Bipartisan delegation to offer competing visions of Hong Kong at forum with US officials in San Francisco this week
- World Affairs Council event the first such trip since US President Donald Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act into law
- Exco member Horace Cheung says he wants to offer a ‘true picture’ of city’s human rights situation amid protests
Four members of Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s Executive Council are expected to defend the city’s handling of the months-long anti-government protests, while three pan-democrats will push for more details on the mechanisms of the new legislation, which raises the spectre of sanctions for officials deemed responsible for human rights violations.
Exco convenor Bernard Chan and lawmakers Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan and Martin Liao Cheung-kong will make the trip alongside opposition lawmakers Jeremy Tam Man-ho, Kenneth Leung and Charles Mok.
The group will present their competing visions of Hong Kong to senior members of the US’ executive and legislative branches at a Thursday to Sunday World Affairs Council forum in San Francisco, according to the US Consulate General’s spokesman. The State Department is providing financial support for the trip.
The objective is to “deepen the mutual understanding and exchange that has long been a hallmark of US-Hong Kong ties”, the spokesman said on Tuesday, adding a list of participants from the US side was pending.