Chief executive denies US accusation of feigning confusion over Snowden's name
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying on Thursday rejected the US government accusation that the city's officials had feigned confusion over Edward Snowden’s name as a pretext for not detaining the intelligence leaker before he departed to Russia.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying on Thursday rejected the US government accusation that the city's officials had feigned confusion over Edward Snowden’s name as a pretext for not detaining the intelligence leaker before he departed to Russia.
A US Justice Department spokeswoman earlier on Thursday said Hong Kong was simply trying to create a pretext when it asked the US for a clarification of Snowden’s middle name.
The spokeswoman said that because Snowden’s image was widely available through news outlets, Hong Kong’s request for information was not genuine.
It was not a pretext at all. We were just following the laws of Hong Kong
Leung said the US accusation was not true.
“It was not a pretext at all. We were just following the laws of Hong Kong,” he said during a media session on Thursday afternoon.
The chief executive said there was a real need to determine certain facts about Snowden with the US authorities when its request for his arrest was being processed.
Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung on Tuesday said the US had failed to give Snowden’s passport number and confirm his full name, making it impossible for the city to issue an arrest warrant.