https://www.scmp.com/rss/511618/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Hong Kong’s ability to recover from its difficulties would be much improved if it goes ahead with democratic reform. By introducing a system of one person, one vote for the position of chief executive, Hong Kong would have a government with much broader representation, giving it a stronger mandate to push through changes. Universal suffrage is already included in Article 45 of the Basic Law that governs Hong Kong, but no one is sure when and how it might be implemented. Hong Kong should delay... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hk-opinion/article/3257425/hong-kong-needs-full-universal-suffrage-unlock-full-potential?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hk-opinion/article/3257425/hong-kong-needs-full-universal-suffrage-unlock-full-potential?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Apr 2024 01:30:11 +0000 Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu was on Thursday spared a penalty for failing to observe election rules during his bid for the top job earlier this year, after a court accepted the non-compliance was due to inadvertence. The police officer turned chief executive asked the High Court in June to exempt him from liability for failing to publicise written proof of support by some of his backers within the time specified by the Electoral Procedure (Chief Executive Election) Regulation. Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3189341/hong-kong-leader-john-lee-spared-penalty-failing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3189341/hong-kong-leader-john-lee-spared-penalty-failing?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Aug 2022 08:39:46 +0000 The need for Hong Kong to clamp down on “anti-China forces” has again been highlighted in a seminar on President Xi Jinping’s landmark address in the city early this month. But there is also reassurance that this is not to kill off political diversity and suppress dissent. It is incumbent upon Hong Kong to uphold national security while maintaining its status as an international city and allowing room for opposition and meaningful checks and balances. The latest remarks by Xiao Baolong, director... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3185998/international-city-hong-kong-must-allow-room-diversity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3185998/international-city-hong-kong-must-allow-room-diversity?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Jul 2022 23:30:20 +0000 Unions representing various ranks of Hong Kong’s 180,000 government workers have demanded a face-to-face meeting with the city’s new leader to vent their anger over an “insulting” 2.5 per cent pay rise endorsed by his cabinet on Tuesday. The unionists hope to be able to convince Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who only took office last Friday, to overturn the offer of an across-the-board rise of 2.5 per cent, which was a far cry from the up to 7.26 per cent increases previously recommended by... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3184378/civil-service-unions-demand-meeting-new-hong-kong-leader?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3184378/civil-service-unions-demand-meeting-new-hong-kong-leader?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Jul 2022 15:39:03 +0000 Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu raised HK$11.3 million (US$1.4 million) in cash from 58 pro-Beijing groups to fund his chief executive election campaign and spent all but HK$2.2 million of the donations, despite being the only candidate who secured enough nominations to run, official records show. 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... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3184077/hong-kong-leader-john-lee-raised-hk113-million-cash-58-pro?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3184077/hong-kong-leader-john-lee-raised-hk113-million-cash-58-pro?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Jul 2022 10:50:50 +0000 Once upon a time, we had an environment secretary called Sarah Liao Sau-tung, who asked a consultant to help her sprawling bureau find a sense of purpose so they could “get things done”. The mission was not too different from that of new Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to be “result-oriented”. The consultant told Liao that one of the best things her staff could do was put stickers in large print at the top of each computer screen: “Our mission is to bring Quality to Life”. Not only must they... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3183940/result-oriented-john-lee-must-beware-procrastination-traps?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3183940/result-oriented-john-lee-must-beware-procrastination-traps?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Jul 2022 01:15:23 +0000 The composition of the new government continues to attract public scrutiny. The line-up of the Executive Council may be less eye-catching than that of the principal officials. But as the chief executive’s cabinet, its powers and influence are no less than those of ministers. They must work closely with John Lee Ka-chiu and others as a team to tackle a wide range of problems facing Hong Kong. With nine of the 16 existing non-official members staying on, there is change amid continuity. The seven... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3183019/exco-members-need-play-more-active-role?