Hong Kong’s sanction-hit John Lee to skip APEC forum in US over ‘scheduling,’ following campaign to bar him
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong leader John Lee will not attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco this month owing to “scheduling issues,” a government spokesperson said on Tuesday.
It follows a campaign to bar the chief executive from the event, and reports the White House snubbed him, due to the US sanctions Lee faces over his role the 2019 protest crackdown.
The US senior official for APEC, Matt Murray, told US-backed Voice of America on Monday that Washington had to follow APEC rules, while also navigating US law.
See also: US should ‘fulfil its responsibility as host’ and let John Lee attend APEC meeting, says gov’t
“There are a couple of cases where APEC leaders have been sanctioned here in the United States. And so, we have to work through those situations to make sure that they have appropriate representation in San Francisco,” Murray said.
The Hong Kong spokesperson said that the government would attend, represented by the finance chief.
“The HKSAR Government had already replied that, due to scheduling issues, the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, would not be able to attend the meeting to represent Hong Kong, China in person, and that the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, would attend the meeting on behalf of the Chief Executive,” the statement said.
Lee ‘waiting for the invitation’ last month
In July, the Washington Post reported that the White House had decided to bar the chief executive from attending the gathering on November 15 and 16. It described the apparent decision as the latest test of US President Joe Biden’s bid to reset relations with China.
In response, on July 28, a government spokesperson said that “[T]he US is obliged to fulfil 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.”
On September 26, Lee told reporters that he was still awaiting an invite: “I am still waiting for the invitation letter to be sent to me… We will attend in accordance with standard protocol.”
Lee was one of multiple Chinese officials hit by US sanctions in 2020 for their alleged role in cracking down on political freedoms in the city.
At the time, Lee said he would “laugh off” such sanctions, as they had no effect in the city, though he has also described them as “very barbaric.”
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