Only Patriots to Govern Hong Kong

Beijing wants to change Hong Kong's electoral system

As expected, the November 2019 District Council elections were the last truly democratic elections held in Hong Kong.

Almost 3 million people voted, and a stunning 17 out of 18 districts were won by pro-democratic candidates. This during the anti-government protests, a quasi referendum on how the Lam administration was governing Hong Kong.

Pan-dems trounced pro-Beijing in 2019 election

However, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor postponed last September's district council elections, claiming the coronavirus pandemic was too risky to hold an election, even though places like South Korea, and eventually the United States held theirs.

Nevertheless, Beijing was stunned by the Hong Kong results too.

And since then it has vowed to make sure it will win.

Today Xia Baolong, head of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs office said Hong Kong's administrative and electoral systems must undergo a fundamental revision to ensure only "patriots" hold key positions in all three branches of government -- the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary, as well as statutory bodies.

Instead of the mantra during the handover over 23 years ago of "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong", it is now "patriots governing Hong Kong". 

"Key posts under every circumstance must not be taken up by anyone "who goes against China and disrupts Hong Kong," Xia said, referring to the three branches of government, and the statutory bodies.

Xia says only patriots can be in government

"Those who stand in opposition to patriots are destroyers of the 'one country, two systems' principle and they should not be allowed to take a share of the Hong Kong special administrative region's political power. Not now, not ever."

With that kind of language, how can anyone be an effective opposition, even if it is just to hold the Hong Kong government accountable? 

This puts the pro-Beijing camp in the current legislature in a curious bind as well. Since the pan-democratic camp resigned en masse late last year, the pro-establishment lawmakers are stuck having to question the government on bills and legislation, so does that make them less patriotic?

While Xia says "Different political opinions are allowed in this country", he adds, "The CCP is the creator and leader of the 'one country, two systems' model. Isn't it contradictory for someone who safeguards [the model] to oppose its creator and leader?"

So are different political opinions still allowed?

He claimed anti-China and radical separatist forces had entered Hong Kong's governance structure through various elections, including that of the Legislative Council, the Chief Executive Election Committee, and district councils, and so it was necessary for electoral reforms.

Which of these three is a radical separatist?

Could Xia please explain the radical separatist forces in the CE election? All three candidates, Lam, former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah and retired judge Woo Kwok-hing were vetted to be politically correct before they began campaigning...

Xia also said these electoral reforms were necessary to improve people's livelihoods. That's a stretch. The government's reticence to acknowledge one in five people live below the poverty line is the problem, not political leanings.

 In any event, even before Xia said this, many Hongkongers have declared their patriotism by saying, "I f**king love Hong Kong".

But perhaps that's not enough to pass Xia's patriotism test...

Election Aftermath

Is Carrie Lam wondering how she will govern such a divided city?

Yesterday I spent four hours watching the election for the chief executive on Facebook Live, and I shouldn't have wasted that time when we already knew who the winner was.

But I was curious to see how many votes Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor would get, and shocked she did get well over 750 votes. I was also very surprised her rival John Tsang Chun-wah could barely break 400.

Several people were screwed over in this election, which makes it a bitter one.

What will Regina Ip do now? Will she change tact?

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee has been a loyal pro-establishment supporter. What did she get for consistently towing the party line? She was outright rejected by Beijing at the nomination stage.

What will she do next? Will she continue to speak on behalf of "Western"? Or will she think she has nothing to lose and become more centrist?

The same goes for Tsang. Whatever he does, we hope he doesn't set up yet another think tank. The last thing we need is another body that churns out research papers that no one reads.

Sadly Woo Kwok-hing had a terrible showing in the polls. He was a refreshing voice prodding the two other candidates to justify their actions or in-actions, and speak for the average person who is keen on justice and rule of law. It's just too bad he wasn't well versed enough in policy.

Luckily for him, he was already retired, so he will probably go back to his calligraphy, which he does very well, by the way.

Tonight nine Occupy activists reported to the police

Chief executive-elect Lam was screwed over by incumbent Leung Chun-ying. It was reported that hours after her win, police contacted organizers of the Occupy movement to tell them they would be arrested. As of around 7pm this evening, the nine contacted arrived at Wan Chai Police Station.

