"A puppet of Beijing": Hong Kong gets a new head of government by the grace of China

Created: 05/06/2022, 16:27

By: Sven Hauberg

John Lee is expected to be Hong Kong's next prime minister (archive image).

© Dickson Lee/Zuma Wire/Imago

John Lee becomes the new head of government in the economic metropolis of Hong Kong.

The hardliner is entirely in line with the central government in China.

Munich/Hong Kong – Hong Kong will have a new head of government on Sunday (May 8).

In all probability, John Lee will be elected “Chief Executive” of the business metropolis.

Where: "choice" is the wrong word.

“Hong Kong has 7.5 million inhabitants, but only just under 1,500 people are allowed to vote.

In addition, the candidate was determined by Beijing.

This is not a democratic election!” Finn Lau scolds.

The 29-year-old was one of the defining figures of the pro-democracy movement that rocked Hong Kong with mass protests in 2019 and 2020.

Today he lives in exile in London.

"Many of my friends are in prison in Hong Kong," he says in an interview with Merkur.de.

"If I went back, I would also be arrested immediately upon arrival."

In July it will be 25 years since the former British Crown Colony of Hong Kong was handed back to China.

At the time, Beijing promised to adhere to the "one country, two systems" principle for 50 years and to respect the city's democratic traditions.

Not much is left of that promise today.

China's head of state and party leader Xi Jinping is taking a tough line against those who think differently in Hong Kong, as is the case everywhere in the country.

When hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Hong Kong in the summer of 2019 against a planned extradition law with China, Xi Jinping and Hong Kong Prime Minister Carrie Lam had the protests bloodily crushed.

A year later, the so-called "National Security Law" came into force, which finally dealt the deathblow to the democracy movement.

Since then, practically anyone who campaigns for more independence from Beijing has been liable to prosecution.

Hong Kong: Security law has 'ended political life as we have known it'

The law "ended political life in Hong Kong as we knew it and drastically restricted political freedoms," says political professor Jean-Pierre Cabestan from the Hong Kong Baptist University to Merkur.de.

The city's semi-democratic system, under which the government was at least partly elected by the people, no longer exists.

“But at the same time, life goes on;

most people stay in Hong Kong because they have no other options - or because it's still a place to make money, and a lot more money than anywhere else," Cabestan said.

But the democracy movement is dead.

"There are still activities underground," says activist Lau.

“You talk to friends, talk about the situation.

But more is currently not possible.” There is a bitter joke that people tell in Hong Kong, says Lau: “Of course we have freedom of expression – but we can only exercise it once in a lifetime.”

Hong Kong activist Finn Lau lives in exile in London.

© Jessica Gow/TT/Imago

For Lau, John Lee, who is to be appointed the new head of government on Sunday, is "a puppet of Beijing": "He is jointly responsible for the crime of having crushed the democracy movement." The 64-year-old Lee was a police officer and worked in Hong Kong's security apparatus Career.

From 2017 he was the city's security chief and shared responsibility for the crackdown on the democracy movement.

He is grateful to Beijing for introducing the "security law," he once said in a television interview.

Lee was sanctioned by the US for cracking down on the protests.

Hong Kong: "John Lee is the right man for Beijing"

The Catholic and father of two sons is in the "election campaign" - which he contests as the only candidate - moderate.

"I think we must create a caring and inclusive society for everyone so that we can experience Hong Kong as a beautiful place to live, develop and achieve our dreams," says Lee.

“Helping people in need is not only right.

It's something everyone should do because we live in the same place and with one family.” Sounds almost too good to be true.

Jean-Pierre Cabestan believes that Lee will “keep Beijing's line”.

In fact, Lee becomes a Prime Minister by China's grace.

Since a change in the law last year, the “chief executives” can only become “patriots” who are loyal to Beijing – and Beijing decides who is a patriot.

Lee is "elected" by a committee of 1,461 members, most of whom fully support the central government.

If Lee gets 751 or more votes, which is likely, he will take over from Carrie Lam on July 1.

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Despite the draconian crackdown on dissidents, the Hong Kong government apparently fears protests against John Lee.

"We need to protect ourselves from loner domestic terrorists and possible attacks," the Hong Kong-based, relatively liberal

quoted an unnamed source as saying.

Around 7,000 police officers are said to be on duty on Sunday when Lee is appointed the new head of government in the southern district of Hong Kong Island.

"He's the right man for Beijing," says Cabestan.

Especially since Carrie Lam - also from the point of view of the Chinese central government - has a catastrophic government record.

The corona situation in Hong Kong got out of control earlier this year, and mass protests by the pro-democracy movement fell during Lam's tenure.

Hong Kong: financial metropolis in economic difficulties

An acute challenge for Lee will be "after two years of extensive isolation from the outside world, to consolidate the status as the leading international business center in the region and to regain credibility," says Wolfgang Ehmann from the German Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong to Merkur.de.

The city had drastically restricted entry options since the beginning of the corona pandemic.

The border with the rest of China was also closed for a long time.

It was not only the people who suffered, but also the economy.

Hong Kong could lose its place as Asia's most important financial center, analysts warn.

"Hong Kong thrives on international connectivity and has a highly efficient infrastructure," says Ehmann.

"Reviving this is of the utmost urgency for trade, tourism and as a financial center." However, more and more people are leaving the city: As the British

reported, 78,000 people emigrated in the first two months of the year alone.

Police used violence against the pro-democracy movement in 2019 and 2020.

© Martin Bertrand/Imago

Lee is not considered an economist - which he himself admits.

The candidate has already announced that he will gather capable men and women around him.

Politics professor Cabestan believes that John Lee not only wants to strengthen the economy and bring the corona situation under control.

In the first few weeks of his term in office, the new head of government will also target internal security and social inequality in the city "to strengthen his and Beijing's political legitimacy".

These included programs to defuse the housing situation in the city.

Another element is tax increases - "albeit moderate, so as not to scare the economy".

Hong Kong: "The international reputation has suffered a lot"

Wolfgang Ehmann from the Chamber of Commerce draws a bitter conclusion about the city's recent past: "Hong Kong's international reputation has suffered greatly in the past three years," he says.

It is now important to restore confidence in Hong Kong as a location.

It won't be easy.

Even John Lee can no longer get rid of the images of demonstrators covered in blood who were clubbed down by security forces.

The ranking of global press freedom, published annually by the organization Reporters Without Borders, also recently revealed the state of freedom in Hong Kong: Within just one year, the economic metropolis fell by 68 positions – to rank 148 out of 180. One such a crash had never happened before.

Free media hardly exist in Hong Kong anymore;

influential newspapers like

and

had to shut down their work under pressure from the "security law" in order not to endanger the freedom of their editors.

At the beginning of March, the prominent radio DJ Tam Tak-chi also felt the hard line of the government.

According to a Hong Kong district court, Tam had repeatedly chanted pro-democracy protest slogans, berated the police and shouted "Down with the Communist Party".

In mid-April he was therefore sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Despite everything, the London-based activist Finn Lau doesn't want to give up his hometown Hong Kong completely: "We're waiting for a good opportunity to get up again," he says - even if he doesn't know when the time is right.

"But we are still determined to fight."