Although current intelligence did not indicate any specific threat on Sunday, the source said, the deployment was necessary as the force had to ensure “the event runs smoothly and peacefully”. He added that police had to make sure there was enough manpower to respond to untoward incidents.

Given the stabbing of an officer outside the Sogo department store in Causeway Bay on July 1 last year and the recent online appeal to attack current chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, another source said: “We have to guard against lone-wolf domestic terrorists and any possible attack.”

He said the force had to prepare for the worst regardless of whether any intelligence had been received, adding that police would enhance security not only at the election venue but also for the whole city, including the New Territories.

“The election is an important event and we have to ensure no trouble will happen across the city,” he said.

The Post has learned that officers, including personnel from the Counter Terrorism Response Unit, will also carry out high-profile patrols the night before the poll, in which an almost 1,500-strong Election Committee will pick the city’s next leader.

On Sunday, the force mobilised officers from its elite sections – the Special Duties Unit, known as the Flying Tigers, the Counter Terrorism Response Unit, the Airport Security Unit and the Railway Response Team – for high-profile patrols around the convention centre and various railway stations.

Police said on their Facebook page the measures were taken to “formulate contingency plans to ensure the chief executive election is held safely on May 8”.

During Sunday’s operation, Special Duties Unit officers were seen patrolling Victoria Harbour in speedboats and going ashore at the Wan Chai waterfront.

The officers involved in the election will be deployed from six regional response contingents that were set up at the height of 2019’s anti-government protests, drawing personnel from various sections. Most had undergone riot control training.

The contingents, known as the anti-riot squad during the protests, were disbanded in the second half of 2020, after the social unrest had waned, and the officers returned to their regular duties.

The force established a mechanism to reassemble the contingents to meet specific needs. In December, for example, officers from the contingents were among more than 10,000 police personnel deployed for the Legislative Council election.

Lee, meanwhile, on Tuesday revealed he was Catholic, adding that he had lived up to and reflected the motto of his alma mater in his manifesto and governance style.

“I am Catholic, I believe in what I have been taught in my secondary school Wah Yan [College], Kowloon. I am thankful for the education I received there and the way I was brought up,” the former No 2 official disclosed, responding to a question at a media stop on Tuesday.

He said “helping society as a whole” was his life philosophy and one of the reasons he had been a civil servant for more than 45 years.

“Helping people in need is not just a rightful thing to do, it is something that everyone should do because we are living in the same place, and living in a family.

“I think we have to create a caring and inclusive society for everybody so that we find Hong Kong a lovely place to live, to develop and to go for our dreams,” he said. “I am, in fact, practising this principle in my manifesto and in my future governance.”

The former police officer turned top bureaucrat rarely talked about his personal life in public, with his wife and two sons staying out of the limelight since he announced his leadership bid last month.

Unlike past candidates, John Lee unveils a manifesto that is brief, vague, late

Lee, if elected, will be one of three chief executives to declare their Catholic faith. The other two are incumbent leader Lam and Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who served from 2005 to 2012.

Last month when the 64-year-old announced his bid for the top job, he was asked by the Post whether he was confident about preserving Hong Kong’s status as an international finance hub. He shrugged off concerns over his lack of business experience, saying he would make up for it by tapping experienced talent.

“No person is a know-all for everything,” he had said. “There may be one person who can do this. The person can only be … God.”

Lee’s alma mater, Wah Yan College, Kowloon, is a Catholic secondary school for boys in Yau Ma Tei whose stated vision is to encourage “contributing to the welfare and happiness of all, particularly the poor and the neglected”.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lee visited the Aberdeen Ferry Pier and met the Hong Kong Fishermen Consortium, a pro-Beijing union.

He said the industry was supportive of using innovative technology to keep pace with development. They also discussed how the industry could benefit from national policies and the Greater Bay Area project, Beijing’s project linking Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province.

He also toured the Aberdeen neighbourhood following the visit. “The atmosphere was warm and friendly. Everyone is very supportive of me and I feel encouraged.”

Lee added that he would continue visiting and interacting with residents in the run-up to election day.

He also stopped short of revealing whether he had a plan to set up a government think tank akin to the old Central Policy Unit, a body wound up by Lam in 2017.

John Lee ‘pledges to change Hong Kong civil service’s work culture’

Meanwhile, the government announced on Tuesday that the office of the chief executive-elect had been set up in Wan Chai to ensure a smooth transition to the new administration. Former director of administration Daniel Cheng Chung-wai will serve as the office’s secretary general.

Lee said he would cooperate with the office to form his governing team and prepare for his future work if he was elected, but declined to reveal his cabinet choices.

The office will begin operations on May 8 and will shut down before the July 1 inauguration. It also works with the current administration for major events such as the anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty.

Lee had also on Tuesday secured at least 150 votes from the city’s biggest pro-Beijing political party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, after the organisation reached a consensus to vote for him.

He will win the election on Sunday if he obtains 751 votes or more, from the 1,461-member Election Committee.