Blog

Former Hong Kong Home Secretary Patrick Ho Chi-ping has been jailed in Manhattan since November 2017 and repeatedly denied bail as he awaits trial on charges that he made millions of dollars in bribes to African officials to obtain lucrative oil rights for Chinese conglomerate CEFC. It’s my hypothesis that that the Trump administration is using the case to put a spotlight on Chinese corruption in Africa -- something many academics, politicians and business people have long suspected but found difficult to prove.

Former Hong Kong senior official Patrick Ho, jailed in New York on bribery charges, was denied bail for a second time yesterday after  judge Katherine Forrest ruled that he presented a flight risk. In denying bail, the judge questioned the argument of Ho’s defense lawyer -- Edward Kim -- that Ho would not flee because doing so would ruin his reputation, which he prizes.

My talk at the Foreign Correspodents' Club of Hong Kong about the U.S. bribery prosecution against former Hong Kong official Patrick Ho and its far-reaching implications. 

The flood of sex harassment accusations and of careers destroyed raises an important question. How much fairness do we owe to those who are accused?