The small, tight circle that runs Hong Kong

Guilty or otherwise, it is hard not to have a pang of sympathy for former Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, and wonder how far occult politics played a role in his prosecution. The sums involved were minuscule compared with the implicit corruption in a system which sustains so many government-condoned monopolies and rent-seeking arrangements.

Take the crucial issue of land. Would we need reclamation or country park space if the government, not the Heung Yee Kuk, ruled the New Territories? Or if it would apply its compulsory purchase powers to some of the huge acreage held as land banks by the big developers, enough to build 600,000 homes? Or can we sincerely believe that the Independent Commission Against Corruption operates in a politically neutral manner when the chair of its crucial Operations Review Committee, which has veto power over every stage of an investigation, is Maria Tam Wai-chu, a fervent Beijing loyalist, and with deep roots in the taxi licence business. Most members are drawn from a small circle of businessmen and former officials.

“We Connect” is chief executive contender Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s campaign slogan. So, let us see to whom she is best connected. She made that task easier by parading her top backers at her campaign launch. Now we can judge whether this list of the rich and powerful contains the sort of backers who will help her bring about the “new style of government” she promises, solve housing problems and offer a “new vision”.