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The Role of the Chief Executive

History of Carrie Lam's time as Chief Executive and what you need to know about John Lee and his history as Chief Secretary Administrator


On April 4, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced that she will not participate in re-election due to family reasons and the views of her family members. Her term as the chief executive will end on June 30, 2022, and she will become the second Chief Executive not to seek to be re-elected.


Carrie Lam, as Chief Executive, in 2021
"Her term as the chief executive will end on June 30, 2022, and she will become the second Chief Executive not to seek to be re-elected."

Lam was born in 1957 in a normal family and graduated from The University of Hong Kong in 1980. After graduation, she joined the civil service and became the executive of the Social Welfare Department in 2000. In 2012, she was appointed as the Chief Secretary for Administration. She managed the 2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform during her term of office. In January 2017, Lam resigned to participate in the election for Chief Executive, competing with Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah. During the election, there was a rumor that Lam was decided inside the communist party; as a result, she was elected as the Chief Executive on March 31, 2017, although the polls showed that Tsang had a much higher support rate. As the first women chief executive, Lam faced serious issues caused by pandemic and political upheaval. Before 2019, her notable political achievements included Hong Kong West Kowloon Station Mainland Port Area, connecting Shengzhen and Hong Kong by railway. But after 2019, the infamous extradition bill was introduced in Legislative Council and created a huge political impact leading to massive protests in Hong Kong. This bill was then withdrawn in September 2019 by Lam. After the extradition bill, another notorious bill, the national security law, was enforced in 2020. As a result, hundreds of people were arrested under the new law, severely damaging the democracy of Hong Kong. During the pandemic, with the influence of strict policy in mainland China, Hong Kong maintained a low infection rate until February 2022; However, there has been a surge in the number of people testing positive and a high mortality rate among the elderly after February 2022. Based on PORI’s result, her support rate was only 11.9% in March 2022, and her disapproval rate was 78.5%.


John Lee Ka-chiu as the Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong

"After implementing the national security law, Lee became one of the biggest supporters of this law. If he was elected as the new Chief Executive, Hong Kong’s democracy would largely disappear to fulfill Beijing’s wish. "

John Lee Ka-chiu, as ex-Chief Secretary for Administration, resigned from his job and planned to run for Chief Executive recently. Lee was born in 1957 and joined the police force in 1977, then became the head of the Security Bureau in 2017. Unprecedentedly, he was appointed as Chief Secretary for Administration in 2021, which showed the determination of the Communist party on stabilizing Hong Kong’s political atmosphere. Lee’s approval score as Chief Secretary for Administration is 35.8 out of 100 in March 2022 from PORI, but HK01 reported that Liaison Office disclosed that Lee is the intended Chief Executive candidate, which is similar to Lam, although there is a possible competitor in the election, Lee will still be elected as the new Chief Executive. After implementing the national security law, Lee became one of the biggest supporters of this law. If he was elected as the new Chief Executive, Hong Kong’s democracy would largely disappear to fulfill Beijing’s wish.



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