David Dodwell

Inside Out | Can John Lee heal Hong Kong’s deep political, economic and social wounds?

Early progress on urgent issues including the economy, housing and community healing post-2019 will build Lee’s credentials

But restoring Hong Kong’s reputation as ‘Asia’s world city’ will be challenging. And Lee’s advantages – no track record, a clean balance sheet – will not last long

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A live broadcast of an online press conference by chief executive hopeful John Lee is shown in Causeway Bay on April 9. Photo: Dickson Lee

David Dodwell

Published: 4:30pm, 24 Apr 2022

We are calling it an election, but it is light years away from the nail-biting democratic antics in Paris, Pakistan or the Philippines. On May 8, John Lee Ka-chiu, 35-years a police officer, and more recently secretary for security, is set to be confirmed by an Electoral College of 1,454 patriots as Hong Kong’s fifth chief executive.

When the imperative from Beijing is for stability, after 2019’s traumatising street riots and two terrible years hermetically sealed from the world by the Covid-19 pandemic, Lee offers a stability many crave.

Whether he can lift a community out of its deep funk, heal crippling social divisions, revive a seriously injured economy and expunge the pariah status so many in the West have branded on us is another matter.

Lee is an enigma to most Hongkongers. We know next to nothing about his political manifesto. He admits to not knowing much about finance and economics, but sees that as no impediment to leadership. But no one can doubt the stability of his temperament or the steadfastness of his loyalty as a patriot.

He has promised three priorities: enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness; strengthening its foundations for development; and pragmatism: “I have always believed that aside from procedural compliance, our ultimate objective must be to achieve results,” he said. “I intend to effect changes on government philosophy, and ways of doing things, so as to enhance the effectiveness of policy implementation.”

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Hong Kong’s lone chief executive candidate John Lee plans to finish manifesto ‘as soon as possible’

Those learned in deciphering such runic assurances say this means he will reduce bureaucracy and attack the obsessive procrastination that has characterised and hobbled Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s time in office.