Hong Kong deputy chief says he plans to run for city’s top job By Reuters

By Clare Jim and Twinnie Siu

HONG KONG (Reuters) -Hong Kong Chief Secretary John Lee, a safety official in the course of the world monetary hub’s extended and infrequently violent 2019 pro-democracy protests, mentioned on Wednesday he had resigned in a bid to run in an election in Could to turn into town’s new chief.

Lee, 64, a former deputy commissioner of police, was promoted to the worldwide monetary hub’s No. 2 function in 2021 in a transfer that some political analysts mentioned signalled Beijing’s priorities for Hong Kong had been safety fairly than the economic system.

“I point out within the letter the rationale for my resignation is that if my resignation is authorized by the Central Individuals’s Authorities, I shall plan to organize to face for the upcoming chief government election,” Lee mentioned at a information convention.

He’s the primary authorities official to announce a bid for the Chinese language-ruled metropolis’s high job, with media reporting that he would be the solely candidate within the chief government election on account of happen on Could 8.

Lee was amongst different senior Hong Kong and Chinese language officers sanctioned by the USA in 2020 for what Washington described as their function in curbing Hong Kong’s freedoms underneath a sweeping nationwide safety regulation imposed on town by Beijing.

Hong Kong and Chinese language authorities deny particular person rights are being eroded and say the safety laws was wanted to revive stability after extended unrest in 2019.

Earlier chief executives had intensive financial and social policy-making experience and Lee was the primary safety official to steer town in his function as chief secretary. Lee’s promotion to town’s No. 2 place noticed police chief Chris Tang take the safety secretary put up beforehand occupied by Lee.

Final yr, as Hong Kong’s safety chief, Lee despatched letters to media tycoon Jimmy Lai and branches of HSBC and Citibank threatening as much as seven years’ jail for any dealings with the billionaire’s accounts within the metropolis, in response to paperwork seen by Reuters.

RISE OF SECURITY OFFICIALS

His bid for town’s high political put up is an indication of the rising energy safety officers are gaining within the former British colony after faithfully implementing Beijing’s new legal guidelines. If profitable, Lee can be the primary particular person with a safety background to steer Hong Kong because it returned to Chinese language rule in 1997.

Lee’s announcement comes two days after incumbent Chief Govt Carrie Lam mentioned she wouldn’t search a second five-year time period, saying “it is time for me to go residence”, after presiding over one of the tumultuous durations in Hong Kong’s historical past.

Earlier chief secretaries had intensive financial and social policy-making experience and Lee is the primary safety official to steer town in his function as chief secretary. Lee’s promotion to town’s No. 2 place noticed police chief Chris Tang take the safety secretary put up beforehand occupied by Lee.

Final yr, Lee led the vetting of candidates for the primary “patriots-only” election for a new-look Legislative Council, the place solely these loyal to Beijing had been allowed to run.

Lee holds a level from Charles Sturt College in Australia, and joined the Hong Kong Police in 1977.

He performed a key function in attempting to implement a contentious proposed extradition regulation in 2019 that divided Hong Kong society and triggered the mass protests. That laws was ultimately scrapped amid widespread public requires Lee to stop.

Some observers of Hong Kong politics describe him as resolute, earnest and environment friendly, however missing a pure really feel for politics.

Recognized for his hawkish stance, Lee had spearheaded town’s disciplinary forces, together with the police, within the nationwide safety crackdown, which noticed mass arrests of democratic activists, politicians, college students and journalists.

In a single high-profile motion this yr, Lee despatched a letter to the Wall Avenue Journal, demanding the newspaper assist, fairly than criticise a raid by 200 police on a liberal media outlet, Stand Information, that led to the arrest of senior editors and the net information portal’s closure.