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3183019/exco-members-need-play-more-active-role?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jun 2022 23:15:10 +0000 Veteran politician and former security chief Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee has been appointed convenor of incoming Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu’s de facto cabinet, with analysts expecting her to distinguish herself from her predecessor by actively defending the authorities to foreign media. The seven new non-official members appointed to the Executive Council on Wednesday included pro-establishment lawmaker Chan Kin-por, who said he would resign as chairman of a Legislative Council committee... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3182625/veteran-hong-kong-lawmaker-regina-ip-appointed-convenor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3182625/veteran-hong-kong-lawmaker-regina-ip-appointed-convenor?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Jun 2022 07:03:13 +0000 Starting a new chapter for Hong Kong together has been the campaign slogan of incoming chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu, and rightly so. The daunting mission will begin on July 1 following the formal appointment of the principal officials of the next government by the State Council yesterday. The new appointees carry high hopes from Beijing and the Hong Kong community of improving governance and livelihoods in the coming years, though the tasks ahead will not be easy. With only six incumbent... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3182299/challenges-new-governing-team-have-never-been-greater?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3182299/challenges-new-governing-team-have-never-been-greater?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jun 2022 15:53:53 +0000 Hong Kong’s incoming leader John Lee Ka-chiu announced on Sunday his newly formed cabinet which has been approved by Beijing, hailing it as a “diversified team” that showcased professionalism, commitment and international vision. Among the 21 key figures appointed under the Principal Officials Accountability System, seven are from the incumbent administration and two have been promoted from undersecretary. Another six were currently serving or recently retired civil servants, while a further six... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3182291/who-will-help-john-lee-run-hong-kong-quick-guide-old-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3182291/who-will-help-john-lee-run-hong-kong-quick-guide-old-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Jun 2022 13:46:20 +0000 As John Lee Ka-chiu’s inauguration as Hong Kong’s fifth chief executive nears, I have been thinking back on the successes and failures of past administrations. One thing I hope the new administration can do better is communicate with mainland China. The political discourse in Hong Kong often blurs the distinction between “mainland China” and “Beijing”. After all, the Basic Law, which provides our constitutional framework, talks mostly about Hong Kong’s relationship with the central... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3181897/if-john-lee-wants-improve-communication-mainland-he?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3181897/if-john-lee-wants-improve-communication-mainland-he?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Jun 2022 22:45:22 +0000 It’s a curious thing about memory that we tend to remember and dwell on negative events much more readily than on positive ones. Negativity bias is a proven psychological phenomenon. That’s why we recall insults better than praise. Or pay more attention to negative events than positive ones. It’s no wonder then that Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s soon-to-be-concluded term may be remembered more for the 2019 protests and the once-in-a-lifetime Covid-19 pandemic than anything else... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3181885/protests-and-pandemic-will-be-carrie-lams-legacy-she?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3181885/protests-and-pandemic-will-be-carrie-lams-legacy-she?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jun 2022 22:45:19 +0000 About 1,000 staff, security guards and police officers involved in events celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover are likely to be put under a seven-day “closed-loop” arrangement to protect them from Covid-19 as part of preparations for a possible visit by a Chinese state leader, the Post has learned. Sources said all staff responsible for security and the event, as well as police officers who provided close protection to the “very, very important person” would spend a week in... https://www.scmp.com/hong-kong-25/politics/article/3180914/1000-workers-guards-and-police-enter-closed-loop-quarantine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/hong-kong-25/politics/article/3180914/1000-workers-guards-and-police-enter-closed-loop-quarantine?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Jun 2022 12:40:42 +0000 Hong Kong’s incoming leader John Lee Ka-chiu has applied to the court for legal exemptions for failing to comply with election rules when he ran for the top job earlier this year. Lee, 64, ran three advertisements on his Facebook campaign page between April 13 and 18 in which three public figures, including an Olympic medallist and a Canto-pop singer, endorsed the sole candidate of the first chief executive poll since a Beijing-led electoral overhaul. But the former police officer turned top... