China blamed for New Zealand snub of high-profile Hong Kong duo critical of Beijing
Former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang and Democratic Party founding leader Martin Lee Chu-ming had a meeting with the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Bill English cancelled
China has been accused of pressuring leading politicians in New Zealand and Australia to cancel meetings with two high-profile Hong Kong critics of Beijing who claim its growing interference places the city’s future under the “one country, two systems” policy in jeopardy.
Chan, convenor of the Hong Kong 2020 think tank, said yesterday that the meeting – set for 8am on Tuesday in Wellington – was cancelled by email from English’s office at 9.40pm the night before.
During the first part of their overseas trip in Australia, political figures told her they too were contacted by Chinese officials over the planned meetings with Lee and herself, she added.
Also yesterday, New Zealand foreign affairs shadow spokesman David Shearer, who was due to meet the pair during their visit – told newspaper The New Zealand Herald that he was contacted by a “political adviser” from the Chinese embassy who “voiced concerns” about his planned meeting with Chan and Lee.
Shearer is expected to go ahead with a meeting with Lee, who is still in New Zealand, next week.
Now back in Hong Kong, Chan said attempts to reschedule the meeting were met with a “firm no”. She suggested pressure from Beijing had led to the scrapping of the meeting in which she and Lee had planned to present an update of the situation in Hong Kong and outline their concerns over what they see as growing interference by Beijing.
“I am disappointed that on a trip to New Zealand – a country which backed the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and has long and deep connections to Hong Kong on many levels – we were unable to meet anyone from the government,” she said.
“You would think that a liberal democratic country would – rather than bow to pressure from Beijing – be interested to hear what we have to say about serious issues facing Hong Kong today.”
Chan added that the Australian leg of their trip, where they met Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and testified in front of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, was markedly different as political leaders had given their “firm and free” backing for Hong Kong to retain wide-ranging autonomy.
In an emailed statement to the media, English said he cancelled the meeting after he was advised it was “diplomatically sensitive”.
“This is the first time it’s happened to me,” Martin Lee said.
Additional reporting by Reuters
