He probably went to China, not because he thinks they are good guys, but because they are another super power that won’t bow to the US.
Bingo.
Any European country that is a member of NATO is going to hand him over immediately. So will Australia, NZ, Japan and S. Korea. They all have intel treaties with the US that, in part, cover situations like this.
So he’s left with:
- Sweden. Not a sure bet.
- Switzerland. Not a sure bet, and since the agreement over Swiss banking extradition, who knows what else is in that agreement.
- African countries. Totally useless. Worse than useless.
- The PRC.
- Russia.
- India. A wild card.
- Muslim countries. Yea, let’s not even go there.
Of all the options left, going to Hong Kong is about the best option on the list. Lots of people there speak English. They have a large media concentration (in both English and Chinese). They have a very good ‘net infrastructure. And, as you point out, he’s basically on the doorstep of a up-and-coming world player.