Hong Kong’s leader has warned foreign diplomats in the city not to engage in “destructive activities” after the new top US envoy Julie Eadeh reportedly invited opposition figures to her inaugural receptions.
Speaking at a regular press conference on Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee said foreign envoys in Hong Kong should respect China’s sovereignty and the city’s rule of law, following reports that former chief secretary Anson Chan and veteran democrat Emily Lau attended Eadeh’s welcome receptions earlier this month.
“Consuls… should perform their duties in Hong Kong in a manner befitting their diplomatic status and refrain from interfering in China’s internal affairs and Hong Kong affairs under any pretext or in any form,” Lee said when asked about Eadeh’s receptions at the press conference.
“I hope all consuls in Hong Kong will engage in constructive activities, not destructive activities,” he added.
Lee made his comments after Beijing’s top office overseeing Hong Kong affairs had been sharing articles from China-backed media outlets attacking Eadeh over the past week.
Most recently, on Saturday, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office reposted a commentary from Ta Kung Pao, criticising Eadeh’s meeting with Chan as lacking “the most basic diplomatic common sense” and warning the new US consul general not to cross “the red line.”
Eadeh arrived in the city in August to succeed Gregory May, who took the post as deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Beijing.
Upon her arrival last month, China’s foreign ministry warned Eadeh to respect the country’s sovereignty and Hong Kong’s rule of law.
During the pro-democracy protests and unrest in 2019, Eadeh, then political chief at the US consulate in Hong Kong, was photographed meeting with pro-democracy campaigners, including Joshua Wong and Nathan Law.
Wong is currently serving an almost five-year jail sentence under the Beijing-imposed national security law, while Law, who left Hong Kong shortly before the law was enacted in 2020, is now wanted by the national security police.
Pro-Beijing newspapers in the city have closely scrutinised the diplomat’s moves.
In a September 24 commentary, Wen Wei Po said that Lau and Chan were among the guests in Eadeh’s welcome receptions this month.
Lau, former chairperson of Hong Kong’s opposition Democratic Party, posted a photo of herself and the American diplomat on Facebook on September 22, with a caption: “Meeting the new Consul General Julie Eadeh at the United States Consulate welcome reception.”
Citing anonymous sources, other local media also reported that Chan, the city’s former No. 2 official and a prominent opposition figure, was present at one of Eadeh’s receptions – although the pair had not been seen together publicly.
“Engaging with a wide range of individuals across society is routine and consistent with standard diplomatic practice observed by representatives of governments around the world,” a spokesperson for the US consulate said last week, in response to HKFP’s enquiry about Chan’s attendance.
Pro-Beijing newspapers have accused Chan of foreign collusion and described her as an “anti-China element.”
Chan, seen as a vocal supporter of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, had met with top US officials. The last occasion was a March 2019 trip to Washington, during which she had a meeting with then vice president Mike Pence.
In late June 2020 – days before Beijing imposed the national security law – Chan, then 80, announced her decision to quit politics, citing age and family as reasons.
Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
