HKW welcomes confirmation from the Biden Administration that HK CE John Lee will not attend the APEC Summit

Today, the Biden Administration confirmed that sanctioned Hong Kong Chief Executive, John Lee, will not be invited to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, which will be hosted by the USA this fall.

This follows speculation that the Biden Administration may have considered issuing a sanctions waiver for John Lee to allow him to attend the summit.

On 30 June 2023, Hong Kong Watch joined with 52 other civil society organisations to President Biden opposing any decision to allow Hong Kong’s Chief Executive to attend the summit.

The decision by the Biden Administration follows a consistent policy pattern where sanctioned officials, those with poor human rights records, or who have not been democratically elected are not invited to summits hosted by the USA. When the US hosted the Summit for the Americas last year, the leaders of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, were not invited for this very reason.

Commenting on the confirmation from the Biden Administration, Sam Goodman, Hong Kong Watch’s Director of Policy, said:

“We welcome the clarification from the Biden Administration that sanctioned Hong Kong Chief Executive, John Lee, will not be invited to the APEC summit later this year.

This decision is in line with stated US policy that officials who are sanctioned, have poor human rights records, or have not been democratically elected are not invited to summits. John Lee meets the criteria for all three of these areas.

Given that the Hong Kong Government is no longer autonomous as a result of the National Security Law, the US and likeminded countries should consider whether it deserves a seat at future bilateral and multilateral summits and negotiations.”