Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi to meet Hong Kong leader before mediation body launch

Top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi will arrive in Hong Kong on Thursday afternoon and meet the city’s leader ahead of a ceremony for the establishment of an intergovernmental mediation organisation in the financial hub, the Post has learned.

A source familiar with the itinerary said on Wednesday that Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu would greet Wang on Thursday afternoon and host a dinner in the evening.

On Friday morning, Wang is scheduled to attend the signing ceremony of the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organisation for Mediation at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Wang, who is China’s foreign minister and a member of the Politburo, the Communist Party’s principal decision-making body, is expected to meet more officials and legal representatives following the ceremony.

“After the full-day event [on Friday], Wang will join a dinner hosted by the Department of Justice,” a second source said, adding that the dinner would be attended by Lee, senior government officials, members of the Executive Council and representatives from the legal sector, among others.

Wang, who also serves as the deputy chair of the Central Leading Group on Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, will leave the city on Saturday, another source told the Post.