Carrie Lam decries US interference in Hong Kong affairs, hopes for ‘return to normalcy’ regardless if Biden or Trump next president
- Chief executive takes aim at ‘unreasonable’ suspension of bilateral agreements, sanctions against herself and others at Beijing press briefing
- But Lam also notes large number of US businesses operating in the city in calling for a ‘mutually respectful’ relationship going forward
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor also criticised the US for its “unreasonable” move to suspend certain bilateral agreements while speaking at a press briefing in Beijing – part of her current tour of mainland government agencies.
“For the past year or so, the American administration and officials have been repeatedly interfering with the internal affairs of the People’s Republic of China and the internal affairs of Hong Kong. That is totally unreasonable and cannot be justified in international relations,” Lam said.
“Worse still, they have chosen to unilaterally suspend some bilateral agreements. They have unreasonably imposed sanctions on government officials, including myself,” she added.
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The chief executive emphasised that Hong Kong shares a strong relationship with the US, considering the large number of US companies and more than 80,000 Americans living and working in the city.
Regardless of the election results – be it Trump or Democratic challenger Joe Biden – Lam said she hoped for the “solid and mutually respectful relationship” between the US and Hong Kong to continue.
“I don’t want to get myself involved in American politics. To whatever administration in the United States, I would like to make this appeal – that every country, every government should respect the jurisdiction of other countries and other territories,” she said.
Before Lam entered the meeting room, Han and Beijing officials, including Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, were heard chatting about Trump and the possibility of court cases in the US over the presidential election.
In a press briefing on Friday, Lam was asked if she discussed with Han how the presidential election would affect Hong Kong.
“No, we did not discuss that. We’re more concerned about how Hong Kong can integrate into the nation’s development plans,” she answered.
Lam was expected to travel to Guangzhou later in the day to meet the leaders of Guangdong province and Shenzhen on Saturday.
The chief executive led a delegation of senior officials to Beijing on Tuesday to discuss economic recovery policies for the city with mainland ministries. Her trip to the capital concluded with Friday morning’s sit-down with Han, the state leader in charge of Hong Kong affairs.
Details of the trip would be revealed during her annual policy address scheduled for the end of this month, Lam said.
