Can Hong Kong’s leader ever pull off a ‘Trump-Kim’ type reconciliation between the city’s political factions?

Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has notched ‘quick policy wins’ in her first year in office amid sparkling economic numbers. But her promise to heal wounds in a divided society will take longer to realise

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Carrie Lam has survived her first year in office with ratings higher than her former boss. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 7:00am, 29 Jun 2018Updated: 7:15am, 29 Jun 2018

Before she was selected for office, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor suffered the ignominy of being called CY 2.0. As the former chief secretary to then chief executive Leung Chun-ying, she was seen as a dyed-in-the-wool bureaucrat who could continue the policies of her unpopular boss.

One year on, few remember that label.

Thanks to a deft change in style and substance, Hong Kong’s fourth chief executive has survived her first year in office with ratings higher than her former boss. The city is less restive politically. Thorny issues and actors such as the pro-independence forces have been sidelined and all talk of electoral reform put firmly on hold. The economy is experiencing its lowest rate of unemployment and is on track to achieve 3 to 4 per cent growth this year.

Carrie Lam is sworn in as chief executive by President Xi Jinping. Photo: Sam Tsang

Lam cannot take all the credit, her critics will say. There has been no “great reconciliation” between the pro-Beijing and pro-democracy camps as her team had earlier touted.

Deep mistrust of the central government remains among sections of society. Hong Kong’s inability to focus on reforming the economy remains a key worry and rising housing prices a chief grouse.

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