Deputy Secretary of State Nominee: No Invitation Extended to Hong Kong Leader John Lee for APEC

“We made clear to both China and Hong Kong authorities that he would not be welcome in San Francisco, and indeed he would need to be sending a second,”

Kurt Campbell (C) as US National Security Council's Indo-Pacific coordinator leaves after a meeting with the Solomon Islands government in Honiara on April 22, 2022. Mavis Podocolo/AFP via Getty Images

A dispute emerged over whether Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu was ever given approval to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which ran from Nov. 11 to Nov. 17 in San Francisco.

Kurt Campbell, U.S. President Joe Biden’s nominee for deputy secretary of state clarified that the U.S. administration did not invite Lee to the APEC forum.