- Title: Timeline of Hong Kong politics ahead of Chief Executive election on May 8
- Date: 1st May 2022
- Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (FILE - FEBRUARY 17, 2022) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) VARIOUS OF HOSPITAL'S OUTDOOR HOLDING AREA FOR COVID PATIENTS
- Embargoed: 15th May 2022 03:49
- Keywords: China Hong Kong Occupy Sino-British Joint Declaration Umbrella anniversary extradition handover national security one country protests two systems
- Location: HONG KONG, BEIJING, SHENZHEN, CHINA
- City: HONG KONG, BEIJING, SHENZHEN, CHINA
- Country: Hong Kong
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00H008001011970RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS PROFANITY; PART AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING
Key moments in the political history of Hong Kong, a former British colony that has been China's freest and most international city. The global financial hub will choose its new chief executive on Sunday (May 8) in polls where John Lee, a former security official, is the only candidate. City leaders are selected with Beijing's tacit approval.
Current leader Carrie Lam, who has governed the city through the unprecedented upheaval of anti-government protests and COVID-19, said she will not seek a second five-year term of office.
Hong Kong's future leader, former police officer John Lee, is expected to take up office on July 1, and be the first security official to run the global financial hub.
Hong Kong selects a leader every five years under a process that Beijing oversees behind the scenes. Since the city reverted from British to Chinese rule in 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 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. In a major overhaul of Hong Kong's electoral system last year to meet Beijing's demands that only "patriots" run the city, this committee was enlarged from 1,200 to 1,500 members. Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, states that universal suffrage for all residents is an "ultimate aim" for choosing the leader.
China's reluctance to advance democratic reforms has long been a lightning rod for the city's opposition democrats and liberal-minded citizens, stoking protest movements including the "Umbrella Revolution" in 2014 and pro-democracy protests in 2019.
After the recent electoral overhaul, many observers say China's promise to allow full democracy at some point in future will never be kept.
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