He Jiankui plans to conduct research at the territory despite criminal record for ‘illegal medical practices’ in China. Hong Kong is trying to lure international professionals in an attempt to recover economically from the pandemic and the loss of academics after the national security law was introduced in 2020. The number of academic staff who left Hong Kong’s public universities in 2021-22 was 30% more than the previous year, and the highest since the handover of the territory to China in 1997.