Hong Kong leader John Lee raised HK$11.3 million in cash from 58 pro-Beijing groups for election campaign
- Lee’s campaign expenses totalled HK$9.1 million, of which HK$2.7 million was spent on election rallies and HK$754,000 on Facebook advertisements
- His team bought three banknote counters and a safe as they chose to receive funds as cash instead of through online or bank transfers
Lee’s team bought three banknote counters and a safe, which cost about HK$10,000 in total, as they chose to receive the funds as cash instead of through online or bank transfers due to sanctions by the United States over the Beijing-imposed national security law.
Of the HK$9.1 million Lee spent on the month-long campaign – the shortest in the city’s history – HK$2.7 million went on election rallies and HK$754,000 on Facebook advertisements. He did not allocate any funds for YouTube, as Google had terminated his channel citing the sanctions.
The Registration and Electoral Office made Lee’s declaration of donations and expenses public for scrutiny on Monday, nearly two months after he was elected on May 8.
The Post learned that he had submitted the documents more than a week before he was sworn in last Friday, but election authorities decided to release them on the first working day after he took office.
Unlike previous contenders, all of the donations for Lee’s campaign were made in cash through organisations. His predecessor Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor collected funds from hundreds of individual donors.
According to the declaration, 25 pro-establishment groups contributed HK$300,000 each to his campaign. They included: the Friends of Hong Kong Association, which is led by CK Hutchison Holdings chairman Victor Li Tzar-kuoi and former World Health Organization head Dr Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun among other heavyweights; the Hong Kong Association for Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China, headed by the city’s first chief executive Tung Chee-hwa; and rural body Heung Yee Kuk.
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The remaining 33 groups donated fixed amounts of either HK$100,000, HK$150,000 or HK$200,000 after Lee announced his bid on April 8 as the sole candidate backed by Beijing.
The HK$2.7 million spent on election rallies included a HK$321,000 event at which Lee announced his candidacy and also one where he delivered his manifesto, which cost HK$518,000. Both events were held online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lee had pledged to reach out to different sectors during his campaign.
Lee’s final election rally at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was his most expensive event, costing HK$1.8 million.
Maintaining his official campaign websites incurred expenses of nearly HK$1.2 million.
Security was also a major cost for Lee as HK$711,055 was spent on services such as bodyguards and technical surveillance. The security fee also included a HK$37,405 charge for “cash transit escort services”.
More than HK$528,000 was spent on rent and operating expenses of his campaign office and HK$190,000 on the wages of seven employees.
Britain-based Chung Kim-wah, former director of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, said many items were “unnecessary” due to the lack of competition and the short campaign period.
“Spending millions on rallies and advertisements in a one-man show is just like pouring money down the drain,” he said. “With all donations given on the basis of groups, the public has no idea of the identities of donors behind the campaign.”
Lee’s total expense for his election campaign was less than Lam’s when she was running for the city’s top job in 2017. She spent HK$12.6 million while her key rival, former finance minister John Tsang Chun-wah, spent HK$10.2 million.
Lee’s unused campaign funds were donated to the Community Chest of Hong Kong.
Last month, he applied to the court for legal exemptions over his failure to submit a copy of consent for election advertisements on time. Non-compliance with the requirement is punishable by up to six months’ imprisonment and a HK$5,000 fine.
