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‘Clash of tai-tais’ expected in Hong Kong leadership contest
Leading ladies on likely collision course in race to smash glass ceiling and win job of chief executive
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People are already calling it the “Battle of the tai-tais” as lawmaker and former security minister Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee’s bid for Hong Kong’s top job propels her towards a widely expected collision course with government No 2 Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
Lam has yet to make a formal announcement, saying only that she is “reconsidering” whether to run for election in March after incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying made the shock announcement that he would not seek a second term, while Ip has officially launched her campaign.
Not only does this offer the rare prospect of a face-off between two of the city’s leading ladies, but also opens up the possibility of breaking the glass ceiling to produce Hong Kong’s first female chief executive.
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Of course, a man in the mix of candidates is almost certain in the form of Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, who has already resigned from his government post but is still awaiting approval from Beijing before he formally throws his hat in the ring.
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Then there is of course the man first off the blocks, former judge Woo Kwok-hing.
But regardless of a mixed-gender race, there is already plenty of talk about stereotyping or even sexism when it comes to how Ip and Lam are viewed, both by voters in Hong Kong and decision makers in Beijing.
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