History shows the dangerous folly of Carrie Lam’s unopposed governance

Name: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam explains why her job is one of the toughest in the world
Uploaded: 2020-12-01T00:30:06.000Z
Duration: 1 min 18 s
Description: Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam explains why her job is one of the toughest in the world

To stay in power, an unopposed government relies on two options: brute force or provision of rising living standards. To judge from her policy address, Lam seems uninterested in meeting ordinary people’s expectations for living standards

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Chief Executive Carrie Lam attends the question and answer session on the policy address on November 26. Photo: Felix Wong

Peter Kammerer

Published: 8:30am, 1 Dec 2020Updated: 8:30am, 1 Dec 2020

In the midst of Hong Kong’s worst crisis in living memory, what should leaders be doing? I would have thought: taking concerted measures to eliminate Covid-19 so that business can get back to normal and jobs can be saved. In the longer term, there is the matter of meeting the expectations of the majority of citizens for their quality of life, through better living conditions and higher salaries. In that regard then, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s annual policy address last week was a dismal failure.

Yet Lam, her ministers and government loyalists could not be happier. Each week, ever more of their critics are arrested, jailed or barred from public office on national security grounds or through use of archaic laws. That gives them a free hand to carry out Beijing’s orders and their duties as they wish. The fewer the number of pesky democracy-advocating fault-finders, the better, it seems.

Lam was in her element when fronting the Legislative Council for a question and answer session following last Wednesday’s speech. The chamber was free of protests and taunts from opposition lawmakers, who have either been disqualified or have resigned in a show of support for their ousted colleagues. The chief executive crowed that the chamber had returned to normal and that she now had a free hand to turn policies into action.

She cited an item she seems especially proud of that was unveiled in her address, the scrapping of the double stamp duty on commercial property. But it only really affects the people wealthy enough to own property, in effect making them even wealthier.

01:18

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam explains why her job is one of the toughest in the world

With the coronavirus pandemic and the economic crisis, jobs, wages and living conditions have become hot button issues more than ever, and the latest policy address is fresh evidence of why the city needs a strong, viable opposition.

Dictatorships – for that is what China, and by reason of sovereignty Hong Kong, is – do not want opposition. They can’t impose their will, take advantage and stay in power if they allow criticism.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x