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Carrie Lam
Hong KongPolitics

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says she scored 96 per cent for policy address promises. Is she right?

  • Chief executive is expected to seek a second term but has so far refused to confirm her candidacy
  • In the midst of the waiting game, Lam decided to dedicate part of her policy address last Wednesday to defending her past achievements

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Illustration: Perry Tse
Natalie WongandChris Lau
With barely six months to go until Hong Kong chooses its next leader, residents still do not know with any certainty who is running. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is expected to seek a second term but has so far refused to confirm her candidacy, effectively ending last week’s policy address, the longest and most ambitious of her political career, with a giant question mark.
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The city’s next leader will be decided by secret ballots cast by 1,500 political elites who have historically voted in Beijing’s interests, a loyalty that was further cemented by the central government’s recent overhaul of the electoral system to ensure only “patriots” can govern. And while Lam has yet to receive the equivalent of the 1996 famous public “symbolic handshake” that then Chinese president Jiang Zemin gave to Tung Chee-hwa, who a year later became the city’s first post-handover leader, it is important to note that neither has anyone else.

Tung Chee-hwa (left) shakes hands with Jiang Zemin back in 1996. Photo: SCMP
Tung Chee-hwa (left) shakes hands with Jiang Zemin back in 1996. Photo: SCMP
In the midst of the waiting game, Lam decided to dedicate part of her policy address last Wednesday to defending her past achievements. Along with her grand 20-year vision to further integrate the city with the national development strategy, she made the bold claim that 96 per cent of more than 900 initiatives proposed in her past four annual addresses had either been “completed or are progressing on schedule”.

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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam gives last policy address of current term, ending on emotional note

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam gives last policy address of current term, ending on emotional note
But political watchers do not agree with that assessment. The report card was not the best measure of her record, analysts across the political spectrum said. Her critics specifically took issue with her alleged lack of initiative to mend the social rift after the 2019 anti-government protests. They accused her of a heavy-handed approach, becoming more pliant towards Beijing rather than protecting the city’s autonomy.

“The metaphor I can think of is she is like the tiger mother of Hong Kong,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a research professor of political science from Baptist University.

Pro-Beijing scholars praised Lam for facilitating the roll-out of the national security law last year and returning the city to peace. But they also did not hold back on their critique of her tenure, echoing the view there was still much to be done to heal societal divisions, especially in helping the underprivileged in substandard housing and narrowing the wealth gap.

Policy shortcomings identified

On specific policies that Lam focused her own report card on, the Post, with the help of a range of experts, reviewed the status of hundreds of those proposals and identified five key areas where promises either failed to materialise or their progress was very far behind schedule.

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