John Lee, the only candidate for the post of chief executive and favorite of Beijing had supervised the repression during the gigantic pro-democracy demonstrations of 2019.
Former Hong Kong security chief John Lee is set to take charge of the city, his key role in suppressing the pro-democracy movement having made this former street policeman a safe man for Beijing. This designation “violates democratic principles and political pluralism“, denounced Sunday the head of diplomacy of the EU, Josep Borrell.
“The selection process» of this former policeman responsible for the security of the city, «is a new step in the dismantling of the “one country, two systems” principle. Chinese and Hong Kong authorities must respect their national and international commitments“said Josep Borrell on his Twitter account.
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At 64, the only candidate for the post of chief executive of Hong Kong was unanimously appointed on Sunday by a committee of 1,461 personalities acquired in Beijing. Beijing, which hailed this almost unanimous result, seeing it as proof that “Hong Kong society has a high level of recognition and approvalfor John Lee.
John Lee will be Hong Kong’s first leader from a security force background. Coming from the working class, he had started his career as a simple uniformed policeman. After 35 years in the police, he entered government in 2012 and enjoyed a meteoric rise. Local media say of him that he received a “platinum elevator“. He was, since last year, the number two of the executive. The man had notably managed the security of Hong Kong at the time of the gigantic pro-democracy demonstrations of 2019, overseeing the repression of the protest as well as the severe political takeover that followed.
This earned him to appear on a list of Chinese and Hong Kong personalities sanctioned by the United States. But it also allowed him to win the trust of Beijing, which has often suspected Hong Kong elites of disloyalty or incompetence. “John Lee is the one the central government knows best, because he has had constant contact and interaction with mainland China.“, explains to AFP the businessman Michael Tien, pro-Beijing member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. He will begin his five-year term on July 1, the 25th anniversary of the UK’s return of Hong Kong to China.
“Passed the test»
“He’s the man who passed the test“, indicates for his part to AFP Lai Tung-kwok, the predecessor of John Lee at the head of the security of Hong Kong. The arrival of John Lee marks a break with the four chief executives who have preceded him since the return of Hong Kong to Chinese rule in 1997, all from the business world or administration.
John Lee, a Catholic educated by the Jesuits, grew up in the popular district of Sham Shui Po. Promised to study engineering, he gave it up to join the police. He later told a pro-China newspaper that he made this choice out of vocation, after being bullied and beaten by thugs as a child. Married with two sons, the man is discreet about his family. In particular, he refused to say whether she still had British nationality, which he himself renounced when he entered the government.
He promised to makenational securityone of his priorities, auguring the continuation of the campaign of repression of dissent started by his predecessor Carrie Lam. But it is in the field of the economy that he is expected at the turn by the business circles of the world’s third largest financial center, which has practically cut itself off from the world since the start of the pandemic.