Hong Kong chief candidate John Lee tops nomination threshold

[HONG KONG] Hong Kong's leading candidate for the city's top government job has secured enough nominations required for the leadership race just a day after John Lee kicked off his campaign, according to the South China Morning Post.

The city's former chief secretary received more than 200 nominations as at late Sunday (Apr 10), the newspaper reported Chan Yung, a deputy director for Lee's campaign office, as saying. Chan said the team hoped to get at least 500 nominations.

Lee resigned last week as Hong Kong's No 2 official to run, with China's cabinet approving his departure. During a press briefing on Saturday, he declared: "Loyalty is the basic requirement. The chief executive must be a patriotic person."

Current Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Apr 4, just after the start of a 2-week period to obtain nominations, that she would not seek another 5-year term.

While widely considered as lacking in knowledge of and connections in the finance and business sectors, Lee said on Saturday that would instead allow him to make "fair and just" policies. He did not give further details on how he plans to strengthen the city's international hub status.

Tam Yiu-chung, director of Lee's campaign office, said the team will develop a political manifesto by the end of April, the SCMP reported earlier on Sunday.

Despite sweeping support for Lee from Hong Kong's tycoons in their latest show of loyalty to China, Beijing's backing of Lee raised concerns that President Xi Jinping plans to prioritise tightening security in the former British colony over rebuilding the city's status as an international financial hub.

The next chief executive will take office on Jul 1, the halfway mark in China's 50-year pledge to preserve the city's liberal financial and political systems. Approximately 1,500 people, mostly Beijing loyalists, will vote on May 8 to select Lam's successor.

Meanwhile, a government spokesman said on Sunday that Lee's position being vacant will not impede the administration's work. BLOOMBERG