Exclusive | Incoming Hong Kong leader John Lee promises more aggressive approach to countering ‘fearmongering and badmouthing’ by city’s critics
- Incoming chief executive will attend November’s Apec summit in Bangkok despite being under US sanctions
- Lee also stresses need for incoming government to be ‘protective’ and ‘go on the offensive’ at the same time
Hong Kong leader-in-waiting John Lee Ka-chiu has promised to adopt a more aggressive approach to countering “fearmongering and badmouthing” by critics of the city, insisting that being sanctioned himself by the United States would not stop him from promoting the city overseas.
In an exclusive interview with the Post ahead of his swearing-in as chief executive on July 1, Lee revealed he would attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Bangkok this November for a start.
“This is a forum which the chief executive has been attending [in the past]. So it is an Apec activity … and we are a member, so I would be going,” he said, referring to the in-person Apec leader’s meeting scheduled this year. “That would be my goal.”
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Founded in 1989, Apec operates on the basis of non-binding and consensus-based cooperation to discuss free trade and economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. The practice of an annual leaders’ meeting was established in 1993 by then-US president Bill Clinton.
More than 20 economies, including Hong Kong, mainland China and the United States, are members of Apec, which accounts for about 60 per cent of the world’s total gross domestic product and about 50 per cent of global trade.
It used to be normal practice for China’s president to meet Hong Kong’s chief executive on the sidelines of the annual Apec summits.
Lee’s predecessor, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, last attended the 2018 Apec summit in Papua New Guinea. The one scheduled for the following year was cancelled because of social unrest in Chile, and the coronavirus pandemic prevented the annual sessions for the last two years.
