Call for US to lift sanctions on Hong Kong leader John Lee ahead of Apec summit

Chinese expert says ‘concrete actions’ are needed to improve ties between Beijing and Washington
Lee was one of 11 officials sanctioned in 2020 for their roles in enforcing the city’s national security law

US-China relations

William Zheng

Published: 9:00pm, 10 May 2023

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A mainland Chinese expert on Hong Kong affairs has called on Washington to lift sanctions on the city’s leader ahead of the Apec summit in November, saying it would be a concrete step to improve US-China ties.

Zhang Jian, head of the Hong Kong and Macau research office at the Shanghai Institutes of International Studies, made the remarks on Tuesday.

It was a day after Foreign Minister Qin Gang met United States ambassador Nicholas Burns in Beijing – Qin’s first meeting with an American official since the US shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon in February.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang meets US ambassador Nicholas Burns in Beijing on Monday. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Qin told Burns that the top priority for the two powers was to prevent a “downward spiral” in relations and avoid further incidents. Burns said in a tweet afterwards that they had discussed challenges in the relationship and the need to stabilise ties and expand high-level communication.

Zhang noted there had been more interaction between Chinese and US diplomats recently, and said the US ambassador’s remarks suggested the two sides could be making progress on a planned China visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The trip was postponed after the Chinese balloon flew over the US.

He said the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ forum in San Francisco – which Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu are supposed to attend – was likely to be part of the agenda for Blinken’s trip.

“Besides all the meetings, China is waiting for the US to act. What’s the point of all the talks if the US does not follow up with concrete actions? They have to do something to improve the Sino-US relationship,” Zhang said after giving a talk on Washington’s Hong Kong policy at the University of Hong Kong on Tuesday.

“I think lifting the sanctions on the Hong Kong chief executive and inviting him to this year’s Apec meeting would be a very good start,” he added.

Zhang Jian, an expert on Hong Kong affairs, said the city was likely to remain a contentious point between Beijing and Washington. Photo: William Zheng

The US government slapped economic sanctions on Lee – then security minister – and 10 other Hong Kong and mainland Chinese officials in August 2020 for their roles in what Washington called “undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy” by enforcing the city’s sweeping national security law. The controversial law had been imposed on the city by Beijing months earlier.

Lee attended the last Apec gathering, in Bangkok in November, and has said he also planned to attend the next summit, hosted by the US.

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Zhang said Hong Kong was likely to remain a contentious point between Beijing and Washington, especially during “critical moments in the high-profile cases being tried under Hong Kong’s national security law”.

He expected Beijing to stand “very firm” on such cases.

Zhang is a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, a semi-official think tank, and was part of a team that defended Beijing’s position on Hong Kong at the UN Human Rights Council in September 2019.