YouTube removes channel promoting future Hong Kong leader

Hong Kong – YouTube on Wednesday suspended a channel selling John Lee’s uncontested bid to be Hong Kong’s subsequent chief, saying the transfer was required by U.S. sanctions towards the ex-security chief.

Lee is anticipated to be appointed the enterprise hub’s new chief government by a committee of 1,500 Beijing loyalists subsequent month. He faces no rivals.

He has used YouTube, Fb and Instagram accounts to advertise his platform, though no concrete insurance policies have been revealed to date.

Requested about his elimination from YouTube, Lee condemned the U.S. sanctions as “unreasonable bullying” for his work defending China’s nationwide safety.

“The so-called sanctions … are supposed to impose strain and make me hesitate,” he informed reporters. “However their unreasonable strikes will solely reinforce my perception that I’ve been doing the precise factor.”

Lee mentioned whereas he was “disillusioned” with YouTube’s choice, his push to grow to be town’s subsequent chief wouldn’t be affected, including that he would begin visiting native communities after pandemic social-distancing guidelines are relaxed Thursday.

A former prime police officer who rose to grow to be Hong Kong’s safety czar, Lee was a key determine within the suppression of giant democracy protests three years in the past and the next Beijing-directed crackdown.

Mum or dad firm Google defended eradicating the channel, saying it was made in compliance with U.S. sanctions that ban American corporations and people from offering companies to focused officers.

“After evaluation and in step with these insurance policies, we terminated the Johnlee2022 YouTube channel,” an organization spokesperson mentioned.

Meta mentioned on Wednesday that Lee was capable of preserve Fb and Instagram accounts as a result of they have been “demonetized.”

“We’ve taken steps to forestall the usage of funds companies,” a Meta spokesperson mentioned.

Tam Yiu-chung, a prime adviser for Lee in addition to Hong Kong’s sole consultant to China’s prime lawmaking physique, additionally criticized YouTube’s choice.

“They merely mentioned we’ve violated their related insurance policies,” Tam mentioned. “We discover this utterly unreasonable.”

“They can’t cease us from disseminating the data for our marketing campaign and our candidate to the general public,” he added.

Lee was amongst 11 prime Hong Kong and Beijing officers sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2020 within the wake of China’s imposition of a sweeping safety regulation aimed toward snuffing out dissent within the monetary hub.

Different officers sanctioned embody outgoing Hong Kong chief Carrie Lam, former police chiefs Chris Tang and Stephen Lo, in addition to Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng.

Lam as soon as joked she needed to maintain piles of money at dwelling now that she was locked out of the worldwide banking system by the sanctions.

China deploys its “Nice Firewall” to dam residents from accessing Western social media platforms, however permits its officers, diplomats and state media to make use of them.

Hong Kong doesn’t at the moment limit entry to Western social media, however its popularity as a press freedom bastion has plunged within the wake of the present crackdown.