Hong Kong leader John Lee was personally invited to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in San Francisco this month, a government spokesperson said on Wednesday, despite reports the US had sought to bar him.
Lee cited “scheduling issues” for skipping the economic gathering on November 15 and 16, a government spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The news came after a campaign to bar the chief executive from the event, and reports the White House planned to snub him. Lee has been placed under US sanctions over his role in the 2019 protest crackdown.
On Monday, the US senior official for APEC, Matt Murray, told US-backed Voice of America: “There are a couple of cases where APEC leaders have been sanctioned here in the United States. And so, we have to work through those situations to make sure that they have appropriate representation in San Francisco.”
Lee is scheduled to speak at a Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce event on November 16.
HKFP has reached out to APEC and the US consulate for comment.
Lee ‘waiting for the invitation’ last month
In July, the Washington Post reported that the White House had decided to bar the chief executive from attending the forum. In response, on July 28, a government spokesperson said that “[T]he US is obliged to fulfil its basic responsibilities as a host to follow the rules and usual practice of APEC and invite the [chief executive] to attend the meeting in his capacity of the leader of Hong Kong, China.”
On September 26, Lee told reporters that he was still awaiting an invite: “I am still waiting for the invitation letter to be sent to me… We will attend in accordance with standard protocol.”
Lee was one of multiple Chinese officials hit by US sanctions in 2020 for their alleged role in cracking down on political freedoms in the city.
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