Lee Green Lighted to Run for Chief Executive

The State Council has approved Lee to run for chief executive

Today former Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu held a very short press conference to say one thing -- Beijing has approved his resignation to run for the next chief executive.

"I have been taking part in different positions which provided me with a lot of valuable experience, knowledge and abilities. It has also broadened my vision," he said, adding he would hold another press conference tomorrow to lay out his coming plans.

Cheng supports Lee's nomination as candidate

"I thank Hong Kong and the people of Hong Kong for allowing me to serve Hong Kong in the past 45 years. I shall continue to proceed on the way that I shall be proceeding."

The race has begun -- for one candidate -- with a Facebook page set up but has no picture of Lee, while his campaign spin doctors have started working when it's looking likely to be a one-man race.

As others have noted, why go through the charade of holding a campaign? Just anoint the successor and be done with it.

Some people are dreading the possibility of a Lee authoritarian reign for the next five years, and so there could possibly be another wave in the next two months of people leaving the city.

However, the city's property developers, the tycoons, are all clambering over each other to show their support for Lee.

CK Asset chairman Victor Li Tzar-kuoi said in a statement he would nominate Lee to run in the upcoming chief executive election, while Sun Hung Kai Properties chairman Raymond Kwok Ping-luen said Lee would help restore the city's order and this will benefit Hong Kong in the long run.

Lam looking for chief secretary replacement

New World Development CEO Adrian Cheng Chi-kong and Henderson Land chairman Lee Ka-shing also threw their support behind Lee.

Meanwhile his former boss Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has nominated someone to replace Lee (for the remaining two months or so) and has yet to hear back from the State Council.

Perhaps workaholic Lam could do both jobs? She was CS before...

Celebrating the Canadian Way

Canadian Consul Jeff Nankivell says Canada is more welcoming than the US

This evening the Canadian Consulate hosted a Canada Day cocktail at the JW Marriott for Canadians to celebrate the 151st birthday of the country.

A Canadian singer performed both O Canada and The March of the Volunteers, the former in English and French, the latter in Mandarin. Hong Kong Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung was impressed by her "impeccable Putonghua".

Cheung Kong's Victor Li (fifth from left) cutting the cake

He was also impressed by Canadian Consul-General Jeff Nankivell's trilingual skills of English, French and Cantonese. He also speaks Mandarin, but tonight wasn't the right audience for it.

Nankivell gave an energetic speech off the bat, saying how Canada was a safe place to visit, how it was a welcoming country and was eager to do business with others in an indirect jab at the United States.

He continued about how it was a good place for education, and how it welcomes investment and listed the many trade agreements it has with other countries. He joked about how Canada hoped the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP would stay in place, as American President Donald Trump has threatened to abandon it.

At the end he said how Canadian food and drink were delicious -- mei sik, mei yum, ho mei. Do jie! 美吃， 美喝， 好妹。谢谢！

Inviting guests to try out their hockey skills

Cheung repeated Nankivell's mantra and added how his Cantonese was ho jeng. 好正！

Actually Cheung's spoken English is excellent. He observed of the many other national day ceremonies he had attended, never had he witnessed one that was so lively, as Nankivell even put a funny hat at one point, eliciting laughs from the audience in the ballroom.

Later on a large cake was rolled out, and the sponsors of the evening were invited to come on stage to assist. The biggest one was Cheung Kong Group, which meant Victor Li Tzar-kuoi was invited on stage, along with representatives from The Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal, Sun Wah Group and Delia School of Canada.

The other major announcement was that in September, there will be an exhibition game between the Boston Bruins and the Calgary Flames in Shenzhen in an effort to promote ice hockey in China. About time the NHL tried to shoot and score in the Middle Kingdom...

Li Ka-shing Exits Stage Right

This afternoon Li Ka-shing (centre) cozies up with reporters for pictures

This afternoon was the earth-shattering announcement we've been waiting for -- tycoon Li Ka-shing is retiring.

In a live broadcast from Cheung Kong Centre, the 89-year-old said after almost seven decades in business, he is stepping down from both CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings and passing the reins to his younger son Victor Li Tzar-kuoi.

This was no surprise, as the younger Li has been working with his father for over 33 years, while older son Richard Li Tzar-kai "has many other businesses".

In a letter to staff that Li addressed them as colleagues, he recalled escaping war-torn China when he was 12 years old and came to Hong Kong. The famous legend of Li selling plastic flowers gave the high school dropout the capital to expand into other businesses, in particular real estate.

Li takes his final bow with son Victor on his right

"Not long afterwards, I founded Cheung Kong, the predecessor of CK Hutchison and CK Asset. That was 1950," he writes. "By 1972 I was able to grow the firm into a publicly-listed company -- stock code 001HK."

Today the conglomerate includes media, hotels, shipping, grocery stores and oil that has dealings in 50 countries.

During his announcement, Li said he would devote time to philanthropy, including the KS-LK Foundation, especially in issues related to healthcare and education.

