US consulate says that delegations from State and Commerce departments met local officials last weekRequest comes after Huawei executive Sabrina Meng was arrested in Canada at behest of the US but Hong Kong government source denies the two are related
Washington has asked the city to “devote additional resources” to enforce international sanctions on North Korea and Iran, it was disclosed on Monday, amid the high-profile arrest of a Huawei Technologies executive for allegedly trading with the Iran via a Hong Kong shell company.
A press release dispatched on Monday by the United States Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau said that Washington also noted Hong Kong had taken steps to enact laws to make it harder to operate shell companies in the city, but wanted checks on re-exports of strategic commodities to be tightened.
The requests were put forward to Hong Kong last week when senior delegations from the US Department of State and US Department of Commerce were in the city to meet local officials to review the city’s performances in sanctions enforcement and strategic trade controls.
The meeting coincided with the arrest of Sabrina Meng Wanzhou in Canada, for possible extradition to the US. Meng is the deputy chairwoman and chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies. She is accused of lying about Huawei’s ties to a Hong Kong shell company named Skycom that traded with Iran.
Meng allegedly tried to sell telecoms equipment made by US manufacturer Hewlett-Packard to Iran through the shell company.
