US should ‘fulfil its responsibility as host’ and let John Lee attend APEC meeting, says Hong Kong gov’t
Hong Kong Free Press
The US should “fulfil its duty as the host” and invite Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, the city’s government said on Friday after a report that Washington is set to bar Lee because of previous sanctions against him.
The Washington Post reported that the White House had decided to bar the chief executive from attending the event on November 15 and 16. It described the reported decision as the latest test of US President Joe Biden’s bid to reset relations with China.
The Hong Kong government said APEC had “standing rules and conventions for hosting meetings” – that leaders of its member economies were invited, and that the host was responsible for issuing invitations to all leaders and facilitating their attendance.
“…[T]he US is obliged to fulfill its basic responsibilities as a host to follow the rules and usual practice of APEC and invite the [chief executive] to attend the meeting in his capacity of the leader of Hong Kong, China,” the government statement read.
The statement was issued in response to media enquiries about the Post report, which cited three unidentified US officials, and did not confirm that Lee had been barred.
When asked by an HKFP reporter in May whether he was concerned about a possible ban, Lee said: “Hong Kong, China has been a member [of] APEC, and has been taking part in APEC conferences in accordance [with] APEC rules and conventions… So it is up to the organisers to act in accordance with these conventions.”
The chief executive was sanctioned by the Trump administration in 2020 when he was secretary for security, following the enactment of the Beijing-imposed national security law that June.
Lee was said by the US Treasury to have been “designated for being involved in coercing, arresting, detaining, or imprisoning individuals under the authority of the National Security Law, as well as being involved in its development, adoption, or implementation.”
In June 2020, Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution – bypassing the local legislature – following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts, which were broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure.
The move gave police sweeping new powers, alarming democrats, civil society groups and trade partners, as such laws have been used broadly to silence and punish dissidents in China. However, the authorities say it has restored stability and peace to the city.
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