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Hong Kong’s subsequent chief shall be a safety chief recognized for his crackdown on town’s pro-democracy motion.
Former police officer John Lee was the one candidate in an “election” to decide on a successor to Carrie Lam as Hong Kong’s chief govt.
The 64-year-old had already been backed by greater than half of the 1,500-member election committee, and he solely wanted a majority to win, which he did with over 1,400 votes
Talking on Friday, he promised a “results-oriented” strategy, saying: “Hong Kong has to grab its alternative.
“We can not afford to attend, we can’t be late.
“We should consolidate Hong Kong as a global metropolis to develop Hong Kong’s potential as a free and open society, to attach the mainland of China and the world.”
Mr Lee will substitute Carrie Lam on 1 July.
Mr Lee was safety secretary throughout the pro-democracy protests in 2019 and oversaw the violent response to protesters.
He supported the nationwide safety regulation that has seen greater than 150 individuals arrested for offences corresponding to subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with international forces.
He was sanctioned by the US after the invoice turned regulation in 2020, criticised for “undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy and proscribing the liberty of expression or meeting”.
The method for selecting Mr Lee has been criticised as Beijing making an attempt to present the impression of democracy whereas maintaining tight management over the consequence.
The election committee voted in a secret poll however they had been all fastidiously vetted, and town’s earlier 4 chief executives had been additionally successfully chosen by Beijing.
‘The motions of staging an election’
Yvonne Chiu, a professor on the US Naval Warfare Faculty who has written about Hong Kong politics, stated: “Even autocracies right this moment really feel obligated to undergo the motions of staging an election with a view to challenge higher legitimacy to their very own inhabitants and to the worldwide group.”
Learn extra:
Hong Kong pro-democracy information outlet shuts down after police raid and arrests
Carrie Lam says she won’t search second time period after overseeing powerful new safety regulation
Whereas Hong Kong’s 7.4 million individuals nonetheless have higher freedom than these in mainland China, the Communist Occasion has been tightening its grip lately.
Dissent has been virtually eradicated, with authorities critics being jailed, intimidated into silence, or pressured to flee overseas.
Solely these loyal to Beijing can maintain workplace
Adjustments to Hong Kong’s electoral legal guidelines final yr restricted political workplace to these loyal to Beijing.
And younger professionals make up a lot of these leaving town – a blow to the popularity of a spot as soon as thought to be one in every of Asia’s primary enterprise hubs.
In March, Britain eliminated two judges who had been appointed to Hong Kong’s high courts, with Justice Secretary Dominic Raab saying that the outlawing of “free expression and sincere critique of the state… flies within the face of the handover settlement we’ve had with China since 1997”.
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