Hong Kong ready to choose ‘new leader’

Large protests expected

HONG KONG, March 25, (Agencies): A small electoral college chooses a new Hong Kong leader on Sunday amid accusations of meddling by Beijing, denying the Chinese-ruled financial hub a more populist leader perhaps better suited to defuse political tension.

The vast majority of the city’s 7.3 million people have no say in their next leader, with the winner to be chosen by a 1,200-person “election committee” stacked with pro-Beijing and proestablishment loyalists.

Three candidates are running for the top post, two former officials, Carrie Lam and John Tsang, and a retired judge, Woo Kwok-hing. Lam is considered the favourite.

“I hope we all remember on March 24, 2017, we hong Kong people have all come together and given our most sincere blessings for a more united, a better Hong Kong,” Tsang told a rally of thousands of cheering supporters on Friday night.

Mass protests are planned over the weekend denouncing Beijing’s “interference” in the election amid widespread reports of lobbying of the 1,200 voters to back Lam, rather than the more populist and conciliatory former finance chief, Tsang.

Since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997, Beijing has gradually increased control over the territory even though Beijing promised wide-ranging freedoms and autonomy under the formula of “one country, two systems”, along with an undated promise of universal suffrage.

Lam

Policies

Many fear that Lam will continue the tough policies of staunchly pro-Beijing incumbent Leung Chun-ying, a divisive figure who ordered the firing of tear-gas on pro-democracy protesters in 2014 and who wasn’t seen to be defending Hong Kong’s autonomy and core values.

The political upheavals with Beijing over the city’s autonomy and democratic reforms — that many hoped would have allowed a direct election this time round — have roiled a new generation and weighed on the city’s economy, ranked 33rd globally by the World Bank in 2015.

Political and social divisions, mainly over democracy and anxieties over China’s creeping influence, have dominated political debate leading to some legislative and policy-making paralysis and the stalling of major projects, including a cultural hub and high-speed rail link to China.

Businesses have also faced growing competition from mainland Chinese firms in core sectors like services and property. Housing prices, now among the world’s highest, are widely seen to have been jacked up by an unrelenting wave of buying from rich Chinese, intensifying anti-China sentiment.

Many observers, leading businessmen and politicians have warned Hong Kong can’t afford another period of upheaval if the city is to regain its former capitalist mojo.

Beijing’s shadowy detention of five Hong Kong booksellers in late 2015, and the disappearance of a Chinese billionaire this year, have also undermined confidence in “one country, two systems” formula.

While Beijing hasn’t explicitly backed any candidate, senior officials have stressed certain conditions must be met including a new leader having the “trust” of China’s Communist leaders.

“Just because a candidate is leading popularity polls doesn’t necessarily mean you should vote for (that person),” said Leung Chun-ying on Friday.

Nearly 2,000 police will be stationed around the harbourfront voting centre in case of any unrest.

A closer look at each potential replacement to unpopular incumbent Leung Chun-ying, whose term ends in June:

Loyal

— A lifelong civil servant who rose to Hong Kong’s second-highest office, former Chief Secretary Carrie Lam is Beijing’s preference. She’s seen as loyal to China’s Communist leaders yet without the polarizing persona of her former boss Leung, whose initials inspired Lam’s nickname of C.Y. 2.0. During the 2014 pro-democracy protests, Lam led the government debaters who faced off on television against the movement’s student-activist leaders.

Lam, 59 and a devout Catholic, was once one of Hong Kong’s most popular government officials but her attempts to connect with ordinary people have reduced her support in opinion polls. She was the last candidate to set up an official Facebook page, which then drew a flood of angry emojis. She burnished her pro-Beijing credentials with one of her final acts as chief secretary in December, when she suddenly announced that Hong Kong’s new arts hub would include a branch of Beijing’s palace museum, a decision that lacked public input.

— John Tsang, 65, has been dubbed “Mr Pringles” or “Uncle Chips” in Cantonese because his signature moustache lends him a resemblance to the snack food mascot. In turn, his fans call themselves “small potatoes.” He was Hong Kong’s financial secretary before quitting in December to campaign for the leadership, but Beijing didn’t approve his resignation for weeks, a sign taken by observers that he wasn’t in favor. Lam’s resignation, in contrast, was approved in days.

Tsang, a fencing and martial arts enthusiast, moved to the US when he was 13 and earned degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard before returning to Hong Kong. He’s one of Hong Kong’s most popular officials, thanks to his easygoing persona; a few years ago he was hit on the head by an egg thrown by a protester aiming for Leung but merely shrugged it off, joking that he wasn’t wearing a good suit. His detractors have criticized him for vastly underestimating Hong Kong’s budget surplus for most of the nine years he was budget secretary as well as failing to use the Asian financial hub’s massive stash of capital reserves effectively.

— Woo Kwok-hing is a retired High Court judge who was unknown to most Hong Kongers until he declared his candidacy. Woo, 71, has little experience in politics and public administration aside from 13 years as chairman of the Hong Kong commission overseeing election affairs.