Secret Agents And Operations

Abstract: In quite a few video game set in Hong Kong, we can find secret agents from around the world executing various kinds of secret operations in the city. In this article, we will go through them one by one, and explain why they are not mere coincidence but the consequence of the actual city's uniqueness.

在多個以香港做背景的電子遊戲中﹐我們會見到來自世界各地的特勤人員，執行各式各樣的秘密行動。在這篇文章中, 我們將逐一檢視它們，並解釋它們並非巧合，而是現實香港獨特的地理位置和政治地位使然。

Secret agents and operations in video game Hong Kong

In video games set in Hong Kong, one can found secret agents from local and around the world. Hired by individuals, criminal organizations or governments, these agents carry out various secret missions in the virtual city.

In quite a few cases, these agents are acting as spies, infiltrating into their target organizations silently in order to collect and report information on the activities, movement, and plans of enemies or competitors.

Inspector Tequila Yuen (right) talking with Jerry Ying (left) who has infiltrated into the Dragon Claw triad group in Stranglehold (Midway Games/Success. Microsoft Windows/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360: 2007)

Undercover Wei Shen (middle) talking with inspector Teng (left) in Sleeping Dogs (Square Enix. Microsoft Windows/PlayStation 3/Xbox 360: 2012)

Undercover Kit (right) talking with police officer Victor(left) to exchange news of a triad in Jet Li: Rise to Honor (Sony Computer Entertainment America. PlayStation 2: 2004). At the end, Victor revealed that he was the mastermind of the triad.

Sometimes, these agents trespass on the hideouts of these organizations right away to collect information about the target or steal sensitive materials. The hideouts could be restaurants, bath houses, offices, factories and even embassies. While many of these hideouts are merely for their members to gather and discuss matters, some others are where we can find various secret operations. These operations could be typical illegal businesses such as drugs, smuggling and human trafficking, while others could involve surprisingly advanced technologies such as a high-precision diamond cutter, a virus that could kill all people in the world, the DNS sample of the world's leaders.

A secret agent infiltrating into a building of a private biotech company in Hong Kong in Deus Ex (Eidos Interactive. Microsoft Windows/Mac OS/PlayStation 2: 2000) 

The factory of Hong Kong-based Identicon, a botanical research firm thought to be a possible front for a weapon-smuggling ring, in 007: Agent Under Fire (EA Games. PlayStation 2: 2001, GameCube/Xbox: 2002). A CIA agent infiltrating into the corporation was discovered and captured. James Bond thus trespasses the factory in attempt to rescue her., while at the same time retrieves a courier case.

In Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix (Activision. Microsoft Windows/OS X/Xbox: 2002), a mercenary is hired to deal with an international gang who is developing a virus with the aim of threatening the world.

In Scenario B of Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions (Activision. Xbox/GameCube/PlayStation 2: 2002), the player plays as a pair of spies hired to take down the head of the Hong Kong Yakuza.

The CIA agent Sydney Bristow secretly getting into the secret laboratory of an embassy in Hong Kong in Alias (Acclaim Entertainment. PlayStation 2/Microsoft Windows/Xbox: 2004)

If needed, these secret agents are ready to carry out armed missions such as street chases, kidnappings, assaults, assassinations, and even city destruction.

James Bond involving in a street chase to disable an armored van of a weapon-smuggling ring in 007: Agent Under Fire (EA Games. PlayStation 2: 2001, GameCube/Xbox: 2002)

In Wet (Bethsda Softworks. PlayStation 3/Xbox 360: 2009), the player acts as a mercenary who is hired to kidnap the head of a drug ring in Hong Kong according to the order of another gang.

Secret agents planning to kidnap an agent of the private conspiracy group Beholder Initiative in Phantom Doctrine (Good Shepherd Entertainment. PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Microsoft Windows: 2018). Appeared as a US lobbying firm that conducts business internationally, it is indeed steering politics to their will through underhanded means and toxic influence.

Secret agents shooting a guard of the Hong Kong restaurant which is the target's hideout in Phantom Doctrine (Good Shepherd Entertainment. PlayStation 4/Xbox One/Microsoft Windows: 2018)

A hitman is sent by the International Contract Agency to Hong Kong to assassinate the Triad leader Lee Hong in Hitman: Codename 47 (Eidos Interactive. Microsoft Windows: 2000)

A former MI6 agent being employed by an international criminal organization to assassinate his rival Dr. No. in GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (EA Games. GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox: 2004, Nintendo DS: 2005)

Secret agents from governments in the world coming to Hong Kong to assassinate an international trader who is in a global corporation that is weakening the power of the governments in Rouge Agent (Jorge Aires. Microsoft Windows: 2018).

In Näkemiin, Hongkong (T&T-Soft. Commodore 64: 1989), a British secret agent gets into Hong Kong which has been handed over to China in 1997. The agent is trying to destroy the city with a nuclear bomb. 

To support these secret projects and armed missions, hi-tech equipment are smuggled into the city.

