Hong Kong's elite join leadership candidate's campaign as Beijing watches
20/04/2022 05:55
HONG KONG, April 20 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's sole leadership
candidate John Lee has picked nearly 150 heavyweights, including
the city's richest man Li Ka-shing and other powerful
businessmen and politicians, to join his advisory teams to show
broad support for his bid.
Lee, the former No.2 official of the Asian financial hub, is
set to replace Chief Executive Carrie Lam on July 1 with backing
from Beijing.
"The members have rich experience and contribution to the
society...they will be helpful to the platform drafting and
other work in the future," Lee's campaign office director Tam
Yiu-chung told reporters on Wednesday.
Lee is expected to announce his platform later this month,
media reports said, ahead of the election on May 8.
Since Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in
1997, there have been four chief executives, all of whom have
struggled to balance the democratic aspirations of some
residents with the vision of China's Communist leaders.
All of the city's leaders have been backed by Beijing and
chosen by an "election committee" stacked with Beijing
loyalists.
Among Lee's 58-member campaign advisory team are the city's
biggest property tycoons, including CK Asset's 1113.HK Li
Ka-shing, Henderson Land Development's 0012.HK Lee Shau Kee,
Sun Hung Kai Properties' 0016.HK Raymond Kwok and New World
Development's 0017.HK Henry Cheng.
Other advisers include former World Health Organization
director general Margaret Chan, chairman of electricity company
CLP Holdings 0002.HK Michael Kadoorie, and casino magnate Lui
Che-woo.
Apart from the advisory team that serves a honorary role,
there is also a 90-member presidium that Lee is consulting to
draft his platform.
The presidium includes former Hong Kong chief secretary and
a standing committee member of China's top advisory body the
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Henry Tang,
business magnate Allan Zeman, former director of Public
Prosecutions Grenville Cross, former chief executive of Hong
Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) 0388.HK Charles Li, as well
as movie star Jackie Chan.
Lee has secured 786 nominations from the 1,500 members of
the election committee in charge of selecting Hong Kong's new
leader, higher than the 188 nominations required to run.
A former career police officer, Lee is widely expected to
prioritise security issues if he gets the top job, having
previously urged new legislation to fully implement a sweeping
national security law Beijing imposed on the city in 2020.
Lee said he will be the conductor to "a new symphony" early
this month when he announced his candidacy. He said loyalty to
China's central government was a priority for any chief
executive and part of his platform will include accelerating
plans to resolve the city's chronic housing shortage.
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(Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Kim Coghill)
((clare.jim@thomsonreuters.com;))