Li Ka-shing, the 93-year-old founder of Cheung Kong, will not sign up for the election committee. This will be the first time he has not voted for the chief executive. (Photo credit: Dario Cantatore/Getty Images)
[See China News on August 12, 2021](See a comprehensive report by Chinese reporter He Jiahui) Beijing revisedHong Kong electionThe first election after the system-Chief Executive Election Committee (hereinafter referred to asElection Committee) The election will be held in September this year, and the nomination period will end on August 12.According to sources, the 93-year-old founder of Cheung KongLi Ka ShingWill not sign up for the election, it will be the first time he does not voteChief Executive. From the chief executive’s “king-maker” to no longer voting, the analysis believes that Li Ka-shing’s fading out highlights the earth-shaking changes in Hong Kong’s political environment, which discouraged the rich and refused to go to the political turmoil.
On August 11, the day before the end of the nomination period of the Election Committee, many Hong Kong media including Zhongxin News quoted news that Li Ka-shing, a senior consultant from the Changhe Department, would not sign up for the “participation” for the election committee of the real estate and construction industry. The source explained that Li Ka-shing has reached the age of 93. After he retired as the chairman of Changhe in 2018, he has indicated that he will only continue public welfare undertakings.
According to the provisional voter register, Li Ka-shing is an authorized representative of the CKH Holdings Company, who has become a voter in the real estate sector and has the right to vote for the election committee of the real estate sector. The official media of the Liaison Office of the Liaison Office, “Wenhui.com,” has recently hyped “the business community actively participates in the registration of Li Ka-shing and his son as voters.” But in fact, with Li Ka-shing not running for the election committee, he will not vote for the next chief executive for the first time. In addition to electing the Chief Executive, the members of the Election Committee will also elect 40 members of the Legislative Council.
As for Li Ka-shing’s two sons, Li Zeju, the eldest son and chairman of the department, is a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee. It is expected that he will become an “official committee member” in the CPPCC sector; Zhao Guoxiong, the executive director of Cheung Kong, has signed up for election as a committee member a few days ago.
All previous chief executive elections have a vote
Li Ka-shing has a huge influence in politics and business circles, and also plays an important role in the political arena. He was already a member of the Chief Executive Selection Committee before the transfer of sovereignty, and he was part of the selection of Tung Chee-hwa, the first chief executive of Hong Kong. After that, in 2000, 2006, 2012, and 2016, they voted as the preferred committee of the real estate and construction sector. He once expressed his support for Tung Chee-hwa, Tsang Yinquan, Tang Yingnian and Liang Zhenying in 2012, he supported Tang Yingnian, who was ultimately unsuccessful. In 2017, Carrie Lam ran for chief executive. His opponent was former Financial Secretary Tseng Junhua. Li Ka-shing only said at the time that he would vote for the candidate for chief executive trusted by the central government.
After the implementation of the “National Security Law”, Beijing drastically changed Hong Kong’s electoral system, and the business community was forced to state its stance. Li Ka-shing himself has not directly commented on Beijing’s revision of Hong Kong’s electoral system. After the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress approved the amendment to the election system on March 30 this year, it took two days for the Cheung Kong Group to publish half-page advertisements in Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao to express its “full support”, one day later than the other three real estate developers.
Sympathetic young people attacked by extreme leftists
In recent years, Hong Kong’s politics has fallen into unprecedented turmoil, and the big businessmen headed by Li Ka-shing have become scrupulous. During the Anti-Communist Movement in 2019, the pro-communist camp in Hong Kong did not speak out against the business community, and even questioned their “sympathy for young people.” Wu Qiubei, a representative of the National People’s Congress and chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions, publicly satirized Li Ka-shing as the “king of Xunling” in September last year (Editor’s note: pro-communist factions often refer to young demonstrators as “Xunling” (cockroaches)); the two sessions in February this year Earlier, Wu Qiubei wrote another article saying that those with vested interests “collaborated secretly with the opposition.” “The opposition is just the skin, and the big consortium is the core.” This made the talk of “fighting the landlords” very raging.