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3180885/hong-kongs-john-lee-seeks-legal-exemptions-failing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3180885/hong-kongs-john-lee-seeks-legal-exemptions-failing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Jun 2022 09:20:19 +0000 Hong Kong police will throw an unprecedented security blanket around the city during the 25th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule, with all officers to be mobilised, including elite squads, to safeguard the potential visit by the state leader and his entourage, the force’s chief has said. Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police Force Raymond Siu Chak-yee told the Post on Monday that security was more challenging this year because of the rise of local terrorism. He added that preparations were... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3180650/hong-kong-police-mobilise-all-officers-possible-state?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3180650/hong-kong-police-mobilise-all-officers-possible-state?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jun 2022 00:00:32 +0000 Hong Kong’s top officials and advisers to the chief executive are expected to be put under a week-long “closed-loop” arrangement towards the end of June, as part of preparations for a possible visit by a mainland Chinese state leader for the 25th anniversary of the city’s handover. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, ministers and permanent secretaries, as well as non-official members of the Executive Council, Lam’s de facto cabinet, will be placed under a stringent system preventing... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3180639/hong-kongs-top-officials-could-be-put-under-week-long?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3180639/hong-kongs-top-officials-could-be-put-under-week-long?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Jun 2022 13:00:25 +0000 Hong Kong’s incoming leader, John Lee Ka-chiu, secured the top job after impressing Beijing with his strongman image. This was seen as a key attribute at a time of geopolitical tension and with the civil unrest of 2019 still fresh in the memory. Lee’s meeting with President Xi Jinping on Monday left no doubt as to the trust Beijing places in him. Xi referred to Lee’s role in responding to the disturbances, saying his patriotism was appreciated. Lee had been “firm, devoted and proactive” in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/3179917/along-great-expectations-come-great-challenges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/3179917/along-great-expectations-come-great-challenges?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 May 2022 23:00:22 +0000 Hong Kong’s incoming leader John Lee Ka-chiu departed for Beijing on Saturday to accept his appointment letter as chief executive from state leaders and submit a list of his proposed governing team for approval. Lee left his Ho Man Tin flat with wife Janet Lam Lai-sim on Saturday morning for a four-day trip to the capital, arriving in Beijing at about 4pm. He was expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and present the names of the finalists for his team to the central government for its... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3179566/hong-kongs-next-leader-john-lee-heads-beijing-accept?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3179566/hong-kongs-next-leader-john-lee-heads-beijing-accept?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 May 2022 13:01:16 +0000 Hong Kong’s incoming leader John Lee Ka-chiu is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping when he travels to Beijing later this month to accept the letter officially approving his appointment as chief executive and present the finalists for his team to the central government for its approval, the Post has learned. Zhang Xiaoming, executive deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), was among the senior mainland Chinese officials in Shenzhen monitoring the progress of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3178727/incoming-hong-kong-leader-john-lee-meet-chinese-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3178727/incoming-hong-kong-leader-john-lee-meet-chinese-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 May 2022 14:45:22 +0000 In politics, it is revealing to see how certain practices once considered taboo can become publicly acceptable as the new normal. That is the case in the delicate interactions between local leaders and Beijing’s representatives in Hong Kong, which critics used to take as a barometer of the city’s “high degree of autonomy” under the “one country, two systems” governing policy. In recent years, Beijing has put the focus on how its “comprehensive jurisdiction” over Hong Kong must be properly... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177826/interactions-beijing-have-long-been-political-test-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177826/interactions-beijing-have-long-been-political-test-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 May 2022 08:44:21 +0000 Chief Executive-elect John Lee Ka-chiu has opened up about his efforts to select ministers, revealing some candidates approached were deterred by possible foreign sanctions, while he had to turn down other names put forward to him. Lee on Sunday confirmed on a radio programme he had someone in mind for the chief secretary position, the city’s No 2 spot, but declined to divulge a name as he did not want to put the individual under pressure. He also vowed to improve coordination among top... