北京要求香港領事館提交本地員工信息

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Beijing Asks Hong Kong Consulates to Submit Info on Local Staff

Bloomberg News

Tue, September 19, 2023 at 12:02 a.m. PDT

(Bloomberg) -- China has asked consulates in Hong Kong to submit information on locally hired employees, including their home addresses, a move giving Beijing stepped up oversight of the city.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry wants the missions to provide a copy of local employees’ ID cards and details including job titles, employment start date, permanent residency status and visa information, according to a letter and form sent to consulates in Hong Kong on Monday and seen by Bloomberg News.

The documents tell missions to comply with the request by Oct. 18 and submit information on new staff within 15 days of their first day. The form also indicates the personal data provided can be shared with other bureaus and departments.

The Hong Kong Free Press reported earlier on the letter. Representatives from the Hong Kong government and China’s Foreign Ministry based in the city did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other nations ask missions for similar information about locals they employ, and embassies on the mainland must hire Chinese nationals through a government-controlled agency. Still, the move by China appears to be in step with its focus on national security in the former British colony. Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in mid-2020 in response to mass protests against the government.

In 2019, the UK summoned the Chinese ambassador after a former employee of the British consulate in Hong Kong said he was beaten for information about protesters while detained on the mainland. China criticized then-Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and warned that interference in its affairs “will eventually harm UK interests.”

This summer, Hong Kong officials placed a HK$1 million ($127,900) bounty on eight overseas activists, alleging they committed offenses under the law even after leaving the financial hub. The US said extraterritorial applications of the law set “a dangerous precedent” that threatens people’s rights and freedoms.

Last year, the Financial Times reported that Beijing had asked foreign diplomats for floor plans of all properties rented by foreign missions in Hong Kong.

Translation

（彭博）—中國已要求駐香港領事館提交本地僱用僱員的信息，包括他們的家庭住址，此舉讓北京加強了對香港的監管。

根據彭博新聞社也看過在週一發給駐香港領事館的一封信和表格，中國外交部希望使館提供當地僱員的身份證複印件以及包括職務、就業開始日期、永久居留身份和簽證信息在內的詳細信息。

文件要求各特派團在 10 月 18 日之前依從要求，如新員工要在入職後 15 天內提交信息。 表格亦註明所提供的個人資料可與能被與其他決策局及部門分享。

香港自由新聞 早些時候報道了這封信。 香港政府和中國外交部駐香港的代表沒有立即回應置評請求。

其他國家要求使團提供有關其僱用的當地人的類似信息，而大陸的大使館必須透過政府控制的機構僱用中國公民。 儘管如此，中國的舉動似乎與其對這個前英國殖民地的國家安全的關注保持一致。 北京於 2020 年中對香港實施國家安全法，以回應針對政府的大規模抗議活動。

2019年，英國駐香港領事館一名前員工表示，他在大陸被拘留期間被毆打以榨取有關抗議者的信息，隨後英國傳喚了中國大使。 中國批評時任外交大臣Dominic Raab，並警告稱，干涉中國事務「最終將損害英國的利益」。

今年夏天，香港官員對八名海外活動人士懸賞 100 萬港元（合 127,900 美元），指控他們在離開香港後仍觸犯法律。 美國表示，該法律的域外適用開創了 “一個危險的先例” ， 威脅到人們的權利和自由。

去年，《金融時報》報道稱，北京已要求外國外交官提供外國使團在香港租用的所有房產的平面圖。

So, China askes consulates in Hong Kong to submit information on locally hired employees and also indicates that the personal data provided could be shared with other bureaus and departments. I think it is a move for Beijing to step up oversight of the city.