HK finance minister to Apec meeting in US

HONG Kong’s finance minister will attend a major economic summit in the US in place of the city’s leader John Lee.

Hong Kong received the invite for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting in San Francisco next month and has already responded that Lee will not be present due to “scheduling issues,” according to a government statement on Tuesday (Oct 31). Financial Secretary Paul Chan will go instead, it said.

In July, the Washington Post reported that Lee, who is under US sanctions for his role in Hong Kong’s crackdown on civil liberties, would be blocked from attending the meeting. Lee said in September he had yet to receive an invite.

Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are likely to meet at the Apec summit, with US and Chinese officials have agreed in principle on a meeting, Bloomberg News reported last week.

The two world leaders haven’t spoken since they last met at the Group of 20 summit in Bali, Indonesia almost a year ago. Officials from the world’s two largest economies have been working for months to set up a leaders’ sit-down around the Apec summit. BLOOMBERG