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177819/hong-kongs-next-leader-john-lee-reveals-hiccups-forming?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177819/hong-kongs-next-leader-john-lee-reveals-hiccups-forming?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 May 2022 05:13:39 +0000 A top Chinese official chairing the country’s highest political advisory body has urged Hong Kong to realise the “inevitability and urgency” of the rise of patriotic power and focus on nurturing new talent, according to state media. Xinhua reported on Saturday that Wang Yang, chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), made the remarks at a meeting in Beijing a day earlier, seemingly setting the tone for the next Hong Kong administration. Last Sunday, Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177748/realise-inevitability-and-urgency-patriotic-power-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177748/realise-inevitability-and-urgency-patriotic-power-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 May 2022 04:02:22 +0000 The campaign team of Hong Kong’s incoming leader John Lee Ka-chiu only accepted election donations from locally registered organisations and business chambers to avoid the risk of companies and individuals being sanctioned by the United States, the Post has learned. The HKCPPCC (Provincial) Members Association was one of several pro-establishment groups which contributed funds to the former policeman’s campaign, donating HK$300,000 (US$38,217) in cash. A source close to Lee’s campaign office... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177541/us-sanctions-risk-pushed-campaign-team-hong-kongs-john-lee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177541/us-sanctions-risk-pushed-campaign-team-hong-kongs-john-lee?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 May 2022 00:00:16 +0000 Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification. Up to 93,000 Filipinos in Hong Kong voted in the Philippine presidential election – a genuine, multiparty election. Meanwhile, Hong Kong just had its chief executive election where there was only... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3177159/philippine-and-hong-kong-elections-what-numbers-show?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3177159/philippine-and-hong-kong-elections-what-numbers-show?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 May 2022 03:30:23 +0000 As the dust settles, a lone rider has emerged from the haze. He was duly anointed by the central government’s liaison office, thus saving a beleaguered Hong Kong from the onerous task of picking a chief executive. John Lee Ka-chiu was the sole candidate in the election and is now chief executive-elect. Case closed. Lee has a tough image that would not be out of place in a reimagined Marlboro ad. He set out on a career with the Royal Hong Kong Police Force in 1977, steadily making his way up to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3176795/john-lee-offers-chance-real-change-hong-kong-must-seize-opportunity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3176795/john-lee-offers-chance-real-change-hong-kong-must-seize-opportunity?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 May 2022 01:15:14 +0000 Everything in Hong Kong has fallen into its rightful place. John Lee Ka-chiu was elected last Sunday as the next chief executive, by 1,416 of 1,461 patriotic Election Committee members in an election where there was no one else to choose. Of the remaining 45, eight voted against Lee, four cast blank ballots, and 33 did not vote. The notion of choice is anathema to Hong Kong’s stability, as the decades-long battle for universal suffrage has shown. As Lee marks the third devout Catholic out of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3177065/national-security-law-and-one-man-election-race-show-beijings-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3177065/national-security-law-and-one-man-election-race-show-beijings-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 May 2022 22:45:18 +0000 Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification. Alex Lo’s column on how China exploits Western hypocrisy made some excellent points (“How Beijing wins friends and gains influence in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean,” May 5). On the Chagos... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3177026/why-china-should-lead-example-indo-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3177026/why-china-should-lead-example-indo-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 May 2022 06:30:27 +0000 A war of words has erupted between Western and Chinese diplomats over Hong Kong’s leadership election, with the Group of Seven nations and the European Union calling the vote an attack on established freedoms and Beijing and Chief Executive-elect John Lee Ka-chiu defending the need for “patriots” to decide who governs. In the latest salvo, the G7 grouping of the richest democracies released a statement on Monday expressing “grave concern over the selection process” of Hong Kong’s new leader,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177088/war-words-erupts-between-chinese-and-western-diplomats-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177088/war-words-erupts-between-chinese-and-western-diplomats-over?