Jon Ossoff's Financial Ties to Pro-CCP Hong Kong Media Company Revealed
A Hong Kong media company whose owner has condemned the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong has paid Jon Ossoff, currently a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Georgia. Ossoff challenged Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) in the November election and his race went to a runoff scheduled for January 5, 2021. The Democrat had failed to previously disclose the gift from the Hong Kong media company, which supports the Chinese Communist Party.
Ossoff recently amended a financial disclosure form reporting that he has received at least $5,000 from PCCW Media Limited over the last two years. His initial disclosure, filed in May, omitted the payments.
PCCW Chairman Richard Li (the son of Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-Shing) has long condemned the Hong Kong independence movement and the pro-democracy protests, which oppose the CCP’s crackdown on the semi-autonomous region. Li also serves as a councilor for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C., think tank.
PCCW paid Ossoff in connection with his role as the CEO of a London-based company producing investigative documentaries.
An Ossoff campaign spokesperson told National Review that the payments stemmed from the airing of “two investigations produced by Jon’s company of ISIS war crimes against women and girls,” representing “one of dozens of TV stations and distributors in more than 30 countries that have aired Jon’s work.”
“Jon strongly supports Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and condemns the brutality and authoritarianism of the Chinese Communist Party,” the spokesperson added. Ossoff had previously been silent on the situation in Hong Kong.
In 2016, Li declared himself “staunchly opposed to the independence of Hong Kong” after a mainland Chinese media outlet reported that his company was backing pro-democracy singer Denise Ho Wan-see, inspiring backlash from Chinese nationalists.
“Mr. Richard Li and MOOV would like to clearly state that the company and Mr. Li respect freedom of expression,” the statement read. “However, both Mr. Li and the Company are staunchly opposed to the independence of Hong Kong and it is their view that the independence of Hong Kong would not be feasible, and discussing Hong Kong’s independence is a waste of society’s resources.”