Senior Hong Kong officials Eric Yip Chee-hang, executive director of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and lawmaker Johnny Ng Kit-chong have withdrawn as keynote speakers from the Bitcoin Asia 2025 conference, scheduled for August 28-29 at the Wan Chai Convention and Exhibition Centre. The South China Morning Post reported that their removal from the speaker list followed the July 8 announcement of Eric Trump's participation in the event.
Anonymous sources cited political sensitivities as the reason, with officials advised to avoid creating the impression that Hong Kong was cooperating with or flattering Donald Trump's administration amid ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions. Lau Siu-kai, a consultant to the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, stated, "Under the intense China-US relations, it is only natural to avoid any impression that Hong Kong is doing something that is helping or pleasing the US." Officially, Ng cited "family issues" and Yip a "business trip" as reasons for their absence.
Despite the withdrawals, Clarence Shen, an SFC manager responsible for fintech policy, will still speak at the conference. Hong Kong has been actively advancing its crypto regulatory framework, enacting the Stablecoin Ordinance on August 1 and releasing the "Policy Statement 2.0 on Digital Assets" in June. However, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has recently warned against excessive speculation in stablecoins, with CEO Eddie Yue noting "overly enthusiastic" market behavior in a July blog post.