Beijing-Backed Carrie Lam Selected as Hong Kong’s Next Leader

Hundreds of pro-democracy activists marched through the streets of Hong Kong on Saturday demanding universal suffrage.

Former chief secretary Lam was heavily rumoured as Beijing’s favoured candidate over the past two months, and some electors claimed before election day they were pressured to vote for her.

She will take over from current leader Leung Chun-ying who is not seeking a second term, citing family reasons.

Some pro-democracy supporters, who are calling for a public vote, heckled from the official seating area and held up a yellow umbrella, the symbol of the 2014 protests, as the results were announced.

Joshua Wong, who led the 2014 protests, has refused to back any candidate and will be protesting outside the election venue. Another contender, retired judge Woo Kwok-hing, took 21 votes.

But the China analyst Ma Ngok told SBS News that Lam will be remembered “as someone who was not elected with a popular vote, only with strong control from Beijing”.

Quite ironically, the discrepancy between the popularity of one – John Tsang – and the certainty of the victory of the other – Carrie Lam – is in itself proving more stimulating than disheartening. “[Lam] will inherit an economy facing both cyclical and structural headwinds and a political environment where tensions are high”, said Chang Liu, a China economist at research company Capital Economics, ahead of the election. He wrote on social media: “People without a vote were booing at the results”.

Zhang Xiaoming, the head of the Liaison Office in Hong Kong, China’s main representative office in the city, has dismissed accusations of electoral manipulation.

In November a year ago, a Hong Kong court disqualified Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching after they used anti-China insults when they were being sworn into office.

Many Hong Kong people believe Beijing broke its word.

Her resignation from her position as deputy leader in January, a move that signalled her candidacy, was quickly endorsed by Beijing.

In an advertisement in the South China Morning Post on Friday, Mrs Lam said “it is critical and urgent” that Hong Kongers set aside their differences and “come together” for the city they love.

The victor is to be chosen by a 1,200-person “election committee” stacked with pro-Beijing and pro-establishment loyalists. This election was dominated by contenders from the establishment and pro-Beijing camp.

Hong Kong is governed under the principle of “one country, two systems”, under which China has agreed to give the region semi-autonomous status since its 1997 handover from Britain. The ruling Communist Party in Beijing has repeatedly reiterated its support for Hong Kong’s embattled leader.

In August 2014, Beijing issued a white paper on the territory’s future that many Hong Kong people saw as a step too far.