Hong Kong Whimpers as New Chief Executive Announced

Hong Kong woke to an unusually wet and cold day on March 26, 2017. Rain drizzled and temperatures plummeted as an election took place to vote in the city’s new chief executive. Unlike other elections around the world, however, there wasn’t much of a buzz beyond the small circles of political purists and local journalists. By early afternoon, it was revealed that Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, 69, would be the next chief executive of Hong Kong.

The lackluster interest in the election may come as a surprise to those unfamiliar with Hong Kong politics, but the new chief executive is not exactly voted in. Rather the highest office of Hong Kong is selected by an elite “Election Committee” made up of 1,194 predominantly pro-Beijing politicians and business sector representatives. That means the public does not have a direct, or even indirect, say in who will govern Hong Kong for the next five years. 

Given the circumstances, Lam was always going to be the next chief executive. Beijing made no secret that they had been backing her in the months leading up to the elections, giving her favorable and lenient treatment on the campaign trail as well as several trips to Beijing to liaise with her future superiors. No other candidate was privy to the same attention. Lam’s next closest competitor was her former colleague in the outgoing CY Leung administration, former Finance Secretary John Tsang. Considered a moderate pro-Beijing representative, Tsang overwhelmingly won the battle for public opinion as well as the support of the pro-democracy camp. There was hope in some quarters that Beijing would switch their approval, and the pressure on sector representatives that comes with that approval, to Tsang, a moderate and equally viable alternative. To his supporters, Tsang is a leader in the true sense of the word, not a Hong Kong-based mouthpiece for China (as many perceive Lam to be).

However, it appears Beijing has stuck to its traditional strategy of rewarding only those that obey the mainland’s exact orders. While the result was expected, Lam has inherited a workload that goes beyond just the governance of Hong Kong. There will be no honeymoon period. Lam will not only need to immediately address the perennial housing shortage crisis and the continuing decline of Hong Kong as a global business hub, but she will also be expected to help push Beijing’s agenda of winning the hearts and minds of the local population. Following the last five tumultuous years of Hong Kong governance under Leung, Lam will have the weight of Beijing’s expectations on her shoulders.

Beijing’s soft agenda is a necessity if it can truly claim to reign sovereign over the territory. Article 45 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong states the "ultimate aim is the selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures.” And despite the authoritarian state that the world takes China for, it is an administration that understands the importance of the letter of the law. This has been especially apparent in Hong Kong especially with regards to the “one country, two systems” concept.

On August 31, 2014 the National People’s Congress Standing Committee imposed a standard that “the chief executive shall be a person who loves the country and loves Hong Kong” and proposed that each candidate would be selected by a nominating committee. This led to the Umbrella Movement protests later that year, and a major setback to China’s efforts in taming the people of Hong Kong. Undoubtedly, this ruling was the seed of the discontent that spread through Hong Kong and led to the rise of the youth-driven localist movement, and the demands for independence from an increasingly vocal subsector of the political landscape. It was also this ruling that would ensure CY Leung became the most disliked chief executive of Hong Kong to date.

The chief executive election provides the most accurate, and perhaps the most important measure, of how far the apple of Hong Kong has fallen away from its originally British system of governance. Hong Kong is also a very good demonstration of China’s preferred soft power tactics. Beijing has chosen not to pursue the populist route. Instead, by design or otherwise, China has used its control of state enterprises and vast amounts of money to influence the capitalist lifeblood of Hong Kong. For almost two decades, this undercurrent of influence has been slowly but surely creeping into the minds of corporate boards, affecting revenues and balance sheets. Together with stellar economic growth and surging housing prices, this tactic proved to be enough to sustain control over the city. But as economic growth stalls, and housing prices grow beyond the reach of the local population, how much longer will this cloud of influence be effective?

Beijing will expect the new leader to do what CY Leung couldn’t do: Unite the people of Hong Kong and make them fall into line with the rest of China under the rule of Beijing. So far, Lam does not seem to have fully grasped this concept. Just prior to the election, Lam dismissively canceled a visit to Tin Shui Wai, located on the border with China. Known as the “saddest town in Hong Kong,” it is one of Hong Kong’s poorest districts. Her campaign team told a local newspaper that Lam canceled on the account that she was too tired to be travelling to such a faraway place. Instead she chose to focus on an interview with a pro-Beijing newspaper. This caused a significant public backlash, with local community groups saying she had “no integrity” and earning her the label of CY 2.0, a reference to the previous chief executive.

By the end of the election count, it was confirmed that Lam had won with 777 votes. Local journalists were chuckling in the cordoned-off media section. The number “7” is phonetically similar to an often-used Cantonese slang term that references a flaccid phallus. By day’s end, the internet was already abuzz with posts making fun of the new chief executive.

More rain and dark clouds are in the forecast. Lam will need to learn to weather the oncoming storm.