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 May 2022 12:53:28 +0000 A mother of two and occasionally an active performer, Janet Lam Lai-sim will soon take up a new role she could have never imagined: the equivalent of first lady of Hong Kong. Only a few members of the public might have known her as Janet before she was invited on stage to share the “historic moment” when her husband, John Lee Ka-chiu, was voted in as the city’s next leader on Sunday. “I want to thank my wife very much because, for all these years, I did give [my family] little time due to my... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177085/who-janet-lam-john-lee-secures-top-job-hong-kong-meets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177085/who-janet-lam-john-lee-secures-top-job-hong-kong-meets?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 May 2022 12:42:29 +0000 John Lee Ka-chiu embarked on a whirlwind first day as Hong Kong’s chief executive-elect on Monday, making seven visits to top local and mainland Chinese officials to discuss government restructuring, the rule of law, judicial independence and national security, along with other priorities. Lee met outgoing leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the chief justice and the Legislative Council president, as well as the heads of Beijing’s liaison office, national security office, foreign ministry office... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177015/hong-kong-chief-executive-elect-john-lee-and-incumbent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3177015/hong-kong-chief-executive-elect-john-lee-and-incumbent?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 May 2022 04:36:28 +0000 Word had it that soon after John Lee Ka-chiu completed his victory press conference on Sunday and exited left from the stage, emotions ran high for Hong Kong’s new chief executive-elect and tears were shed. As it was, when answering his last question at the presser, his voice trembled as he paid tribute to his wife of 42 years. Lee’s journey from chief secretary to chief executive within four weeks has been nothing short of extraordinary given how he was the only one to receive Beijing’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176976/hong-kong-gets-its-new-leader-without-contest-now-john-lee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176976/hong-kong-gets-its-new-leader-without-contest-now-john-lee?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 May 2022 02:00:16 +0000 Chief Executive-elect John Lee Ka-chiu has pledged to recruit able and experienced talent for his team, as the Post learned that political parties have begun floating names and some members of his campaign team have been tipped for top jobs. More new faces from outside government are expected to be appointed ministers, with Lee considering a government makeover in line with his “result-oriented” approach to leadership, sources have said. “To implement my policy goals, I will shortly be inviting... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176978/not-usual-suspects-hong-kong-chief-executive-elect-john-lee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176978/not-usual-suspects-hong-kong-chief-executive-elect-john-lee?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 May 2022 23:30:26 +0000 Following his election on Sunday, Hong Kong’s next leader, John Lee Ka-chiu, is expected to move into a Chief Executive-elect’s Office and get down to work, ahead of taking on the top job on July 1. The Post looks at what happens next for him. 1. What is the Chief Executive-elect’s Office? As the chief executive-elect, Lee will have an office and staff as he gets down to work preparing to take over in under two months. Situated in Wan Chai, the office started operating on Sunday and will support... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176984/hong-kong-chief-executive-elect-john-lee-gets-down-work?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176984/hong-kong-chief-executive-elect-john-lee-gets-down-work?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 May 2022 16:16:15 +0000 The European Union has slammed the selection process for Hong Kong’s new chief executive as “a violation of democratic principles and political pluralism”. Former security chief John Lee Ka-chiu was handed the city’s leadership in an unopposed election on Sunday, the first chief executive poll since the central government overhauled Hong Kong’s electoral system to ensure only “patriots” held power. Lee won more than 99 per cent of a vote between 1,424 members of a selection committee vetted by... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3176985/eu-slams-selection-john-lee-hong-kongs-chief-executive-violation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3176985/eu-slams-selection-john-lee-hong-kongs-chief-executive-violation?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 May 2022 16:10:11 +0000 John Lee Ka-chiu has been officially confirmed as Hong Kong’s leader-in-waiting and will take over as chief executive on July 1 after the veteran security official easily secured the overwhelming support expected from the group of electors that voted him into power in an uncontested poll on Sunday. Lee, 64, vowed to unite a city still divided after the political and social turmoil of 2019, starting with building a “passionate” governing team to usher in a “new chapter” of stability and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176982/john-lee-vows-undertake-historic-mission-and-start-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176982/john-lee-vows-undertake-historic-mission-and-start-new?