical struggles, the city must define its place in the world by making clear its resolve to be a helpful international actor
  • Hong Kong’s place in the global context must become a more central focus in policymaking

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The luxury megayacht Nord, reportedly tied to Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov, is seen anchored in Hong Kong waters on October 7. Photo: AFP
Winston Fung
The mysterious appearance of a superyacht in Hong Kong, allegedly owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch, led to the US warning of damage to Hong Kong’s reputation in harbouring sanctioned assets and Beijing retorting that the city is under no obligation to observe “unilateral” sanctions.
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The case highlights the reality that the city is unavoidably enmeshed in US-China tensions. It raises the question of how such tensions could affect Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s call to ensure Hong Kong is an “open international city”, and one “retaining global connectivity”.

The government should begin by recognising that Hong Kong must define itself beyond being an international business gateway. Attempts to “sell” the city solely on its commercial attributes do not address the geopolitical uncertainties looming in the background. Likewise, UN resolutions that Hong Kong is required to enforce cannot cover all geopolitical eventualities.

Hong Kong must instead define its place in the world. It needs to ask what kind of international gateway it wants to be. What role – to the limited extent permitted by the Basic Law and “one country, two systems” – does it want to play on the international stage?

There is a pressing need to answer these questions. Not doing so means it risks being seen as an outlet for authoritarian capitalism. What does this mean? Against Hong Kong’s refusal to comply with US warnings on the Russian superyacht, Washington can argue that Hong Kong is, by default, on Russia’s side: a safe haven for sanctioned capital and assets from illiberal non-democratic regimes.

This can be a direct challenge to the economic and security interests of the West, especially for Washington, which defines its geopolitical challenge as one between “democracy” and “authoritarianism”. It potentially subjects Hong Kong to much greater unwanted scrutiny than it is already under.
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