Sanctioned Hong Kong leader John Lee’s ‘schedule’ prevents him from going to San Francisco for Apec but excuse is to avoid creating another friction point in China-US ties, say analysts
- Chief Executive John Lee had earlier appealed to Washington to play fair and allow him to join the summit
- Government statement issued on Tuesday evening ended months of speculation on whether Lee would be able to attend the summit
A statement from the Hong Kong government attributing Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s no-show to his schedule rather than the sanctions he faced from the United States prompted analysts to comment that the stance was the best way out of a delicate situation given the need to stabilise China-US relations.
Hong Kong would not have helped to improve the optics of the relationship if it had escalated the matter or had sounded belligerent about not being allowed to attend, observers added, weighing in on America’s previously stated position that it could not allow those facing sanctions to enter its territory.
The statement issued on Tuesday evening ended months of speculation on whether Lee would be able to attend the summit given that he was among 11 officials sanctioned by the US for their role in the imposition of the national security law in June 2020.
A Hong Kong government spokesman on Tuesday said Hong Kong had received an invitation from the host economy to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, to be held from November 15 to 17, in the US.
“The HKSAR government had already replied that, due to scheduling issues, the chief executive, Mr John Lee, would not be able to attend the meeting to represent Hong Kong, China in person,” the spokesman said.
“The financial secretary, Mr Paul Chan [Mo-po], would attend the meeting on behalf of the chief executive.”