CE Hopes Next US President 'won't Suppress HK'

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday that she hopes whoever wins the presidential election in the United States will not "suppress Hong Kong out of political reasons".

Lam, who is among 11 Hong Kong and mainland officials hit with sanctions by Washington in light of the national security law, said the SAR has been adversely affected by deteriorating US-China relations over the past year.

She told the media before heading into this week's Executive Council meeting that it will be up to the next president to evaluate the China-US relationship and Hong Kong's importance in this.

But the CE said she hopes the president will consider US ties with Hong Kong "comprehensively".

"We often say the relation between Hong Kong and the US, in different aspects, is a long-term and mutually beneficial one... Of course, looking at the figures, the US enjoys a trade surplus [with Hong Kong]. The American investment banks or financial organisations also get a good share if Hong Kong's financial sector prospers," she said.

"So I hope the new US government will consider its ties with Hong Kong comprehensively, including the interests of many US companies in Hong Kong and the workers they employ, and will not cause an unreasonable impact to Hong Kong arbitrarily, because of political suppression."