A Welcome U.S. Reversal on Hong Kong
By The Editorial Board June 16, 2023 6:49 pm ET Hong Kong chief executive John Lee Photo: Michael Ho Wai Lee/Zuma Press Hong Kong officials take orders from Beijing while claiming that they still make independent decisions. They can’t have it both ways, as the U.S. State Department recognized this week in retracting an invitation for Hong Kong chief executive John Lee to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco in November. “No decisions about invitations have been made,” a State Department spokesperson said this week, and “an incorrect version of this answer was inadvertently transmitted to Congress.” Mr. Lee was sanctioned in 2020 for actions “undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy and restricting the freedom of expression or assembly of the citiz
Hong Kong chief executive John Lee
Photo: Michael Ho Wai Lee/Zuma Press
Hong Kong officials take orders from Beijing while claiming that they still make independent decisions. They can’t have it both ways, as the U.S. State Department recognized this week in retracting an invitation for Hong Kong chief executive John Lee to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco in November.
“No decisions about invitations have been made,” a State Department spokesperson said this week, and “an incorrect version of this answer was inadvertently transmitted to Congress.” Mr. Lee was sanctioned in 2020 for actions “undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy and restricting the freedom of expression or assembly of the citizens of Hong Kong.”
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in February that Mr. Lee would be invited to APEC because the purpose of the summit is to “foster regional economic dialogue” and create opportunities “for the United States and the PRC to work together to maintain global macro-economic stability.” But that’s the rub: If Hong Kong is now part of China, why should Mr. Lee have a separate invitation?
China promised Hong Kong autonomy for 50 years in a treaty with the United Kingdom. But over the past four years the city has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Chinese Communist Party. The city has done China’s bidding by imposing a repressive national-security law and arresting publisher Jimmy Lai and others who criticize Beijing. Mr. Lee has been Beijing’s chief local enforcer.
The State Department’s reversal followed a bipartisan letter last week from GOP Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Chris Smith and Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley and Rep. Jim McGovern asking that Mr. Lee not be invited to the conference. Mr. Lee works for Chinese President Xi Jinping, and he doesn’t deserve independent recognition.
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