A Hong Kong committee stacked with pro-Beijing loyalists has elected an official who oversaw a crackdown on the city’s democracy movement as its next chief executive.
John Lee won 1,416 votes of approval from the 1,500-strong Election Committee on Sunday.
The former secretary for security in Hong Kong ran under the slogan “Starting a new chapter for Hong Kong together” and was the sole candidate in the polls.
His election places a security official in Hong Kong’s top job for the first time.
The 64-year-old was sanctioned by the United States last year for his role in implementing a Beijing-imposed national security law that has crushed the city’s democracy movement.
More than 150 people have been arrested under the legislation, which outlaws secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces to intervene in the city’s affairs. Almost all prominent pro-democracy activists have also been jailed, with others fleeing abroad or being intimidated into silence.
Civil society groups have also been disbanded while liberal media outlets, such as Apple Daily and Stand News, have been shut down.
Chinese authorities say the law is necessary to restore stability after protracted pro-democracy protests in 2019.
Sunday’s vote also followed major changes to Hong Kong’s electoral laws last year to ensure that only “patriots” loyal to Beijing can hold office. The legislature was meanwhile reorganised to all but eliminate opposition voices.
As the Election Committee gathered to cast their ballots on Sunday morning, three members of the League of Social Democrats, a local activist group, protested the election by attempting to march toward the election venue while displaying a banner demanding universal suffrage that would allow Hong Kong residents to vote both for the legislature and the chief executive.
Aljazeera
