What we know so far about John Lee’s vision for Hong Kong: 6 takeaways from his manifesto speech

Candidate aims for a plan, within first 100 days, to roll out more public flats, cut waiting time

Addressing worries about brain drain, pandemic restrictions, Lee stays upbeat about city’s pull

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Chief executive candidate John Lee announces his manifesto on Friday.
Photo: Yik Yeung-man

Published: 5:37pm, 29 Apr 2022Updated: 9:00pm, 29 Apr 2022

Almost three weeks after launching his leadership bid, Hong Kong chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu unveiled his manifesto on Friday.

His blueprint provided a glimpse of the former policeman and security chief’s plans to steer the city over the next five years, given his expected victory as the sole candidate and having secured Beijing’s blessings.

Here are six takeaways:

1. Two new bodies on public housing, land

To deal with the city’s pressing housing shortage, Lee will have a Task Force on Public Housing Projects and a Steering Committee on Land and Housing Supply, each headed by a secretary-level official.

The first will propose, within the first 100 days of the new administration, ways to speed up the design and construction of public housing. There are no hard numbers, but Lee’s goal is to increase the overall supply over the next five years.

The task force will also suggest how to implement a new public housing allocation scheme Lee floated, which he said could shorten the time each housing project would become available by a year.