The spies in Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions (Activision. Xbox/GameCube/PlayStation 2: 2002) could use a tank to hit their rival Yakuza members in a dock of virtual Hong Kong. 

The modified BMW 8Z smuggled to Hong Kong for James Bond in 007: Agent Under Fire (EA Games. PlayStation 2: 2001, GameCube/Xbox: 2002) 

The special equipment of the modified BMW 8Z smuggled to Hong Kong for James Bond in 007: Agent Under Fire (EA Games. PlayStation 2: 2001, GameCube/Xbox: 2002) : forward-mounted rockets, retractable machine guns, dual-side vent-deployed missiles, titanium armor, a rocket boost concealed behind the real license plate, and of course a refrigerated beverage holder 

The former MI6 agent will be provided weapon for the assassination of Dr. No. in Hong Kong in GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (EA Games. GameCube/PlayStation 2/Xbox: 2004, Nintendo DS: 2005)

One thing to note is that while most of these secret missions and operations are criminal in nature (among individual entities in society, or between individual entities and law enforcement organizations), there exists few that are political which means among governments.

The plot of Rouge Agent (Jorge Aires. Microsoft Windows: 2018). While it appears to be an cooperation of governments, the fact that the agents are also allowed to kill the agents from other governments, which is the hidden agendas of these governments to attempt to take control of the whole world.

Another thing is that video game Hong Kong is not only where secret agents work but also flee. The game Snowden Run 3D is based on the real case of Edward Snowden, a former CIA worker, who ran away all the way from US to Russia via Hong Kong.

Edward Snowden. Photo source: Wikipedia

Helping Edward Snowden to run through obstacles and collect items on Hong Kong streets in Snowden Run 3D (MTS Freestyle. Android/PC/Mac: 2013)

Secret agents and operations in actual Hong Kong

Game developers don't and can't come up with the above secret agents and operations from pure imagination. They are likely to be based on the stories they learn about secret agents and operations in actual Hong Kong.

For spying activities, 

• In 1960s, John Tsang Siu-fo (曾昭科), the highest-ranking Chinese member of the Hong Kong police force in colonial Hong Kong at that time, was believed to be a spy working for communist China. He was then deported after he was suspected (蕭少滔, 2013, June 25; Wikipedia, 2018, October 28).
• In 1997 when Hong Kong was handed over from Britain to China, quite a lot of spying devices were found in the various garrisons and Governor's House (now the Government House) when these facilities were taken over from the British colonial government (Chen, F., 2014, July 21).  
• In 2003, Cai Xiao-hong (蔡小洪), a communist Chinese official stationed in Hong Kong, was accused of transferring confidential Chinese government information to Britain during the handover period from 1990s to 2000s (Wikipedia, 2018, July 11).
• When Edward Snowden stopped by in Hong Kong in 2013, he claimed that his former employer, the US government, was secretly collecting info from communications around the world, including those in China and Hong Kong (Greenwald, G., MacAskill, E., & Poitras, L., 2013, June 11). 
• In 2017, Jerry Lee Chun Shing (李振成), a former CIA who later resided in Hong Kong, was accused of passing classified US national defense information to China, leading to the breakdown of the US spy network in China in the 2010s (Mordock, J., 2018, January 16).
• From time to time, there are news reports on police successfully taking down illegal businesses of the triads with the help of local undercover police officers (鄧栢良、楊婉婷, 2017, August 08). There are also conspiracy theories that CIA of the US and MI6 of Britain are operating branches in the US Consulate and British Consulate in Hong Kong (羅先亞, 2013, September 16). 

John Tsang Siu-fo. Photo source: 人过五十网 

Cai Xiao-hong. Photo source:  OPEN 開放網

Jerry Lee Chun Shing. Photo source: The New York Times

The Consulate General of the United State, Hong Kong and Macau on No. 26, Garden Road, Central, Hong Kong. Source: Wikipedia

The British Consulate-General, Hong Kong on 1 Supreme Court Road, Admiralty, Hong Kong. Source: Wikipedia

For secret operations, it is believed by some that certain illegal businesses are running in the background of actual Hong Kong.

• The U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed Hong Kong in "Tier 2 Watchlist" in 2017 (U.S. State Department's Office, 2017). 
• The U.S. Treasury Department claimed that certain commercial Hong Kong-based companies were disguises of underground businesses such as money laundering (Berlinger, J., 2018, November 06).  
• From time to time, we can hear news stories on smuggling sensitive technologies via Hong Kong (Griffiths, J., 2018, October 02).

Street chases, kidnappings, assault and assassinations are indeed quite rare in actual Hong Kong. Nonetheless, every time when a case exposes, the media headlines are occupied for several days.

