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Opinion
Beijing’s hunt for the right leader to clean up Hong Kong’s mess could start with a retired judge
- Carrie Lam’s successor must be a person Hongkongers can trust to protect their core values and rights. Former chief justice Andrew Li has shown that he would not be swayed by popular sentiment or yield to political pressure
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Viswa Nathan is a former editor in chief of the now-defunct broadsheet morning daily, the Hong Kong Standard.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor dropped a hint in the Legislative Council on January 16 that Hong Kong could hope for its governing principle of “one country, two systems” to continue beyond the 2047 deadline and for the city to remain free of direct communist rule.
It is not something to be pooh-poohed as an attempt of an embattled administrator to hoodwink the public. There seems to be more to her statements than meet the eye. Consider the timing, and how an opportunity to drop a hint was found.
It came less than a fortnight after Beijing replaced director of the liaison office Wang Zhimin with Luo Huining. Interestingly, pro-Beijing legislator Ann Chiang Lai-wan, who is also a former member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, drew Lam into making the prognosticating statement. The entire episode seemed choreographed, as it is unlikely that Lam would say anything with such far-reaching significance without the knowledge of her superiors.
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