Opinion | Lam’s reshuffle sends a hardline message

With Teresa Cheng and John Lee keeping their ministerial roles, the Hong Kong and central governments have signalled they have no interest in accommodating the protest movement and are set on a ‘war of attrition’

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Hong Kong government ministers meet the press at the Central Government Office in Tamar. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 10:02pm, 24 Apr 2020Updated: 3:15am, 25 Apr 2020

The latest ministerial reshuffle is more revealing from those who get to keep their jobs than those who are being promoted. Besides dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, the most urgent official concerns must be the likely return of violent anti-government protests and the coming September Legislative Council elections, in which the opposition hopes to take over more than half of the 70 seats.

If the administration of Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had wanted to extend an olive branch to the opposition and to placate the protest movement, she would have sent packing Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah and Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu. Both ministers are hated by protesters, who blame them for the prosecution or persecution of thousands of their comrades since last June. By keeping them in their posts, the message is unmistakable: the government’s hardline position will continue.

Meanwhile, Lam is ready to cement the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, the leading pro-Beijing political party, as the most effective conduit for a viable political career in Hong Kong.

Two of its members will become bureau secretaries. Undersecretary for Labour and Welfare Caspar Tsui Ying-wai will become Secretary for Home Affairs, replacing 63-year-old Lau Kong-wah, a DAB colleague. Does this mean the party now has a monopoly on this powerful post?

Meanwhile, Christopher Hui Ching-yu, currently executive director of the Financial Services Development Council, will take over the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau. He is a member of the DAB’s standing committee.