[flagged]
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/01/edward-snowden...
Notes:
* Landed in Moscow, went to the transit zone which is used to change flights
* Applied for asylum to Cuba, Ecuador and Venezuela.
* Left HK due to agreements and good connections to the US (not that HK is China, but it would have been easier to go to China from HK than to Russia if thats the goal).
Additionally: In an October 2014 interview with The Nation magazine, Snowden reiterated that he had originally intended to travel to Latin America: "A lot of people are still unaware that I never intended to end up in Russia."