The withdrawals come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing over trade, technology and other issues
Published Thu, Aug 28, 2025 · 12:31 PM
[HONG KONG] A Hong Kong official and a lawmaker have withdrawn from a Bitcoin Asia conference in the city following advice not to engage with Eric Trump, son of US President Donald Trump, the South China Morning Post reported.
Eric Yip, an executive director at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and lawmaker Johnny Ng were removed from the list of speakers for the Aug 28 to 29 forum after receiving a request to skip it that features the American businessman, the Hong Kong newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
An archived version of the event webpage on Jul 14 shows both officials as speakers. Their names are gone from the current list.
The SFC, the Hong Kong government and Ng did not immediately respond to a request for comment e-mailed outside working hours.
The withdrawals come amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing over trade, technology and other issues. The city is increasingly swept up in the crossfire of Trump’s trade war, facing tariffs this year that it was previously exempt during Trump’s first term. The apparent avoidance underscores potential complications for the city’s push to become Asia’s crypto hub.
Both gave personal reasons for their absence, according to the South China Morning Post. The SFC said that Yip cannott attend due to a business trip, while Ng said that he withdrew for family reasons, the newspaper said.
Clarence Shen, a manager of the SFC who helps make policy on fintech matters, is now listed as a speaker.
The conference features Eric Trump, executive vice-president of the Trump Organization. He leads some US cryptocurrency ventures and is described by the event organiser as “one of the most vocal advocates of his father and the Make America Great Again movement”. BLOOMBERG
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