Loss of FedEx HQ highlights Hong Kong legal fears

Along with UPS and DHL, FedEx Corp., one of the three largest express package delivery business, reportedly plans to relocate its Asia-Pacific regional offices from Hong Kong and nbsp to Singapore in order to” achieve greater speed and agility.”

According to Bloomberg, Kawal Preet, the local president of FedEx Express, will relocate to Singapore in September. Other Hong Kong-based executives will also relocate there, according to an unnamed staff member.

In an email cited by Bloomberg, the American courier claimed that it could more quickly and easily connect its operations in the Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa( AMEA ) in Singapore. While retaining a” significant” presence and leadership roles in the special & nbsp, administrative region, it stated that fewer than 15 % of its positions in Hong Kong will relocate to Singapore. & nbsp,

According to the organization, some positions that don’t need to be located in the offices city may be moved to Malaysia or India to cut costs. & nbsp,

Given that Sino-US social tensions are rising, commentators claimed that some foreign businesses are leaving Hong Kong because they are unsure whether they will one day become the target of Chinese regional security investigations or secondary sanctions from the US.

Chau Sze – tat, a political commentator from Hong Kong, writes in his YouTube channel,” The transfer of FedEx’s regional offices deals briskly to the city, which usually highlights its status as an international logistics hub.” The business relocates its top executives to Singapore, demonstrating that it no longer values Hong Kong as a major logistical hotspot for the region.

According to Chau, the authorities could always hold the pandemic responsible for the absences of foreign businesses in Hong Kong over the past three years. However, it demonstrates that Hong Kong’s long-term business environment has deteriorated if they are still leaving the city after all Covid standards have expired. Concerned about the National Security Law are some international businesses.

He claims that FedEx’s investigation by the Chinese authorities in 2019 for withholding Huawei Technologies’ packages may have played a role in the US courier company moving its regional offices. & nbsp,

After the British mail mysteriously diverted two packages intended for Huawei headquarters in China to the US and tried to divert two persons, Huawei announced on May 27 that it was reviewing its partnership with FedEx. The next day, FedEx expressed regret for handling Huawei’s packages improperly and claimed that no outside difficulty had caused it to request transhipment. & nbsp,

Photo: Pandaly

The Chinese government announced earlier in June 2019 that it was looking into FedEx in response to a complaint Huawei had made about misrouted packages. Later, in late July, it was reported that FedEx may have delayed the delivery of more than 100 items to Huawei. & nbsp,

Socially private, the incident occurred after Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was detained in Canada in December 2018 on suspicion of breaking US punishment. Following a formal arrangement with the US court, Meng was released in September 2021.

After anti-extradition protests broke out in Hong Kong in June 2019, Sino-US hostilities had increased. According to the Foreign foreign ministry, Todd Hohn, a FedEx Express aircraft and retired US Air Force commander, was detained on September 12 at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and nbsp for leaving with an air gun pellet package. He was given parole, but smuggling ammunition was the subject of an investigation.

On June 27, 2020, Hohn was given permission to leave Guangzhou, just a few times before Beijing enacted the National Security Law in Hong Kong on June 30. & nbsp,

In an interview with HK01.com in December 2020, managing director Anthony & nbsp, Leung of Express Hong Kong and Macau expressed his confidence in his ability to manage the express business there in spite of the unstable global environment.

Leung described Hong Kong’s market climate as an international financial hub with many benefits, such as a prime area, no tariffs, and straightforward customs procedures. He declared that FedEx would have its top operations and support staff based in Hong Kong, where it has its Asia Pacific headquarters.

However, FedEx began moving its Hong Kong-based planes to San Francisco in January 2021, claiming that the Asian financial capital’s stringent Covid regulations were having an impact on its operations. It announced that it would close its team center in the neighborhood in November 2021. & nbsp,

Despite the fact that Hong Kong repealed all of its anti-epidemic regulations in late 2022, some critics claim that the worsening US-China relations continue to pose operational risks for international businesses based there.

Five Chinese businesses, including one in Hong Kong, were sanctioned by the US in February of this year for allegedly offering goods and services to the Russian army. It sanctioned 12 Taiwanese companies last quarter, the majority of which were based in Shenzhen, for sending electronic components from Hong Kong to Russia.
 
Additionally, according to Chief Executive John Lee, Hong Kong will pass other national security policy by the end of 2024 in accordance with the Basic Law’s Article 23. & nbsp,

The current National Security Law deals with crimes like independence, terrorism, corruption of the government, and cooperation with foreign power. The new legislation will focus on spying activities as well as treason, sedition, theft of state secrets, and & nbsp. & nbsp,

Study: New Sino-US tensions are sparked by the Fentanyl and Russia industry.

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