Last week, the person who led the crackdown stepped onto a stage to put out his imaginative and prescient for Hong Kong — this time not as town’s safety chief, however its subsequent chief.
In what the federal government billed as an “open, simply and sincere” election, a largely government-appointed, pro-Beijing committee of 1,461 folks appointed the following chief for town’s 7.5 million residents on Sunday. Lee was the one particular person within the working, in distinction to earlier years that noticed run-offs between a number of candidates.For many, Lee’s ascension speaks volumes in regards to the path Hong Kong — as soon as world-renowned for its strong press, flourishing civil society and democratic aspirations — is headed. Lee has already indicated that he’ll look to introduce additional nationwide safety laws and probably a legislation in opposition to pretend information.To Nathan Law, a human rights activist and former native lawmaker now in self-exile in Britain, it appears “very apparent” why Lee is tipped for the position.
“It actually indicators (authorities) are intensifying that heavy-handed method to Hong Kong, and placing the so-called nationwide safety as their coverage for governing town,” Law mentioned.
An increase years within the making
The forces behind Lee’s rise to town’s prime job might be traced again almost half a century.
Lee joined the Hong Kong police pressure as a 19-year-old recruit in 1977 as town — then a British colony — underwent an financial transformation into a contemporary monetary middle.
He rose by way of the ranks and was promoted to chief superintendent in 1997 — the identical yr Britain handed town to China in a pomp-filled ceremony watched world wide.
Since that watershed yr, activists like Law say they’ve watched Hong Kong’s freedoms be squeezed ever tighter. All the whereas, Lee continued gaining prominence, turning into deputy commissioner, the second-highest place within the police pressure, by 2010.
Just two years after that, he joined town’s Security Bureau as under-secretary. To some, the appointment of a high-ranking police officer to a key authorities workplace was an announcement of intent.
“We have been already actually nervous about that, as a result of that actually signaled a change in Hong Kong’s coverage, altering it in a seemingly extra suppressive manner,” Law mentioned.
By 2016, when Law was elected into the legislature, Lee “was already notoriously troublesome to cope with” and appeared hostile to any journalists or opposition lawmakers who raised questions or challenges, Law mentioned.
Lee’s supporters have disputed this characterization, sustaining his time within the police pressure helped put together him for a public workplace.
One pro-Beijing lawmaker, Ma Fung-kwok, mentioned Lee had demonstrated “management abilities” in his dealing with of the protests and the pandemic, in accordance with public broadcaster RTHK. Another, Jeffrey Lam, mentioned Lee had “solved many circumstances” within the police pressure and might cooperate with “different sectors within the society.”
At a quick political rally on Friday, Lee, whose slogan is “We and us — a brand new chapter collectively,” pressured the significance of neighborhood and promised to “make Hong Kong a spot of hope” as soon as appointed.
CNN has reached out to Lee’s marketing campaign workforce for remark.
The 2019 protests
Lee’s rise continued when he was appointed safety chief in 2017 — the “starting of a altering pattern,” mentioned Joseph Cheng, a retired Hong Kong tutorial and pro-democracy activist now primarily based in New Zealand.
“Beijing appears to be emphasizing loyalty extra, or the aptitude of implementing a tough line — due to this fact, senior officers from the disciplinary forces seem to occupy a extra advantageous place,” Cheng mentioned.
It was underneath Lee’s tenure that the Security Bureau launched the controversial extradition invoice that led to the protests in 2019.
Critics anxious Beijing may use the invoice to prosecute Hong Kong residents for political causes underneath China’s opaque authorized system.
With the Hong Kong authorities standing agency on the invoice regardless of public objections, the protests shortly expanded right into a broader pro-democracy, anti-government motion. Fears have been underpinned by widespread nervousness about Beijing’s rising affect and the perceived erosion of Hong Kong’s cherished semi-autonomous standing, which allowed it the freedoms of press, speech and meeting that had lengthy been central to its worldwide enchantment.
Withdrawing the invoice was simply considered one of 5 common calls for by protesters; others included common suffrage and accountability from police, who confronted accusations of brutality they’ve denied.
At the peak of the disaster, protesters and police clashed almost each week, with demonstrators lobbing bricks and Molotov cocktails and officers responding with tear gasoline, rubber bullets, and at occasions reside ammunition. The violence polarized town, cementing the breakdown in belief between the general public and the authorities.
Through all of it, Lee praised his officers as “brave” and condemned protesters as “radicals” who have been sowing “terror.” When a whole lot of protesters — many highschool college students — occupied a college for greater than per week, police laid siege to the campus with Lee declaring: “We will arrest all of them.”
Lee has repeatedly defended the pressure’s actions, insisting critics have to “take into consideration the (previous occasions), in any other case it is not going to be honest.”
“I’m pleased with the Hong Kong police pressure. They stay Asia’s most interesting … Compared to what they do with legislation enforcement companies abroad, I feel they’ve exercised restraint. They have minimized the hurt and accidents to everyone,” he mentioned in September 2019.
Long arm of the nationwide safety legislation
Lee gained native prominence for his position in combating the protests — however his implementation of the nationwide safety legislation cemented his status as a hardline enforcer and Beijing loyalist.
The safety legislation was promulgated by Beijing in June 2020, throughout a lull within the protests introduced by the Covid-19 pandemic. Described by the Hong Kong authorities on the time as “a vital step to ending chaos,” the legislation criminalizes secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with international forces — and permits for optimum sentences of life imprisonment.
