Hong Kong chief executive candidate John Lee kicks off community visits but is he connecting only with supporters and not critics, young people, analysts ask

Hong Kong’s sole chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu’s debut community visit on Sunday was held mostly behind closed doors, with meetings choreographed by the pro-Beijing bloc, prompting analysts to warn of the danger of being trapped in an echo chamber that could hurt future governance.

They urged Lee, a former security minister, to be more proactive in reaching out to non-establishment pressure groups and young people who had been disenchanted over the next five years, if he wanted to build a more harmonious society, and avoid his predecessors’ mistake of paying lip service to staying connected with the public.

Speaking to the Post, Lee’s campaign office director, Tam Yiu-chung, conceded that the scope of gauging views via in-person exchanges had been limited by the compressed campaign period, but stressed they had no political agenda in deciding whom they met.

“We never select ‘pro-Beijing’ groups under the system overhaul that already ensured patriots ruling Hong Kong. Our only consideration is whether they are committed to serving the community and providing excellent service quality,” Tam said.

He was responding to a question on why the team picked the New Home Association to line up Lee’s first community visits on Sunday since declaring his candidacy. The association is a charitable organisation founded by Beijing-loyalist billionaire Hui Wing-mau, with incumbent city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Luo Huining, director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, as its honorary patrons.

The approach was questioned by the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO), a major non-governmental group which also serves the city’s ethnic minorities and new arrivals from mainland China, and Tik Chi-yuen, the city’s sole non-establishment lawmaker and a social worker. SoCO and Tik both urged Lee to make a conscious effort to reach out to people from different backgrounds to garner views during the two weeks before the May 8 election, and in the longer term.