Hong Kong’s secretary for innovation, technology and industry, Sun Dong, has abruptly cancelled a six-day official visit to the United States just hours after the trip had been formally announced.
The Hong Kong government issued a one-sentence statement at 4.20 pm yesterday, confirming that Sun had called off the visit, multiple media outlets have reported. This followed an initial statement released at noon that announced the business trip to Las Vegas and California.
Sun, who is the first Hong Kong minister with a mainland Chinese background, was due to start his trip yesterday and was scheduled to return to Hong Kong on 11 January.
According to the earlier statement, the secretary’s itinerary included attending the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026 in Las Vegas. His goal was to “promote Hong Kong’s advantages as an international innovation and technology (I&T) centre” by leading a delegation of 61 enterprises – the city’s largest-ever – to the major trade show.
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He was also scheduled to travel to California, with plans to attend a tech networking reception and a New Year gathering for Hong Kong community members in San Francisco, both organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office.
Further to this, Sun planned to visit a university and local technology enterprises in Silicon Valley to strengthen cooperation with the US innovation sector.
In response to inquiries about the sudden change in plans, the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau stated that the government has been “dynamically assessing the appropriateness of officials’ overseas visits” and took the decision to cancel “after evaluation.”
However, the government provided no clear explanation for why the business trip was scrapped so soon after its initial public announcement.
