Round 1,500 members of Hong Kong’s election committee are anticipated to solid their 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 on the poll and critics warn the entire course of is beneath the entire management of the Chinese language authorities in Beijing.
The chief government is elected for a time period of 5 years by the members of the election committee, a physique that is made up largely 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 take a look at what number of get to vote within the election,” mentioned 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 yr,” she advised 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 great thing about Hong Kong as a spot they need to come to work, to reside and to develop,” he mentioned.
Nevertheless, some consultants doubt Lee’s skill to meet the big selection of coverage objectives he introduced final month, pointing to his lack of expertise in dealing with any points not associated to safety.
“He has little or no expertise with the coverage points apart from police, safety or by extension additionally nationwide safety,” mentioned 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 a gathering with round 80 youth representatives on Could 4, no consultant from the pro-democracy camp or pupil councils confirmed up. As the previous police and safety chief, many individuals have expressed concern concerning the state of freedom and human rights in Hong Kong beneath his management.
Some critics level to Lee’s function through the Hong Kong authorities’s crackdown on the anti-extradition invoice motion in 2019, through which hundreds of individuals have been arrested, and police have been 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 will not wish to hearken to others’ views, be accommodating, or be measured. No matter duties his superiors assign to him, he’ll get them completed,” Chan from Hong Kong Baptist College advised DW.
Moreover, Lee additionally vowed to meet the constitutional duty of laws beneath Article 23 of Hong Kong’s Fundamental Regulation, which mandates that town ought to enact its personal set of rules to ban any act of “treason, secession, sedition, or subversion” in opposition to the central authorities in Beijing.
“I feel 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,” mentioned Kwong.
“This stuff make individuals assume that he’s solely going to be Beijing’s puppet and attempt to crack down on civil society and ensure there will be no democracy or freedom in Hong Kong,” she added.
In an try to melt his “powerful” public picture, Lee mentioned on Wednesday that younger individuals arrested through the protest must be given a second probability after finishing their jail phrases.
“For many who have offended, and have already served their time and accomplished their obligation, we must always completely give them the chance to re-enter society and contribute to society,” Lee mentioned on Wednesday.
Fears over Nationwide Safety Regulation
A former British colony, Hong Kong is in contrast to different cities in China. When it was returned to China in 1997, the Sino-British Joint Declaration gave the territory a excessive stage of freedom and autonomy. These priviledges have nonetheless been regularly eroded following two massive protest actions in 2014 and 2019.
Beijing accelerated the tempo of its crackdown on Hong Kong by introducing a controversial Nationwide Safety Regulation, which criminalizes acts of sedition, subversion, collusion and terrorism. Greater than 100 individuals have been arrested beneath the legislation to this point, and several other pro-democracy media shops have been compelled to shut down.
Shifting ahead, Chan from Hong Kong Baptist College says the worldwide neighborhood should not anticipate any change for the higher when it comes to 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 laborious to enhance his picture by talking extra softly and intentionally with respect to free press, the opposition and democracy,” he mentioned.
“Everyone knows that autocrats are fairly good at making these beauty adjustments however in essence, they will not change. In that sense, due to these beauty adjustments, they’re extra decided to implement these powerful measures in opposition to Hong Kong’s civil society,” he added.
John Lee is about to inherit an financial system weakened by strict pandemic measures
Kwong expects Lee to maintain implementing the Nationwide Safety Regulation that was applied in 2020 whereas persevering with the crackdown on freedom of speech. During the last two years, a number of pro-democracy media shops have been compelled to close down following mass arrests of their workers. “He most likely will arrest extra individuals beneath the legislation whereas cracking down on the media much more,” she advised DW.
“The Hong Kong International Correspondents’ Membership’s resolution 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 desires 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 particular person like John Lee would additionally present a way of safety so far as his ambition is anxious,” mentioned Chan.
Lee prone to prioritize Beijing
Aside from the shrinking house for civil society, Lee will inherit an financial system that has been weakened following the imposition of strict pandemic management measures over the past two years.
As Hong Kong’s enterprise neighborhood continues to press the authorities to finish the strict border management, which has primarily remoted Hong Kong from the remainder of the world, Lee mentioned he would make reopening town’s borders with China and the remainder of the world a precedence, in line with the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Put up (SCMP).
“We have to be proactive in maintaining Hong Kong linked with the world and the mainland,” SCMP quoted Lee in its report. Nevertheless, political scientist Chan says Lee continues to be extra prone to prioritize points associated to China over town’s worldwide dimension.
“I imagine John Lee will emphasize how one can 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 mentioned.
“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 prepare 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,” mentioned Kwong.
Chan added that whereas Lee has talked about Hong Kong’s worldwide dimensions, he most likely will not be the very best particular person 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 mentioned.
Edited by: Leah Carter