Hong Kong, May 8 (FN Agency) Former security chief John Lee has become the new leader of Hong Kong on Sunday, replacing outgoing chief executive Carrie Lam, who served since 2017. Lee has been elected as the chief executive after a closed voting process took place wherein he was the only candidate. He won 1,416 votes of approval from the closed-circle committee of about 1,500 members. Eight voted against him. He ran under the slogan “Starting a new chapter for Hong Kong together”. The 64-year-old’s appointment is being widely seen as a move by the Chinese government to tighten its grip on the city, BBC reported, adding that he is known as a staunch Beijing supporter, who sometimes oversaw violent crackdowns on pro-democracy protestors in 2019.
Lee, who was the former Chief Secretary and the city’s second-highest ranking official, was always tipped to be the favoured replacement for Lam who earlier announced that she would not seek a second term in office. Despite having Beijing’s backing, the newly-elected leader is deeply unpopular for his role in overseeing the crackdown on protestors during demonstrations over a controversial extradition bill in 2019. Lee continued to back the bill despite the unrest, and came under intense criticism for sanctioning the police’s use of water cannons, rubber bullets, tear gas and occasionally live ammunition to disperse protestors, the report said. The US has since imposed sanctions on Lee along with other officials for what they call the undermining of the city’s autonomy during the protests. In June last year, he was appointed Chief Secretary of Administration, the city’s second most powerful position. He held the post for less than a year, before resigning in April to run for the top job.