US senator Ted Cruz accuses Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam of cancelling meeting with him out of ‘weakness’ and ‘fear’ of anti-government protesters

Ted Cruz said he had been looking forward to talks with chief executive but was told when he landed in the city that the meeting had been cancelled

Republican senator also said he had met ‘non-violent protest leaders’ and impressed upon them the need to shun violence

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Ted Cruz was dressed in black to ‘express solidarity with protesters’. Photo: Yonden Lhatoo

Published: 10:03pm, 12 Oct 2019Updated: 2:06am, 13 Oct 2019

One of the United States’ strongest critics of China, Republican senator Ted Cruz, has accused Hong Kong’s leader of cancelling a scheduled meeting with him out of “weakness” and “fear” of anti-government protesters.

On a brief visit to Hong Kong on Saturday, Cruz said he had met “non-violent protest leaders” and impressed upon them the need to shun violence, but insisted he himself had never heard, or seen evidence, of rioting, vandalism and mob attacks over more than four months of civil unrest in the city.

Speaking to reporters at the US consul-general’s residence on The Peak, Cruz was dressed in black to “express solidarity with the protesters”.

He said he had been looking forward to talks with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in the afternoon, but was informed when he landed in the morning that the meeting had been cancelled.

“Prior to the meeting being cancelled, Ms Lam’s office asked that I agree to keep everything said in the meeting secret and not inform the press of anything she had to say,” Cruz said.

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