Round 1,500 members of Hong Kong’s election committee are anticipated to solid votes on Sunday to decide on the following chief government for the semi-autonomous Chinese language metropolis.
Hong Kong’s former chief secretary John Lee is the one candidate within the election and critics warn the method might be fully managed by the Chinese language authorities.
The chief government might be elected by the members of the election committee, which is made up principally of pro-Beijing figures, and the brand new chief is predicted to take workplace on July 1.
“It’s clearly not an election if we merely have a look at what number of get to vote within the election,” stated Glacier Kwong, Hong Kong marketing campaign coordinator for the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).
“They get to determine who’s ruling town and these individuals who get to vote are handpicked by Beijing after the reform of the electoral system final 12 months,” she informed DW.
Regardless of the dearth of competitors, Lee nonetheless laid out his coverage platform on April 29, which targeted on enhancing Hong Kong’s governance, growing housing and sustaining town’s worldwide standing.
“Within the long-term, it’s how we make individuals understand the attractiveness and the competitiveness and the fantastic thing about Hong Kong as a spot they need to come to work, to stay and to develop,” he stated.
Nonetheless, some consultants doubt Lee’s capacity to satisfy the big selection of coverage targets that he introduced final month, pointing to his lack of expertise in dealing with points that aren’t associated to safety.
“He has little or no expertise with the coverage points aside from police, safety or by extension additionally nationwide safety,” stated Kenneth Chan, a political scientist at Hong Kong Baptist College.
‘A fame as a legislation enforcer’
Whereas Lee is scheduled to carry a closed-door marketing campaign rally for many members of the election committee on Friday, his try to have interaction with Hong Kong’s youth and opposition has been much less profitable.
Throughout his assembly with round 80 youth representatives on Could 4, no consultant from the pro-democracy camp or pupil councils confirmed up on the assembly. As the previous police and safety chief, many individuals have expressed concern in regards to the state of freedom and human rights in Hong Kong beneath his management.
Some critics level to Lee’s position through the Hong Kong authorities’s crackdown on the anti-extradition invoice motion in 2019, during which hundreds of individuals have been arrested, and police have been usually criticized for his or her extreme use of drive in opposition to protesters.
“He has constructed a fame as a tricky man and a legislation enforcer that may not wish to hearken to others’ views, be accommodating, or be measured. No matter duties his superiors assign to him, he’ll get them carried out,” Chan from Hong Kong Baptist College informed DW.
Moreover, Lee additionally vowed to satisfy the constitutional accountability of laws beneath Article 23 of Hong Kong’s Primary Legislation, which mandates that town ought to enact its personal set of laws to ban any act of “treason, secession, sedition, or subversion” in opposition to the central authorities in Beijing.
“I believe John Lee worries most individuals due to how he says he’s going to push for Article 23 to be enacted in Hong Kong, whereas not speaking about pushing for common suffrage,” stated Kwong.
“This stuff make individuals know that he’s solely going to be Beijing’s puppet and attempt to crack down on civil society and ensure no democracy or freedom could be there in Hong Kong,” he added.
In an try to melt his “powerful” public picture, Lee stated on Wednesday that younger individuals arrested through the protest needs to be given a second probability after finishing their jail phrases.
“For individuals who have offended, and have already served their time and accomplished their obligation, we should always completely give them the chance to re-enter society and contribute to society,” Lee stated on Wednesday.
Fears over Nationwide Safety Legislation
Hong Kong’s excessive stage of freedom and autonomy from mainland China, primarily based on the Sino-British Joint Declaration, was regularly eroded following two massive protest actions in 2014 and 2019.
Beijing accelerated the tempo of its crackdown on Hong Kong after the anti-extradition invoice protests, by introducing the controversial Nationwide Safety Legislation, which criminalizes acts of sedition, subversion, collusion and terrorism. Greater than 100 individuals have been arrested beneath the legislation up to now, and several other pro-democracy media shops have been compelled to shut down.
Transferring ahead, Chan from Hong Kong Baptist College says the worldwide group should not anticipate any change for the higher by way of civil society, civil liberties, or freedom beneath John Lee’s management, regardless of his efforts to reverse his public picture.
“He is been making an attempt very onerous to enhance his picture by talking extra softly and intentionally avoiding phrases that he used to not use, with respect to free press, the opposition and democracy,” he stated.
“Everyone knows that autocrats are fairly good at making these beauty modifications however in essence, they will not change. In that sense, due to these beauty modifications, they’re extra decided to implement these powerful measures in opposition to Hong Kong’s civil society,” he added.
Kwong expects Lee to maintain implementing the Nationwide Safety Legislation that was carried out in 2020 whereas persevering with the crackdown on freedom of speech. Over the past two years, a number of pro-democracy media shops have been compelled to close down following mass arrests of their workers. “He in all probability will arrest extra individuals beneath the legislation whereas cracking down on the media much more,” she informed DW.
“The Hong Kong International Correspondents’ Membership’s determination to droop the Human Rights Press Award is one other indicator. He’ll push for extra nationwide security-related laws, and Article 23 is unquestionably going to be one thing that he’ll push for,” she added.
Chan added that Beijing needs individuals in Hong Kong and the remainder of the world to know that town’s precedence might be all about stability and safety by means of John Lee’s sole candidacy.
“Xi Jinping is looking for his third time period this fall, so having a loyal, obedient, and difficult individual like John Lee would additionally present a way of safety so far as his ambition is anxious,” stated Chan.
Lee more likely to prioritize Beijing
Aside from the shrinking area for civil society, Lee will inherit an financial system that has been weakened following the imposition of strict pandemic management measures during the last two years.
As Hong Kong’s enterprise group continues to press the authorities to finish the strict border management, which has basically remoted Hong Kong from the remainder of the world, Lee stated he would make reopening town’s borders with China and the remainder of the world a precedence, in accordance with the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Put up (SCMP).
“We must be proactive in protecting Hong Kong related with the world and the mainland,” SCMP quoted Lee in its report. Nonetheless, political scientist Chan says Lee remains to be extra more likely to prioritize points associated to China over town’s worldwide dimension.
“I imagine John Lee will emphasize find out how to make Hong Kong instrumental to Beijing’s nice ambitions and plans and attempt to combine Hong Kong with the Higher Bay Space, which consists of Hong Kong, Macau and cities in China’s Guangdong Province,” Chan stated.
“He wish to pay lip service to the worldwide dimensions of Hong Kong, however clearly, he hasn’t thought a lot about that.”
In his coverage assertion launched on April 29, Lee promised to arrange extra alternatives for younger individuals in Hong Kong to work in China, in addition to to draw aspiring younger individuals to serve within the authorities. “He’s solely speaking about following China’s footsteps and enhancing nationwide safety,” stated Kwong.
Chan added that whereas Lee has talked about Hong Kong’s worldwide dimensions, he in all probability will not be the most effective individual to replicate town’s worldwide pursuits. “As an individual who has been sanctioned by many of the Western world, he cannot be a really respectable and credible spokesperson for Hong Kong’s pursuits,” he stated.
Edited by: Leah Carter