Li finished his tenure on a high, as the companies, including Power Assets and CKI recorded higher 2017 earnings that largely met market expectations.

However, the tycoon is stepping down at a time when his influence is already waning. In 2013, dock workers went on strike for 40 days, demanding higher pay and better working conditions.

The 2013 dockworkers' strike damaged Li's reputation

At one point they occupied the front entrance of Cheung Kong Centre with a giant picture of Li's face and devil horns coming out of his head. In the end the dockworkers got a 9.8 percent pay rise, but the public's admiration for Li had nosedived because his immense wealth was compared to the lowly dock worker.

Li's reputation further spiraled during the Umbrella Movement a year later when thousands of people occupied the streets in Admiralty, Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui and Mongkok for 79 days. When it first started, the business elite were silent, and then Li finally spoke.

While he said he understood the protesters "passionate pursuits", he believed they should go home, warning them not to "let today's passion become tomorrow's regret". He knew people would be punished, but underestimated that people did not regret their actions, despite the legal challenges the protest leaders in particular faced.

Li was widely admired in China, but he cashed out anyway

And his relationship with China also soured. Despite pouring millions of yuan into the country, in 2015 Li decided to cash out, which angered Chinese state media and many mainlanders, who felt the businessman was being unpatriotic.

Nevertheless, Li won't be completely retiring. While he will continue to stay on as a senior adviser, it seems Li still wants to keep an active role in the businesses.

When a reporter tried to ask Victor Li a question about the company's future investments, his father interrupted as his son was getting the microphone. "I'll answer for him," Li said.

Party Preferences

Speculation turns confirmation as Carrie Lam is backed by Beijing

There are now reports that National People's Congress chairman Zhang Dejiang was in Shenzhen a few days ago to inform Hong Kong's pro-Beijing camp that the Communist Party was backing Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor as the next chief executive of Hong Kong.

And the decision was made on December 25.

Zhang Dejiang made the announcement in Shenzhen

Was she also informed that day, as a Christmas present? And how come their decision was only revealed now?

A source also revealed tycoon Li Ka-shing was present at this meeting, though he and his company representatives did not attend her rally last week. Nevertheless, Li and his two sons, Victor Li Tzar-kuoi and Richard Li Tzar-kai were seen going to the Beijing liaison office in Western on Wednesday.

Interestingly it was stressed the decision to back Lam was a collective one, not one particular official or group of officials.

Also worth noting is that the meeting was not covered in Chinese state media, and one source to a Hong Kong newspaper explained this was so that it would give the party room to manoeuvre in case anything unexpected cropped up.

One of the attendees in Shenzhen was tycoon Li Ka-shing

The unwillingness to let this be a completely fair race (aside from allowing over 3 million people in Hong Kong to vote), shows Beijing still doesn't completely trust 1,194 people in the Election Committee and wants a clear winner in March.

If Beijing can't even trust its most loyal supporters to do the right thing, how is the relationship between Hong Kong and the motherland ever going to mature?

Not Too Sentimental

Li Ka-shing is Hong Kong's wealthiest man with a global outlook

As a skillful tycoon, worth US$31.3 billion this year according to Forbes, Li Ka-shing has learned not to be sentimental about his investments.

Up until a few years ago Hong Kong people were enamoured with the richest man in town, whose rags-to-riches story has been well documented, making plastic flowers and eventually investing in real estate. His empire now includes property development, telecommunications, ports, supermarkets, utilities, retail, oil and even venture capitalist investments in vegetarian meat.

But in the last few years he became the token tycoon we all love to hate. He -- oh sorry his companies -- have made people feel cheated with unscrupulous practices particularly when it comes to selling flats, and with only two main supermarket chains in Hong Kong, one of which is his, prices aren't very competitive, leaving the consumer not much choice but to shell out.

Victor Li says the company is keen to look at deals

His control over the city's economy is a testament to his ability to beat the system, and also the government's inability or unwillingness to rein in his and other tycoons' power. This wealth inequality was one of the sparks of the Umbrella Movement in 2014, though nothing was resolved on that front, and we were resigned to continuing to give a good chunk of our paychecks to Li everyday.

He has decided to focus more on global property investments, which seems prudent from a global, tycoon point of view to spread risk. But that also means he is unsentimental about the city where he started his fortunes.

Cheung Kong Property Holdings made its latest statement to the stock exchange on Wednesday and Li said:

As it is presently challenging to identify property investments with reasonable returns in the current cyclical stage of the property market, the Group will also pursue global investments to extend our reach to new business areas.

Li invests in vegetarian meats, and here fries an alternative egg

The following day, Li's son Victor who is deputy chairman, was asked by financial analysts if the company was considering selling commercial properties.

"I always look at deals, it's my job to look at deals, both purchases and sales. "There is no deal that we must have, there is no property we must own, other than this building -- we do need an office ourselves," he said, referring to the Cheung Kong Centre where CK Property has its headquarters.

Well OK. Maybe Li has a soft spot for his headquarters, but other than that, let's make a deal...