Newly released CIA files reveal anxiety over Hong Kong’s future under Chinese rule
Millions of pages of historical intelligence analysis and research include hundreds of records relating to Hong Kong
The United States Central Intelligence Agency released more than 12 million pages of historical documents online this week.
The trove, which features files from as late as the 1990s, includes hundreds of records relating to Hong Kong, with many of them raising concerns about the region’s future ahead of the 1997 transfer of sovereignty to China.
Although the CIA is required to declassify most documents after 25 years, many records covering the agency’s work from the 1940s to the 1990s could previously only be found at the US National Archives in Maryland. Freedom of information advocates had long called for the records to be uploaded onto the internet.
Ma Ngok, associate professor at Chinese University’s department of government and public administration, said such documents “can be useful in terms of understanding” the American view on Hong Kong issues and better understanding the relationship between the US and China.
