Last Friday, former Chief Secretary John Lee, the sole candidate in the election this coming Sunday for Hong Kong’s Chief Executive where the voters are the roughly 1,500 members of a China-dominated election committee, presented his campaign manifesto and promised to lead an efficient, pragmatic administration “that is result-oriented and solution-driven.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to travel to Hong Kong to swear in the new chief executive on July 1 and to celebrate 25 years of Chinese rule of the former British colony.
Lee’s entire 45-year career — minus the last nine months — has been focused on security. He joined the police force as a 19-year-old, giving up an offer to study engineering at the University of Hong Kong, apparently for financial reasons. Interestingly, all former chief executives, except shipping magnate Tung Chee-hwa, came from families of modest means. Two had fathers who were policemen.