Minister reshuffle seen as helping Hong Kong’s John Lee achieve mission critical results

Hong Kong’s leader has replaced his tourism and transport ministers with the aim of “producing better results” on policy priorities that observers described as mission critical to the city as it seeks to recover its visitor numbers and expand its aviation network.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced on Thursday that tourism minister Kevin Yeung Yun-hung would be replaced by director of housing Rosanna Law Shuk-pui, while transport secretary Lam Sai-hung would be succeeded by transport permanent secretary Mable Chan.

Lee praised Chan and Law, each of whom have more than 35 years of government experience, for their “reform mindset” and leadership qualities, saying they demonstrated passion and dedication in delivering policies.

“I appreciate the leadership, the articulation skills and the proactivity of Ms Chan and Ms Law. This is exactly what I need to ensure we will reach the best results and also to ensure good governance,” he said.

“I see the strengths of the two newly appointed secretaries. They will be assisting me more to realise my goal of ensuring results and also doing as much work as possible in the coming years.”

Lee said his decision was made after “a period of observation” on how to make his government more effective in delivering results for residents. He said the government had to make up time lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic and 2019 protests.