Hong Kong’s new leader, John Lee, was nominated for the territory’s top job on Sunday by a committee packed with pro-Beijing supporters, as the financial center tries to reinvent itself after several years of political tension.
Lee, the only candidate, won the votes of 1,416 members of a pro-Beijing electoral committee, gaining the majority needed to become Hong Kong’s next leader. Only eight voted to “not support it”.
After the vote, Lee said it was his “historic mission” to lead a new chapter for Hong Kong, pledging to unite the city and preserve Hong Kong’s international status as an open and more competitive financial hub linking China and the world. .
Few of the city’s 7.4 million people have a say in choosing their leader, despite promises from China to one day grant full democracy to the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Security was tightened around the site, with police preventing a small group of protesters from approaching.
“We believe that we represent many people of Hong Kong by expressing opposition to this China-style single-candidate election,” said Chan Po-ying, a League of Social Democrats protester, holding a banner demanding full democracy.
Lee, Hong Kong’s former security secretary, forcefully implemented China’s harshest regime under a national security law that was used to arrest dozens of protesters, dissolve civil society groups and shut down liberal media.
Western governments, including the United States, say freedoms and the rule of law have been undermined by security legislation imposed by Beijing in 2020.
However, Lee reiterated China’s view that the law is needed to restore stability after protracted pro-democracy protests in 2019, avoiding questions about whether he would seek reconciliation with supporters of the democratic opposition and those arrested.
“Saving our country’s sovereignty, national security and development interests, and protecting Hong Kong from internal and external threats and ensuring its stability will continue to be of paramount importance,” Lee told reporters.
Source: CNN Brasil
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