GERRY MULLANY The American consul general here had some pointed words on Thursday for Hong Kong and the Chinese authorities,saying that their decision to let the former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden flee to Moscow last month had damaged the very high level of trust between Hong Kong and the US,and that repairing the relationship would take time. The consul general,Stephen M Young,who will leave his post by the end of the month,said in departing remarks to reporters that the Snowden case raised serious questions about the legal autonomy Hong Kong is supposed to hold under the agreement by which Britain handed its former colony over to mainland China in 1997. There was a China factor here, he said in suggesting that the Chinese government steered Hong Kong into letting Snowden flee to Russia on June 23. China let us down. Until the Snowden episode,Hong Kong had warm relations with the US. But Young said that trust had been eroded by Snowdens departure,noting that this sequence of events had probably left a negative imprint in the minds of American Presidents and Secretaries of State. It will take some time to repair the damage there, he said. We were frankly disappointed by the way our colleagues here in Hong Kong handled the situation. NYT
