Beijing isn’t doing Carrie Lam any favours with its blatant signals

Alice Wu says this chief executive election has been remarkable for Beijing’s openness in indicating its preference, but the alienated and frustrated people of Hong Kong would welcome a less visible hand

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Protesters raise slogans during a rally against the handpicking of Carrie Lam as the preferred chief executive, on February 5 in Hong Kong. Photo: AP

Published: 9:02am, 12 Feb 2017Updated: 8:38pm, 12 Feb 2017

Almost everyone “knew” Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was Beijing’s preferred candidate for chief executive. The Post reported that “Hongkongers generally favour [John] Tsang in the race, but accept that Lam stands a better chance of winning Beijing’s blessing.”

Hongkongers have accepted that Beijing has a say in the matter, that in order to make “one country, two systems” work, it cannot be cut out of the equation, and that it has the political berth to indicate its “views”. Call it our famous pragmatism.

In Hong Kong’s chief executive race, potential backers wait for Beijing’s nod

Hongkongers have grown used to the signalling after the previous chief executive [s]elections. But there seems to be something amiss about it all this time. Before, it was clearly very carefully calibrated, with a lot of consideration to ensure the signalling was nuanced – it was Beijing’s nod to the “one country, two systems” premise and constitutional promise of a high degree of autonomy.

It isn’t that we should be taking issue with high-level state leaders meeting the city’s movers and shakers in Shenzhen. We are used to such dealings by now. What should strike us as extraordinary is some of the leaked information provided by sources close to the arrangement. “The decision [for the preferred candidate] was made at the meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee on December 25,” a source told this newspaper. That was weeks before Lam even tendered her resignation.

Watch: Carrie Lam kicks off election campaign

Lam has warned against populist election promises. The alarm that populism has sounded around the world is something we must heed and understand. Political and social scientists are still trying to find its causes. But we do know that populism is fuelled by discontent, though it can manifest itself in different forms and is shaped by various social and political situations. Populism breeds where people feel disenfranchised and dislocated, and find that their grievances are ignored and not addressed by the ruling “elite” .

Beijing isn’t doing Carrie Lam any favours with its blatant signals

In Hong Kong’s chief executive race, potential backers wait for Beijing’s nod

Watch: Carrie Lam kicks off election campaign

Hong Kong chief executive hopeful John Tsang says he’s still optimistic despite Lam’s big backing