China-backed John Lee replaces Carrie Lam as new Hong Kong leader

Read Time:3 Minute, 13 Second

Hong Kong officially confirmed John Lee as the next peak leader after the undeniable election, strengthening the era of Chinese political control which was more directly over the free financial center.

Lee, 64, won 1,416 votes from around 1,460 voters on Sunday, according to officers back at the election site, the Hong Kong Convention and the exhibition center. It’s more than the simple majority needed to confirm his appointment. He will start a five -year term as the executive chief on July 1, replacing Carrie Lam, who last month announced his decision not to run for nomination.

Lee, who previously served as Head of Administration Secretary, Position No. 2 cities, is the only candidate submitted to the Election Committee reformed by Beijing in 2021 to pile up more pro-pecampy members. The vote count was completed in one hour on Sunday, with almost 98% of the number of voters.

Sunday voting was the first city held in more than two decades without at least a nominal contest, Chinese political improvement in the city last year made everything impossible for opposition candidates to compete and the support of the Communist Party for Lee gave his victory Fait Fait.

Lee seems to be in a good mood on Sunday, greeting the voters with a traditional Chinese elbow mound or politeness, slightly bending with both hands held together. Election committee members also seemed relaxed, many of them pose for group photos.

Lee’s choice, who served in the police for more than three decades before joining the Ministry of Security, symbolizes the focus of China on national security after a wave of large democratic protests and sometimes violence in 2019. Lee helped lead LAM’s strong actions in the demonstration and implement the law Strong national security in Beijing which resulted in the arrest of around 182 people and closing at least a dozen news organizations.

Lee has repeated the promise of Lam to impose additional security laws, known as Article 23, which was suspended in 2003 after a large -massive demonstration. He has indicated that he will continue the Lam -Metropolis North and Lantau land development project tomorrow – when he tries to overcome the city housing crisis, the problem blamed by China for triggering public dissatisfaction.

The policy does not impress TIK Chi-Yuen, founder of the third side of the centris and members of the Election Committee. ICT told reporters on Sunday that the Lee platform looked “empty” and was less than the expectations of the third team. However, he said he still voted for Lee with a sign of good intentions and showed that parties from various opinions could unite and solve the Hong Kong problem.

There are almost no differences of opinion seen in the city with more than four public meetings that are still prohibited because of the limiting of Covid and critical speech that is highly convicted based on national security laws. Three activists from the Democratic League of Social Democrats protested in the Wanchai environment before being stopped about one block from the polling site.

Ronny Tong, a member of the Executive Council, said that while the election was one person show, it was important for the public to respect the system. He asked Lee to form a more inclusive administration with a different voice, which would help Hong Kong recover from the difficulties faced in the last three years.

Tong said Lee had to focus on priorities such as recovering from Pandemi Covid-19, housing and getting support from young people.

I think it is very important that we must unite the whole community so that we all have the same goal before we can handle difficult questions such as political reform,” Tong said.

Regina IP, other executive board members and pro-Beijing MPs, said that Lee’s direct task must facilitate the reopening of the city border with mainland China.