Maisie Ho’s work history raises some questions about the way in which she will conduct herself in New York.
Hong Kong’s new top official posted to its outpost in New York City previously worked for two hard-line former chief executives of the Chinese city, one of whom is now a top Chinese Communist Party official.
The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office New York recently announced that its new director, Maisie Ho, had started in the new job on August 21. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office functions as the city’s diplomatic post abroad, and in the United States it receives tax exemptions and special legal immunities. In addition to promoting trade with Hong Kong, it is also tasked with organizing events intended to promote Hong Kong’s reputation internationally.
Ho’s appointment to the post in New York is already controversial in light of Beijing’s ongoing crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, as she leads an office that represents the Chinese Communist Party’s interests in the U.S. Her work history also raises some questions about the way in which she will conduct herself in New York.
According to an announcement by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Ho previously worked as assistant private secretary for the Hong Kong chief executive from 2015 to 2019. The press release said that she managed “external liaison affairs” for the chief executive in that role. During that period, she would have worked for two hard-line former chief executives of the city: CY Leung until 2017, then Carrie Lam.
Leung was known for taking harsh measures against pro-democracy demonstrators and faced criticism for brutally suppressing protests. Then, in 2019, he became vice chairman of the party’s Chinese People’s Political and Consultative Conference. That is an organ responsible for convening the party’s united-front network, through which the CCP exerts influence over nonparty members.
Lam led the city when Beijing imposed a new national-security law on Hong Kong. The U.S. State Department in 2020 imposed sanctions on her for her role in developing and implementing the law, which paved the way for the total suppression of dissent in Hong Kong.
“The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office has been nothing less than an outpost of CCP’s United Front to promote a ‘Hong Kong story’ that sanitizes the government’s blatant crackdown on the city’s once-vibrant civil society,” Frances Hui, policy coordinator for the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong told National Review.
Hui also said the fact that Hong Kong sent a former top aide to hard-line leaders of the city “shows how much the government values its international front and will likely intensify their effort in telling a version of Hong Kong that no Hong Kong people resonate with.”
Although Hong Kong is part of China, it has long enjoyed a semi-autonomous status under U.S. law since the city had enjoyed a special legal status within China after the British handover. Even after the U.S determined in 2020 that Hong Kong was no longer autonomous from the mainland, following the imposition of a new-national security law, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices continued to retain their diplomatic status.
A new bill, the HKETO Certification Act, would eliminate that status, with the legislation’s bipartisan authors arguing that since Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China, Washington should not grant Beijing an extra diplomatic presence in the U.S. The State Department could also act against HKETOs without a new law. In February, Representative Mike Gallagher, the chairman of the House Select Committee on the CCP, wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging him to revoke the status of HKETOs in the U.S.