John Lee to take charge as the new Chief Executive for Hong Kong

Asia-Pacific, News May 10, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Hong Kong’s former Security Chief John Lee Ka-chiu has been elected as the new Chief Executive with a 99.2% approval rate after three hours of voting from the Election Committee (EC).

John Lee would replace Carrie Lam as Hong Kong’s Chief Executive. Lee was the sole candidate to run for Hong Kong’s top position and secured 99.2% approval from 1,428 Election Committee members. The members cast their ‘support’ and ‘not-support’ votes on May 8, from 9:00 am to 11:30 am. The voter turnout remained 97.4%.

During his victory speech, he stated that he “will make Hong Kongers and international investors feel relaxed, at ease and full of confidence.” Lee further stated that the city would now “start anew to achieve greater glories.”

John Lee holds a close affiliation with the Beijing administration and has ample support in mainland China.

Lee started his professional career in the Hong Kong police. He joined the force in 1977 at the age of 20. He used to hold both Honk Kong residence as well as British citizenship until 2012 when he gave up the latter to be appointed as Under Secretary of Security.

While rising through the ranks, the 64-year-old father of two, John Lee became Secretary of Security during Carrie Lam’s administration. As the Secretary of Security, he played a pivotal role in pushing the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation Amendment or the Extradition Bill of 2019, which resulted in the city’s worst political and social turmoil in decades. The Hong Kong Police under the control of John Lee, came out to put the protests to rest as he personally oversaw the developments.

Lee, along with several other members of Carrie Lam’s administration was sanctioned by the United States in 2020 for playing a key role in ‘undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy’ during the protests of 2019. His name still remains on the list of sanctioned individuals.

*^{Former security chief and chief secretary of Hong Kong John Lee was elected as the new Chief Executive. In this image,}* former Chief Secretary for Administration John Lee was speaking at an online side event on Hong Kong-related issues during the *^{49th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on March 16, 2022. (Image Credit: Hong Kong Government)}*

In a text statement released by the Foreign Ministers of G7 countries, grave concerns have been cited regarding John Lee’s appointment. A joint statement from the Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the U.S. as well as the High Representative of the European Union stated that “The current nomination process and resulting appointment are a stark departure from the aim of universal suffrage and further erode the ability of Hong Kongers to be legitimately represented. We are deeply concerned about this steady erosion of political and civil rights and Hong Kong’s autonomy.”

Faced with several internal and external challenges and given his previous experience of dealing with Hong Kong’s security challenges, it is believed that Lee would be a hard-line chief executive who would play a key role in starting the next chapter in China’s vision for the former British colony.