Lee made the comments in an interview with South China Morning Post as Chinese and US officials prepare to meet this week in London for more trade talks.
Lee said free port status, and the zero tariffs that go with it, create trade. He said this was an integral part of what made Hong Kong successful and it shouldn’t be killed off.
Referring to US President Donald Trump’s global trade war, Lee said “just because somebody has done something wrong, I won’t copy him and do wrong things.”
He also said the SAR government had contingency plans for a worst case scenario, although he declined to say what they were.
“I don’t want to talk about the worst case scenario because it may not happen,” Lee said. “I don’t want people to be alarmed.”
The Chief Executive also said the government would help businesses find new overseas markets.
