Hong Kong finance, security chiefs top performers in first public opinion poll on officials since leader John Lee took office

Finance chief Paul Chan has support rate of 58.4 out of 100, the highest among three top government secretaries, in tracking poll by Public Opinion Research Institute

Among bureau chiefs, security minister Chris Tang has highest net approval rate of 25 per cent

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Financial Secretary Paul Chan. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 11:03pm, 27 Sep 2022Updated: 2:47am, 28 Sep 2022

Hong Kong’s financial secretary and security chief have been graded as “successful” performers among the line-up of new leader John Lee Ka-chiu’s administration, according to a tracking poll by the Public Opinion Research Institute (Pori).

It was the institute’s first survey on the support for government ministers under Lee, with polling conducted between September 5 and 9 involving 1,002 local residents and the findings released on Tuesday.

Finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po had a support rate of 58.4 out of 100, the highest among the three top government secretaries. His rate was 50.3 in the previous poll in early May when he held the same post in Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s administration.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang. Photo: Dickson Lee

In the latest poll, Chan also achieved a net approval rate of 39 per cent.

Lee’s right-hand man, Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki, achieved a support rate of 46.8 while his net approval was 13 per cent. He was the director of Lam’s office before joining Lee’s team as the city’s No 2 official in July.

The support rate of Secretary of Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok was 45.9, with a net approval of 12 per cent. This contrasted sharply with the 30.3 support rate for his predecessor, Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, whose net approval was minus 32 per cent in the May survey.

Pori asked interviewees to rate the performances of the three secretaries of departments as well as the heads of 15 bureaus. But three newly created posts – deputy chief secretary, deputy financial secretary and deputy justice secretary – were not included.