A former security chief loyal to China will rule Hong Kong

The man who was in charge of supervising the repression against the pro-democracy movement from Hong Kong will be the next leader of the city. John Lee64, a former Hong Kong security chief, was handpicked on Sunday by a small committee of Beijing loyalists to replace carrie lam. Known for his support of the Chinese government, Lee was the only candidate and his designation is interpreted as a movement of China to tighten control over the so-called special administrative region.

“I understand that it will take me some time to convince the population. But I can do it through action,” Lee acknowledged Sunday before the press, before stating that he intends to build a Hong Kong “full of hope, opportunities and harmony”, a time “order restored after chaos“. Lee obtained 1,416 votes from the committee made up of 1,461 people, the equivalent of 0.02% of a population of 7.4 million people. The rest of the voters – all of them linked to the political and business elites close to Beijing – – did not cast votes.

European condemnation of the election process

Related news

Beijing celebrated the result almost unanimous saying that it is a sign of the “high level of recognition and approval” that Lee “has among Hong Kong society”. The Hong Kong and Macao Business Office said in a statement that “this is a true demonstration of the democratic spirit.” Just the opposite of the opinion expressed by the European Union, who lamented “this violation of democratic principles and political pluralism”. “This selection process is one more step towards dismantling the principle of ‘one country, two systems'”, assured the head of European diplomacy, Joseph Borrell.

Under the command of the president Xi JinpingChina has sought to mold Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image, following large and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019. A year later, it imposed a sweeping security law aimed at rooting out dissent, along with a “patriots only” political system. to ensure that only people loyal to China hold high public office. Lately, with the pandemic as a justification, concentrations of more than four people have been vetoed.