Hong Kong chief executive election 2022: John Lee attracted backers and critics during long climb from police inspector to No 2 official
- Chief Secretary Lee is putting together a team for a possible run at Hong Kong’s top job next month, several sources have told the Post
- While some have previously questioned whether his background fully prepared him for his role as the No 2 official, Lee appears to have secured the support of perhaps the most important constituent of all – Beijing
Becoming chief executive would crown a long career in public service for Lee, who turned 64 last December. He joined the government in 1977 as a probationary inspector in the police force and was promoted to chief superintendent in July 1997, shortly after Britain handed Hong Kong back to China. He was then appointed assistant police commissioner in 2003.
Lee came to wider public recognition in 2006 when he led an investigation into the notorious case of “evil cop” Tsui Po-ko, who killed a policeman and injured a second one during a three-way firefight in a Jordan subway. Tsui himself was shot five times and died at the scene, leaving behind a mystery that took weeks to unravel. It was later revealed that Tsui was responsible for murdering police constable Leung Shing-yan and stealing his gun in 2001 and months later carrying out an armed bank robbery in Tsuen Wan, where he shot dead a security guard.
Lee continued to climb up the police ranks, becoming deputy commissioner in 2010, before being appointed undersecretary for security in 2012 in the Leung Chun-ying administration. When Lam succeeded Leung in 2017, she elevated Lee to secretary for security, a role that put him at the forefront of some of the most challenging times in Hong Kong’s recent history.