In Hong Kong, ex-security chief John Lee will be appointed the city’s chief executive on Sunday by a small committee of loyalists. Lee, 64, a former police officer, is the only candidate to replace outgoing government leader Carrie Lam. Rather, she decided not to pursue a second mandate.
The new head of government is elected in Hong Kong by a committee of some 1,500 loyalists of the Chinese regime. The pro-democracy demonstrators wanted to change that, but have since been silenced. In the absence of rivals, Lee is confident he will secure the necessary majority in this morning’s local time vote.
According to local media, about 7,000 police officers were mobilized to prevent incidents during the nomination process.
John Lee was Hong Kong’s security chief at the time of the massive pro-democracy protests in 2019. In that capacity, he oversaw the crackdown on the protests and the political takeover that followed.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam is not going for a second term
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