Qian Zhijian, a senior hedge fund manager in Hong Kong and the convener of the “2047 Hong Kong Supervision”, was interviewed by “Looking at China” and pointed out that since the Chaozhou native Li Ka-shing belongs to the “Teochow-owned Societies General Association” who lost his seat on the election committee, Li Ka-shing no longer participates in the election. Well, the news is still shocking. He believes that among the established businessmen in Hong Kong, Li Ka-shing never “stepped on” (belittled) young people from the Umbrella Movement to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance to the National Security Law. People are the masters of the future, and he understands this very well… Li Ka-shing has done a lot more to help young people than other rich men.”
The situation in Hong Kong has changed drastically
Current affairs commentator Wu Zhisen commented on the incident on his personal website, saying that in the past, Li Ka-shing’s vote for the chief executive was like a “magnet”, attracting many other votes, and even some professional circles that depended on him for food, such as accountants and lawyers, received votes. The impact has a large radiation range. Now he no longer votes for the chief executive, I believe there are four main reasons behind it.
First, the situation in Hong Kong has changed tremendously. Li Ka-shing is regarded as a controversial figure. People look under the microscope… he wants to fade out of China and Hong Kong politics, not starting today.” Today, Hong Kong’s society is turbulent, coupled with the implementation of the National Security Law, and Li Ka-shing, who once persuaded the ruling party to open up to young people, has also been criticized by Hong Kong’s ultra-leftists as the “King of Songs”, “How do you think he feels? Will it show up to play politics?” So Li Ka-shing chose not to “political confuse” in Hong Kong anymore.
Beijing uproots the “king makers”
The second reason Wu Zhisen believes is related to the decreasing influence of the business community in elections. After Beijing revised the Hong Kong election system, the role of the real estate consortium headed by Li Ka-shing as the chief executive of the “king maker” was greatly weakened. In the past, the real estate consortium was able to influence up to two or three hundred votes in the 1,200 candidate committee. “It means that candidates for the chief executive have to ask for nominations and votes from these consortiums. There are two stages of nomination and voting, and candidates have to commit to these consortiums. Many things.” But at the feet of the emperor, “there is no two days, there is only one sun.” The new chief executive election method will uproot the “king makers”, including the expansion of the 1,200 election committee to 1,500; To obtain 1/8 election committee nomination, now it is necessary to obtain no less than 15 nominations in each sector, and can no longer be concentrated in a single sector. “Many analysts believe that this new design is to completely reduce the influence of the four major real estate families.” At this time, it is meaningless to participate in the election.
National security review and forced allegiance to push away the rich?
The third reason Wu Zhisen believes is related to the fact that candidates are required to submit materials to the “Qualification Review Committee” for review. Under the new election system, candidates have to fill in a lot of sensitive information, including the nationalities of themselves and their spouses, how many passports they have, and whether they have BNO (British National Overseas Passport), etc., to check whether the candidates have “double allegiance”; Lin Zheng Yue’e also stated that if the committee has doubts about the candidate, it will hand it over to the National Security Office for follow-up. “Da Masha (the rich man) would still be willing to open his belly and let you see everything? … People who are really rich will not play this game.”
At the same time, the authorities require members of the Election Committee to swear allegiance to the SAR and uphold the Basic Law. At present, one item has been added to Taiwan’s immigration form, asking whether Hong Kong applicants are public officials and whether they have taken an oath, etc., proving that the issue of “dual allegiance” has become a concern. Li Ka-shing has Canadian nationality and many assets in foreign countries and the United Kingdom. The telecommunications, energy and even real estate investments he invests in are all sensitive industries and face strict foreign scrutiny. Obstacles to investing overseas?” This new “level” might make him even more reluctant to play this game.
Source: Look at China
Short URL of this article:
All rights reserved, any form of reprinting requires Chinese authorization. It is strictly forbidden to establish a mirror website.
[Honorary Member Wanted]Streams can merge into the sea, and small kindness can achieve great love. We sincerely recruit 10,000 honorary members from Chinese people around the world: each honorary member only needs to pay one subscription fee per year, and becoming an honorary member of the “Watch China” website can help us break through the censorship and blockade, and provide at least 10,000 mainland Chinese compatriots Provide independent and true key information to warn them in times of crisis and save them from the great plague and other social distress.
.