Hong Kong authorities decline to comment on report that US fighter jet parts diverted to city

Hong Kong authorities have declined to comment on a report that parts for F-35 fighter jets, a classified US aircraft targeted by Chinese intelligence, were diverted to the city.

Media outlet Politico reported last week that a shipment of US-bound F-35 parts being flown from Australia this summer ended up in Hong Kong, citing anonymous sources.

The alleged incident prompted a US government investigation amid concerns that China could gain access to the sensitive weapon system, the US news site reported.

A spokesperson for the Hong Kong government said it “will not comment on individual incidents.”

According to Politico, the parts – which included one of the jet’s canopies – were being transported by an intermediary on behalf of F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin.

Sources told Politico that the canopies contain technology that only the US and its allies have.

Lawmakers on the US House committee that oversees armed services are looking into the incident, House Armed Services Committee spokesperson Heather Vaughan told media outlets.

“The committee is aware of this issue and we’ve received multiple briefings on it,” Vaughan said.

The F-35 project is governed by the US government’s F-35 Lightning II Joint Program Office. The office counts US allies, including the UK, Australia and Canada, among its partners purchasing the aircraft.

A Beijing foreign ministry spokesperson said in 2022 that China had “no interest in the [US’s] aircraft.”

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Hillary Leung is a journalist at Hong Kong Free Press, where she reports on local politics and social issues, and assists with editing. Since joining in late 2021, she has covered the Covid-19 pandemic, political court cases including the 47 democrats national security trial, and challenges faced by minority communities.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Hillary completed her undergraduate degree in journalism and sociology at the University of Hong Kong. She worked at TIME Magazine in 2019, where she wrote about Asia and overnight US news before turning her focus to the protests that began that summer. At Coconuts Hong Kong, she covered general news and wrote features, including about a Black Lives Matter march that drew controversy amid the local pro-democracy movement and two sisters who were born to a domestic worker and lived undocumented for 30 years in Hong Kong.