• Lee Hysan (利希慎) was shot on a street in the Central district in Hong Kong. Some believed the assassination was due to the conflict he had with the Macau government over the right to sell opium in Macau (Wikipedia, 2018, October 21).
• In 1955, the Kashmir Princess aircraft departed from Hong Kong was bombed during its flight to Jakarta. Originally planned for carrying the Chinese premier Zhou Enlai (周恩來), it was widely believed that the bomb was placed on the plane in Hong Kong by some Taiwan special service organization. (Butt, R., 2010, January 2; Wikipedia, 2018, January 18)
• In 2002, businessman Hot-lit Harry Lam was shot dead while eating breakfast in the Hong Kong famous tea house and dim sum restaurant Luk Yu (陸羽茶室). The murderer was rumored to be due to a business disputes (Hu, Y., 2007, July 10).
• In December 2015, Lee Bo (李波) mysteriously disappeared from Hong Kong territory and later reappeared to be in mainland China. Many feared that he may have somehow be abducted by mainland China's public security bureau and brought to mainland China (Wikipedia, 2018, November 22).

Lee Hysan (right) with his son (left). Photo source: 立場新聞

A Lockheed Constellation similar to The Kashmir Princess. Photo source: Wikipedia

Zhou Enlai, the supposedly assassination target of  The Kashmir Princess bombing. He was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China serving from 1949 to 1976. Photo source: Wikipedia

Hot-lit Harry Lam. Photo source: 蘋果日報

Luk Yu. Photo source: Wikipedia

Lee Bo being interviewed by media in mainland China after his mysterious disappearance from Hong Kong and later reappearance in Mainland China. Photo source: 立場新聞

You may be surprised by the pieces of smuggled hi-tech equipment that Hong Kong Custom and Excise found in cargoes in the past years (杜宗熹, 2016, November 24):

• Year 2000: an armored vehicle from Italy, intended to go to mainland China. 
• Year 2004: 2800 real guns from Malaysia, intended to go to US. 
• Year 2006: a former Soviet-made MiG 29 fighter jet, from Ukraine, intended to go to US. 
• Year 2010: a tank from Saudi Arabia, intended to go to South Korea.

An armored vehicle found in Kwai Chung container port of Hong Kong in 2000. Source: Appledaily

The MiG 29 fighter jet found in Hong Kong container port in 2006. Source: 聯合影音網

What brings secret agents and secret operations in?

As for why real Hong Kong attracts secret agents and secret operations from all around the world, I believe it is due to the unique geographical location and political position of the city.

Unique geographical location

Excellently located at the heart of the Asia Pacific region, Hong Kong gradually becomes a logistic, trading and finance center after Britain took over the place and set up a free port in the 1840s. Attracted are not only legal businesses from all around the world, but also the underground ones, thereby the illegal operations that need to be kept secret. To collect information on these secret activities without catching targets' attention, sending spies out is the only way.

Always associated with businesses are disputes. Sometimes, people may decide that doing nasty or shady things to settle the disputes. Secret agent is the only way to do them without leaving obvious fingerprints.

As a popular transit hub with millions of visitors and goods transiting at Hong Kong every day, it is not surprising that some people try to smuggle through the city.

Unique political position

In 1949, mainland China was taken over by the communists. As a free port located right next to this key communist country and handling the in-and-out of thousands of mainland Chinese and foreigners every day, Hong Kong became a prime location that both the Communist block and the Western bloc shall station secret agents for information collection and possibly secret operations against each other.

After the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to mainland China, foreign political secret agents appear to remain intact. Quite a few people have expressed their discontent with it and would like to pass the national security law in the city as soon as possible so as to provide legal basis to handle these agents if needed. However, there are practical considerations such as the potential opposition from the citizens, and whether the legislation would provide an excuse for other countries to sanction mainland China for reducing the freedom enjoyed by the people in the city.

The website conveying the Hong Kong government's proposals to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law which expects Hong Kong to enact laws on its own to protect national security. The implementation is indefinitely postponed due to its a great controversy and a massive demonstration on 1 July 2003.

Nonetheless, it was the Chinese rule over Hong Kong that contributed to the dramatic flee of Edward Snowden. Hong Kong authorities said that Snowden had not been detained for the U.S. because the request had not fully complied with Hong Kong law, and there was no legal basis to prevent Snowden from leaving (Hong Kong Information Services Department, 2013, June 23; Hong Kong Information Services Department, 2013, June 24; Chen, F., 2014, July 21). The government would not have been that confident not to detain Edward and make such responses if the city had not been ruled by China who thought herself increasingly comparable with the Western bloc.

Final Remarks

There are good reasons for Hong Kong to be popular among secret agents and operations. The unique geographical location of Hong Kong contributes to the establishment of a free port and later a logistic, trading and financial center in the city, which has brought in local and international criminal organizations and hence illegal operations running secretly. Whether you wish to collect insider information about these secret operations, or do nasty things against your rivals, you need secret agents to get them done secretly. Meanwhile, the unique political status of Hong Kong in both British colonial era and Chinese rule era has also made the city a platform of dramatic political espionage activities between governments.

While many of us are complete outsiders of these ongoing espionage activities, we are all surprised and excited whenever any of them is exposed to public, and be reminded of potentially hundreds or even thousands of secret agents that are running in the background every day.

References

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