Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

China's Foreign Ministry on Friday slammed the US government's decision to bar Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) John Lee Ka-chiu from attending a major economic summit in the US later this year, urging the US side to rectify its mistake by removing sanctions on Lee and inviting him to attend the meeting. 

The White House has decided that it will not invite Lee to attend the annual summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders in the US city of San Francisco in November, the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed US officials. The report pointed to US sanctions imposed on Lee and other officials in the HKSAR and on the Chinese mainland. 

Asked about the reports at a regular press briefing on Friday, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, slammed both the US sanctions on and the decision to bar the HKSAR chief executive. 

The US has imposed illegal and unreasonable sanctions on Chinese personnel, including Chief Executive Lee, which is a bullying act that seriously violates the basic norms of international relations, Mao said, stressing that by using this as an excuse to refuse to invite the HKSAR chief executive to attend the APEC meeting in the US, Washington is compounding the error, flagrantly violates APEC rules and breaks its promise as the host of the meeting.

"China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this, and has lodged solemn representations. We urge the US side to immediately correct its wrongdoing," Mao said, urging the US to lift the sanctions on Lee and other HKSAR officials, fulfill its responsibility as the host of the APEC, invite all representatives of APEC members including Lee to attend the meeting, and stop undermining APEC unity and cooperation. 

The spokesperson further said that the Chinese side will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the HKSAR in attending the APEC meeting. 

Also on Friday, the HKSAR government called on the US to invite Lee to attend the meeting in his capacity as leader of Hong Kong, China, according to an official statement.

"The US is obliged to follow the rules and usual practice of [APEC] forum as host of an upcoming Economic Leaders' Meeting, by inviting the [HKSAR] Chief Executive to attend," the statement read, adding that APEC meetings do not belong to any country or economy.

The Washington Post report on Thursday also cited Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington as saying that "we express our strong opposition" to the US move, which "violates APEC rules… and breaks the commitments made by the US." 

Global Times