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 May 2022 15:25:49 +0000 Beijing has hailed Hong Kong’s chief executive election, which returned John Lee Ka-chiu on Sunday without a contest, as a new step in democratic development locally and expressed confidence that the city will reach new heights in the next five years. Analysts said the statements by the central government, breaking its silence after outgoing leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced more than a month ago that she would not seek re-election, were aimed at setting the tone for the city’s near... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176973/democracy-hong-kong-characteristics-beijing-hails-citys?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176973/democracy-hong-kong-characteristics-beijing-hails-citys?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 May 2022 12:32:58 +0000 Eight members of the powerful Election Committee dominated by Beijing loyalists voted against sole Hong Kong chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu on Sunday, while another four cast blank ballots. Out of 1,428 valid votes cast, Lee secured 1,416, or 99.2 per cent, the highest proportion obtained by anyone standing in a leadership race since Britain handed the city back to Chinese rule in 1997. Thirty-three members did not take part in the voting. When asked about his thoughts on the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176974/john-lees-victory-hong-kong-chief-executive-election-no?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176974/john-lees-victory-hong-kong-chief-executive-election-no?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 May 2022 12:32:50 +0000 More than three decades have passed, but former mathematics teacher Norman So Chung-ping remembers his student John Lee Ka-chiu well: “He was very obedient in using the methods I taught.” Other boys at prestigious Wah Yan College, Kowloon, would attempt creative solutions to the homework So gave them each day, but not Lee. “Perhaps he knew other ways. But he also knew that the most important thing was to get it done. He really followed the rules,” recalled So, who went on to be principal from... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176959/hong-kongs-next-leader-john-lee-former-schoolmates-teachers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176959/hong-kongs-next-leader-john-lee-former-schoolmates-teachers?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 May 2022 10:03:12 +0000 Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification. A short video has gone viral. It was of a Chinese schoolgirl giving her take on the Ukraine conflict with reference to the historical novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which she had been... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3176632/ukraine-nato-and-three-kingdoms-what-chinese-schoolgirl-knows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3176632/ukraine-nato-and-three-kingdoms-what-chinese-schoolgirl-knows?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 May 2022 06:30:13 +0000 I grew up in Sai Ying Pun in a very poor family. My father had two children with his first wife and after she died, he remarried and had five children with his second wife – I’m the youngest of the kids and was born in 1957. My father was 60 and already retired when I was born, and my mother was 44. She supported the family as a hawker selling T-shirts and towels on First Street. Sometimes I helped her, I was a good sales boy. We lived in a very small room, no bigger than 80 sq ft, all of us... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3176772/hong-kong-chief-executive-candidate-ip-man-movie-publisher?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/3176772/hong-kong-chief-executive-candidate-ip-man-movie-publisher?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 May 2022 04:15:23 +0000 This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. John Lee Ka-chiu, the sole candidate for Hong Kong’s leadership election, has been confirmed as the city’s next chief executive after formally announcing his intention to run less than a month ago, becoming the first former police officer in the top job.  Lee secured 1,416 of 1,428 valid votes cast on Sunday, amounting to a staggering 99.2 per cent of all... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176886/hong-kong-chief-executive-election-sole-candidate-john-lee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176886/hong-kong-chief-executive-election-sole-candidate-john-lee?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 May 2022 01:01:43 +0000 Five years ago, amid much fanfare about an intense, three-way contest for Hong Kong’s chief executive post, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, a veteran civil servant, was elected with 777 out of a total of 1,194 votes. Lam’s campaign slogan was “We Connect”. After the bitter strife over the pace of Hong Kong’s political reform and the “Occupy” movement which paralysed the city for 79 days in late 2014, there were high hopes of a new chief executive who could heal the rift and bring rival factions... