Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration Li Ka-chiu (right) and Financial Secretary Paul Chan. (Image source: look at Chinese composite pictures)
[See China March 24, 2022 News](See a comprehensive report by Chinese reporter Li Huaiju)Hong Kong Chief Executive ElectionThe nomination period will open on April 3, and the “True Destiny” will surface soon.Some Hong Kong media have learned that although the epidemic situation in Hong Kong is still severe, Beijing and the Hong Kong government have no intention of rescheduling for the time being. The article predicts that the next Chief Executive or the Financial SecretaryChen Maoboand Chief Secretary for AdministrationLi Jiachaoproduced between. If the two are interested in running, they are likely to announce their resignation next week.
Looking back at the last election, the nomination period opened on February 14, 2017. The then Financial Secretary Tsang Chun-wah who was interested in running for election took the lead in resigning as early as December 12, 2016, but his resignation was not confirmed by the State Council for a long time, until the then Chief Secretary for Administration, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, also announced a month later. They resigned, and their resignations were both accepted by the State Council 4 days later. On the same day, Lam Cheng announced his official candidacy, and Tsang Chun-wah announced his candidacy three days later.
In 2017, Carrie Lam won the chief executive election with 777 votes, beating Tsang Chun-wah. (Image credit: Getty Images)
The Hong Kong establishment media “Hong Kong 01” published an article stating that if the Chief Secretary for Administration or the Financial Secretary intends to compete for the post of Chief Executive this year, they will also follow Carrie Lam and John Tsang in the above-mentioned “trilogy”: 1. Submit Resignation; 2. Acceptance of resignation by the State Council; 3. Announcement of candidacy. The nomination of this year’s chief executive will start on April 3. The article stated that “the current chief executive may resign at any time and compete, detonating the first shock bomb of the chief executive battle”.
As for the current chief executive, 5 people have the highest chance of “getting out of the gate”, namely Margaret Chan, Leung Chun-ying, Ye Liu Shuyi, Chen Maobo and Li Jiachao.
Margaret Chan, 74, is a former WHO director-general and a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. She was previously rumored to have formed a cabinet, but she did not respond. The article broke the news that in the middle of last year, it was learned that a high-level official from Beijing had indeed initially contacted Margaret Chan, asked her intention to run for the chief executive, and encouraged her to use her residual energy to contribute to the country and Hong Kong. However, Chen Feng had no intention of going out because of his advanced age. In other words, Margaret Chan has voluntarily withdrawn.
The former Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has always been eyeing the position of the Chief Executive. It is reported that he had no chance to enter the gate, but he has successfully persuaded the central government to let him compete. However, the article believes that the news does not stand up to research. The reason is that the fifth wave of the epidemic in Hong Kong continues, and Beijing wants to complete the chief executive election in a “quick fight” method, that is, only one person is allowed to run, one person gets enough nominations, and one person is elected. Therefore, the chance of Leung Chun-ying entering the competition is not high.
In February of this year, Tsang Yok-sing, a veteran of Hong Kong’s establishment, also expected that only one person would be allowed to participate in the chief executive election, and he would be automatically elected without competition. He believes that if Beijing has selected the next chief executive, it will announce that all parties will make way for the “true son of the heavens”. If there are more than one person running for the election, there will be fierce competition, resulting in a tear in the establishment camp, and in the vote With the source scattered, there is a risk of candidates who may not be able to obtain more than half of the votes, resulting in the risk of slipping elections. This is absolutely unacceptable to the central government. Therefore, he does not see any benefit from running for more than one person.
In addition, some people from the establishment have analyzed that a group of “Liang fans” (Leung Chun-ying fans) persevere in sniping the Chief Executive Carrie Lam every day. It is right to run for the fight against the epidemic and make suggestions.
As for the New Democracy Party chairman Ye Liu Shuyi, the market is not optimistic. Some senior politicians have analyzed that Zeng Yinquan and Carrie Lam are both chief executives trained by the Administrative Officer (AO, which stands for Administrative Officer) system. Beijing has lost confidence in them and dare not appoint chief executives from AO, and Ye Liu is precisely the government affairs officer. As a representative in the official system, it is expected that Beijing will not choose her.
The remaining two are the current Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Li Ka-chiu, and the Financial Secretary, Mr Chan Mao-po. The article learned that the current two people’s market is the highest, indistinguishable. In his last “Budget” in office, Chen Maobo announced the distribution of HK$10,000 electronic consumer coupons to all Hong Kong people, making his net worth hit a five-year high.
As for Li Jiachao, it is said that he has made great achievements in suppressing the anti-extradition movement and is highly regarded by Beijing. Recently, Li Jiachao has also been very brave. Earlier, he led several directors to Shenzhen to discuss anti-epidemic countermeasures with central officials, showing Beijing’s trust in him. The article predicts that the next chief executive may be born between Chen Maobo and Li Jiachao. If the two are interested in running, they are likely to announce their resignations next week.
It was reported earlier that this year marks the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland. According to the CCP’s practice of “one big celebration in ten years and a small one in five years”, on July 1 this year, Xi Jinping will come to Hong Kong to participate in the celebration and witness the inauguration of the new chief executive. There is also analysis that the CCP implemented the “Hong Kong National Security Law” in Hong Kong earlier and revised the Hong Kong electoral system. According to the CCP’s thinking, Hong Kong has “turned from chaos to governance”. Therefore, Xi Jinping hopes to attend this year’s July 1st celebration as a “winner”. And warm up for the Big Twenty. Therefore, this year’s Hong Kong chief executive election is of great significance to Xi Jinping.
Editor in charge: Li Songer
Short URL for this article:
All rights reserved, any form of reproduction is subject to the authorization of China. It is strictly forbidden to create mirror websites.
[Honorary Member Wanted]Streams can merge into the sea, and small kindness can achieve great love. We sincerely solicit 10,000 honorary members from Chinese people all over the world: each honorary member only needs to pay a subscription fee every year to become an honorary member of the “Watch China” website. Provide independent and true key information, warn them in times of crisis, and save them from the great plague and other social crises.
