Law and order in spotlight as former security chief set to become Hong Kong's new leader

Record ID: 1671133

  • Title: Law and order in spotlight as former security chief set to become Hong Kong's new leader
  • Date: 3rd May 2022
  • Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (FILE - JULY 16, 2020) (REUTERS) SIGN READING (English and Chinese): “CENTRAL GOVERNMENT OFFICES” CHINESE AND HONG KONG FLAGS FLYING CHINESE EMBLEM SEEN BEHIND FENCE
  • Embargoed: 17th May 2022 01:46
  • Keywords: China Hong Kong elections finance freedom of speech human rights national security law
  • Location: HONG KONG, BEIJING, CHINA / NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES
  • City: HONG KONG, BEIJING, CHINA / NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES
  • Country: Hong Kong
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Fundamental Rights/Civil Liberties,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA007403026042022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: FOR B-ROLL OF TIMELINE OF HONG KONG POLITICS, PLEASE LOOK AT EDIT 0080-HONG KONG-ELECTION/TIMELINE PUBLISHED ON MAY 1, 2022
    When Hong Kong selects its new leader on May 8 there will be only one candidate - the city’s former deputy leader and former security official John Lee.
    Since 1997, there have been four chief executives, all of whom have struggled to balance the democratic aspirations of some residents with the vision of China's Communist Party leaders.
    The current election will be the first time since the city’s return to Chinese rule with only one candidate in the running. The new chief executive takes office on July 1.
    John Lee, who announced his intention to run for the city’s top job on April 6th this year, only revealed his policy platform three weeks later, revealing on Friday (April 29) that he intended to "start a new chapter for Hong Kong". His policy proposals include enhancing the city's governance, increasing the housing supply, and maintaining its international status.
    Lee, who started his career as a policeman and has been closely involved with the implementation of a new security law introduced in 2020, was also Hong Kong’s top security official during the mass pro-democracy protests of 2019.
    According to political scientist and former legislator Kenneth Chan, an associate professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, Beijing's de facto choice of Lee as the city’s new leader reflects a desire to further tighten the city’s security regime.
    “Mr. Lee’s background, as a former policeman, security bureau chief and so on, seems to fit the bill pretty well. Although other than that, people in Hong Kong hardly know him, his ideas, or his platforms,” Chan said.
    Hong Kong selects a leader every five years under a process that Beijing oversees behind the scenes.
    The city's 7.4 million people have no say in who leads them. City leaders are chosen in a vote by an election committee stacked with pro-Beijing loyalists, ensuring that Beijing approves the decision.
    The election was initially scheduled for March but was postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak in which more than one million people have been infected.
    In a major overhaul of Hong Kong's electoral system last year to meet Beijing's demands that only "patriots" run the city, the committee was enlarged to 1,500 from 1,200 members.
    The nomination process was also tightened, with all candidates requiring committee nominations and to undergo a subsequent screening process.
    Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, provides for the eventual implementation of universal suffrage for the territory is an eventual goal, but discontent over the electoral system has contributed to the city's massive protest movements in both 2014 and 2019.
    The Hong Kong government has repeatedly said that rights and protections, including freedom of speech, are protected by a new national security law that went into effect in 2020, and refers to the current electoral arrangements as an improvement over previous arrangements.
    Jerome Cohen, an emeritus professor at the New York University School of Law and an internationally renowned expert on Chinese politics, said he expected Hong Kong’s integration with the security system in mainland China to be strengthened further under Lee’s administration.
    “Hong Kong will be a quiet place and many people will welcome it, even the majority wouldn't prefer it,” Cohen said.
    Hong Kong residents speaking to Reuters said many young people now feel disconnected from the political process, and that public interest in the new change of leadership was muted.
    "I don't think the atmosphere will be very good, or that people will be very active into any kind of election, since we don't have the ability or the option to choose our leaders," said Linus Ng, a 22-year-old local resident.
    (Production: Aleksander Solum)
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