WEB DESK
John Lee Ka-chiu, the sole candidate for Hong Kong’s leadership election, has been confirmed as the city’s next chief executive and will replace Carrie Lam.
A former security minister who oversaw the crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, Lee will be the first security official holding the Chief Executive position of a city which witnessed years of political unrest and recent debilitating pandemic controls.
Lee, 64, resigned from his position as the city’s No 2 official last month to run and was the only contender to secure Beijing’s backing.
He secured 99.4 per cent of votes cast on Sunday by a small election committee of some 1500 members. This is the first Chief Executive election since Beijing implemented a sweeping national security law to stamp out pro-democracy dissent and rolled out a new “patriots only” political vetting system to guarantee anyone standing for office is considered suitably loyal.
Lee will take office on 1 July, the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover to China from Britain. China and Britain are at loggerheads on the issue of freedom and autonomy for Hong Kong as part of “one country, two systems” formula under which Hong Kong returned to China’s fold.