In an on the spot, Hong Kong’s social and political panorama was remodeled, and inside months, lots of the metropolis’s main pro-democracy figures have been both in jail or exile.Under the safety legislation, Lee oversaw the mass arrest of opposition figures in 2021, accusing them of making an attempt to “paralyze the Hong Kong authorities” by organizing a pro-democracy major election.He ordered a police raid on Hong Kong’s greatest pro-democracy newspaper, Apple Daily, which was subsequently pressured to close after its property have been frozen and several other staff arrested underneath the safety legislation.
Per week after the raid, Lee was promoted to chief secretary — the second-highest place in authorities — and the primary time a safety official has taken the position.
Experts say Lee’s suppression of the protests and assist for nationwide safety is exactly why he now finds himself town’s subsequent chief.
“(This is) the reward for loyalty,” mentioned Cheng, the activist and former tutorial.
Supporters of the safety legislation insist it has helped set up stability within the wake of the violence and political unrest of 2019. “People’s lives and property are protected, they usually can as soon as once more get pleasure from their reliable rights and freedoms,” a authorities spokesperson mentioned in April in response to a query on the legislation.
But Lee’s affiliation with the legislation has been met with growing scrutiny overseas. He was amongst almost a dozen folks sanctioned by the US in 2020 for undermining town’s autonomy and democratic processes — which Lee has scoffed at, not too long ago calling the sanctions “unreasonable” and “acts of bullying.”
He has additionally continued to defend the legislation, in addition to latest electoral adjustments that positioned him on the head of a vetting committee to display all candidates, guaranteeing solely “patriots” can be allowed to run for workplace.
The nationwide safety legislation “has restored peace,” Lee instructed the United Nations Human Rights Council in March, decrying the 2019 protests as “evil” and lauding “the improved electoral system.”
“No nation has a monopoly on the mannequin of democracy,” he added.
What this implies for Hong Kong
Lee has already made clear the sort of authorities he’ll form: one with more and more shut ties to mainland China.
At the revealing of his coverage manifesto on April 29, Lee emphasised the necessity to combine Hong Kong with different economically vital Chinese cities. There was no English translation supplied, regardless of English being considered one of Hong Kong’s two official languages — in putting distinction to most authorities occasions to this point.
He additionally vowed to bolster safety laws and introduce “nationwide id” training. Both proposals have lengthy been controversial, with earlier makes an attempt to introduce laws foiled by protests and pushback — a lot to Beijing’s frustration.
Lee has additionally beforehand voiced assist for a “pretend information” legislation — prompting fears the reins will solely tighten on what stays of town’s media and civil teams. Last week, town’s press freedom rating plunged to a document low of 148 amongst 180 areas, in comparison with its rating of 73rd in 2019.
Despite this, the outgoing Chief Executive Lam continues to say that Hong Kong’s media sphere is “as vibrant as ever,” although she warned final week that “media organizations should not above the legislation … together with the nationwide safety legislation.”
Lee may even need to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic, with endurance fraying amongst many in Hong Kong after greater than two years of stringent restrictions in accordance with China’s unbending zero-Covid coverage.
At his coverage manifesto occasion, Lee asserted that “sooner or later (the virus) will likely be underneath management,” and that he would design measures to permit companies to function.
Cheng, the pro-democracy activist who moved to New Zealand, sees the long run as being “the continuation of the laborious line of the previous two years.”
“There isn’t any toleration of political opposition … there will likely be little or no tolerance of an unbiased media, and little or no tolerance for the operation of civil society organizations,” Cheng mentioned.
When requested by CNN about accusations of diminished political freedoms, a authorities spokesperson responded that the rights of Hong Kong residents are “protected in accordance with the legislation” — however that “many freedoms and rights should not absolute, and might be restricted for causes together with safety of nationwide safety and public security.”
Disillusionment and emigration
Among former activists and pro-democracy supporters, there is a sense of despair as Lee prepares to take workplace.
The circumstances of his choice, with Lee as the only contender showered with reward by pro-Beijing lawmakers, reduce significantly deep for a lot of of those that as soon as marched to demand better democratic freedoms.
“It’s undoubtedly not, by any means or any parameters, a democratic (course of),” mentioned Law, the previous lawmaker. “It’s actually simply an appointment. I do not actually name it an election.”
Lee has dodged questions on whether or not he was handpicked by the central Chinese authorities, saying in April he welcomed anyone else who wished to run.
He has since obtained endorsements from main institution figures, together with two former police commissioners and two former safety chiefs, RTHK reported.
After the turmoil of the previous three years, even a brand new administration is unlikely to bridge the damaged relationship between the federal government and its folks, mentioned John Burns, emeritus professor on the University of Hong Kong.
“There is a big share of the inhabitants that’s alienated and indignant,” he mentioned, pointing to mass emigration as “proof of alienation … of a sick society.”
Locals, expatriates and international corporations are leaving town in droves. More than 100,000 Hong Kongers utilized for a brand new visa providing a path to citizenship in Britain final yr; and in February and March alone this yr, greater than 180,000 folks left town whereas solely about 39,000 entered, in accordance with immigration information.
While Hong Kong’s harsh Covid restrictions are serving to drive this exodus, Lee’s critics say that so too is the crackdown on civil liberties he enforced.
Asked about this on April 29, Lee brushed it off. He claimed Hong Kong had at all times seen excessive ranges of mobility, and that its proximity to the mainland market would proceed to draw companies.
“We are an inclusive metropolis,” he instructed reporters. “Together, we begin a brand new chapter for Hong Kong.”