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3176722/administration-changed-hong-kong-forever?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3176722/administration-changed-hong-kong-forever?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 May 2022 23:45:16 +0000 Hong Kong’s sole chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu has spent the final day of his election campaign ringing up voters to rally support despite his expected victory, the Post has learned. The former No 2 official had no public activities on Saturday, but sources said he was still doing the rounds by phone in a bid to secure as many votes as possible from the 1,461-member Election Committee that will pick the city’s next leader on Sunday. Electoral Affairs Commission chairman Justice... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176907/hong-kong-chief-executive-candidate-john-lee-ringing-voters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176907/hong-kong-chief-executive-candidate-john-lee-ringing-voters?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 May 2022 14:22:43 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/economy/article/3176999/hong-kong-set-confirm-new-leader-one-man-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/article/3176999/hong-kong-set-confirm-new-leader-one-man-election?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 May 2022 12:00:00 +0000 Kelly Yeung* is part of Hong Kong’s “elite of the elites”, the 670-strong corps of administrative officers (AO) who form the upper echelons of the city’s civil service. No more than 30 select officers with sterling academic credentials are added each year to the group, whose highly paid members occupy top government jobs and are responsible for drafting most policies. But Yeung said everyone in her circle now had thoughts of quitting. “Under the current political environment, there is so much... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176867/what-will-hong-kong-civil-service-under-john-lee-look?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176867/what-will-hong-kong-civil-service-under-john-lee-look?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 May 2022 10:30:19 +0000 Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification. China’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic has been successful. Given what we know about the virus, it is not so much the number of infections that matters but the number of deaths. The Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3176619/why-its-time-china-took-its-covid-19-victory-lap?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3176619/why-its-time-china-took-its-covid-19-victory-lap?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 May 2022 06:30:13 +0000 Hong Kong’s sole chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu ended his 53-minute rally on Friday with his campaign team members raising their fists on stage, chanting slogans such as “support Lee Ka-chiu and “create a new chapter for Hong Kong together”. Despite the enthusiasm on display, some observers argued that Lee’s messaging was not as impactful as previous candidates running for the top job and his rally lacked a human touch. Wearing a black suit and a blue tie, the former policeman... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176843/how-john-lees-election-rally-compares-those-other-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176843/how-john-lees-election-rally-compares-those-other-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 May 2022 15:08:59 +0000 The sole candidate in Hong Kong’s leadership election, John Lee Ka-chiu, held a final campaign rally on Friday with renewed promises to restore hope, strengthen the city’s international status as a financial hub, and build it into a vibrant metropolis over the next five years. Warning that the city could not afford to waste any more time, the former career policeman turned bureaucrat appealed to everyone to come together and work with him to “start a new chapter” for Hong Kong. The rally at the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176840/hong-kong-chief-executive-candidate-john-lee-vows-restore?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176840/hong-kong-chief-executive-candidate-john-lee-vows-restore?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 May 2022 14:57:11 +0000 This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Hong Kong’s sole chief executive candidate John Lee Ka-chiu’s election rally on Friday was attended by more than 1,000 people, including business tycoons and political heavyweights, as well as ordinary residents, two days before the city’s leadership poll. Although the former chief secretary is expected to win Sunday’s vote – the city’s next leader will be... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176703/what-key-message-will-hong-kong-chief-executive-candidate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3176703/what-key-message-will-hong-kong-chief-executive-candidate?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 May 2022 07:56:03 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3176729/video-john-lee-gains-nominations-more-half-hong-kongs-chief?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3176729/video-john-lee-gains-nominations-more-half-hong-kongs-chief?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 May 2022 04:49:30 +0000