The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) has refused to lease its venue to pro-democracy Cantopop singer Anthony Wong, the singer said last Friday.

The singer said he was initially notified in January that his application to book a venue at the HKCEC was successful.

However, the company managing the venue told the singer that they could not proceed with the event, without giving any reason, according to a letter Wong received last Thursday.

A spokesperson from the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (Management) Limited told HKFP on Sunday that the company “does not comment on details of any individual event.”

The singer, who was a vocal supporter of the 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement and the 2019 extradition bill protests, said that he and his team were “calm” when they received the cancellation notice.

“However, I think that the HKCEC management owes Hong Kong citizens an open explanation as to why the right of a citizen – who loves Hong Kong – to perform for other Hongkongers has been taken away,” the singer’s post read.

Wong also apologised to people who bought flight tickets for the concert, and said that the team was still thinking about their next steps.