Security chief John Lee named Hong Kong No. 2 official amid clampdown

China on Friday promoted Hong Kong’s prime safety official to the territory’s No. 2 spot as Beijing appears to be like to the administration of the Asian monetary hub to clamp down on free speech and political opposition.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam mentioned Secretary for Security John Lee would change Matthew Cheung as town’s chief secretary, whereas police chief Chris Tang would take over Lee’s function. Raymond Siu Chak-yee, Tang’s deputy, will take over as head of the police power.
Hong Kong’s authorities has lengthy been lauded for its professionalism and effectivity, however its picture has been battered in recent times by its response to protests for higher democracy and its enforcement of Beijing’s safety insurance policies. The U.S. and different Western democracies have imposed visa bans and different sanctions on Lam, Lee and different members of the administration.
Violent clashes between police and pro-democracy demonstrators in 2019 prompted the central authorities to undertake a agency line in opposition to political concessions, a coverage seen via by Lam, Lee, Tang and Siu, who made restoring public order their prime precedence.

“They have had distinguished performance in the government over the years and possess proven leadership skills,” Lam mentioned of these promoted. “I am confident that they are competent for their new posts and would rise to the challenges in serving the community.”
Cheung, the previous No. 2, can be retiring from authorities service.
The management adjustments come a 12 months after Beijing imposed a sweeping nationwide safety regulation on the previous British colony and in the future after Hong Kong’s final remaining pro-democracy newspaper, the Apple Daily, printed its closing version
Police froze $2.3 million of the paper’s belongings, searched its workplace and arrested 5 prime editors and executives final week, accusing them of overseas collusion to hazard nationwide safety. It’s founder, Jimmy Lai, is going through fees underneath the nationwide safety regulation for overseas collusion and is presently serving a jail sentence for his involvement in a 2019 pro-democracy protest motion.
Beijing promised Hong Kong might keep its civil liberties for 50 years after the previous British colony was handed over to Chinese rule in 1997, however has primarily deserted that dedication to impose whole political management and finish what it sees as undue overseas affect on the semi-autonomous metropolis’s establishments.
China successfully ended multiparty democracy in Hong Kong by having the ceremonial Chinese legislature impose the nationwide safety regulation with out debate or a vote within the metropolis’s Legislative Council. It then moved to pack the Legislative Council with Beijing loyalists whereas radically lowering the proportion of legislators straight elected by voters.
In latest months, police have arrested a lot of the metropolis’s pro-democracy activists. Most are nonetheless in police custody, whereas others have sought asylum overseas, underneath risk from Lam’s administration for previous statements and actions seen as disloyal to China or in violation of Hong Kong regulation because it now stands.
Despite the overwhelming emphasis on safety, Lam instructed reporters that the function of the chief secretary in serving to oversee town’s every day administration, together with coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, had not modified.

Yet she appeared to acknowledge Beijing’s more and more assertive function in managing town’s affairs and the central authorities’s demand for absolute loyalty from Hong Kong officers and members of the Legislative Council.
“Now today as chief executive, I am responsible not only to Hong Kong but also to the central government, performing national duties, particularly in safeguarding national security,” Lam instructed reporters. “So for people with commitment, integrity, leadership and spirit to serve the nation and Hong Kong … we will put in our best.”