Just as when Lam said yesterday she would try to mend the rifts in society, this latest action by Leung's administration sabotages her chance to smooth divisions in the city. Joshua Wong Chi-fung, one of the student leaders in 2014, says both Leung and Lam are polarizing society.

The resoluteness of the government will only harden the stance of localists and create further tensions. Maybe Leung is worried people will forget him when he leaves office?

Meanwhile the people of Hong Kong have clearly witnessed Beijing manipulating the winner of the election. Beijing officials actively lobbied Li Ka-shing while Ricky Chim Kim-lung, who had nominated Tsang, was approached by liaison officers to change his vote.

This kind of manipulation and heavy handedness does little to earn Hong Kong people's trust in Beijing. This is the real crux of the problem. The more the mainland meddles with what's going on in the city, the more locals get agitated and upset because they were promised "one country, two systems", but it seems less and less that way.

After the election results were in, many Hong Kong people voiced their disappointment, anger, frustration, and sadness on Facebook. Some lamented, saying "Hong Kong is dead", or that they were going to emigrate, or "Today is a dark day".

As one acquaintance pointed out, the election did not affect his daily life at all -- Hong Kong will continue to run the way it has been going, that it's not the end of the world. He was tired of people being so emotional and venting knee-jerk reactions on social media.

While things don't seem to bode well for all of us considering all the issues at hand, we can try to make Hong Kong a better place starting with our own circles of communities, with friends, family, colleagues at work. In the end that's what really matters. We're all in this together, so let's make the most of what we have and fight for what we believe in.

Hong Kong's New Leader

Pre-ordained Carrie Lam is now confirmed as Hong Kong's next leader

It was expected from the beginning, but it is now confirmed Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is Hong Kong's next chief executive with 777 votes -- far more than her predecessor and former boss Leung Chun-ying with 689.

John Tsang Chun-wah, the public's favourite, only got over 365 votes, while Woo Kwok-hing had 21.

Xinhua News Agency already reported Lam's win minutes after the initial vote count, since she surpassed the 600 votes very easily.

When news that Lam had won had won by a far margin was announced, there were cheers and jeers from the audience in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Obviously the pro-establishment (pro-business) are pleased to vote in the person they believe will help them continue to prosper in the city, while those related to the pan-democratic camp shouted, "I want universal suffrage!" as this small-circle election is hardly democratic.

There are concerns now of how she will govern the city where she is highly unpopular, seen as a distant person who doesn't give the appearance of caring much for the poor, as she claimed she was too tired to visit Tin Shui Wai, a district known for its challenging social and economic issues.

When the official results were announced, there were whoops of joy from most of the audience. On stage, Lam looked teary-eyed, hugging Tsang a few times. Maybe he was saying, "Better you than me"?

In any event if the critics will have a go at her, at least they can use the number 7 -- it's slang for flaccid penis... and she got 777 of them...

One More Verbal Joust Before Vote

Carrie Lam, John Tsang and Woo Kwok-hing try to sway voters one last time

The final chief executive debate was held this evening at AsiaWorld-Expo with some 400 people from the Election Committee attending. They were given the opportunity to directly pose questions to the three candidates -- Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, John Tsang Chun-wah and Woo Kwok-hing.

Interestingly their responses were timed so that in the end all three had the equal amount of time to speak.

I watched the debate on hk01's Facebook Live and whenever Lam was speaking, there was a flood of angry-faced icons flowing across the screen, which contrasted with Tsang, who had lots of happy faces, as well as Woo.

However, in the audience, Lam got a lot of applause from the mainly pro-Beijing camp.

Again Tsang came out swinging at Lam, using any opportunity he could to discredit her, or try to show that she was not as an effective leader as he was.

He said that you can work hard, but you have to work smart -- to which he got a lot of applause from the audience. He hinted that while she worked hard, she was probably taking on too much and insisting that things be done her way.

On the other hand Lam hit back saying she was envious of Tsang because when they were colleagues, his desk would always be clean with nothing on it, while hers had piles of files on it she had to go through.

Tsang also gave the example that he had a lot of support from former colleagues who volunteered their time to help his campaign and he was grateful for their support -- did Lam have anyone helping her?

She claimed that getting her former underlings to help would have been difficult for them as it would have caused divisions among them socially as they met for dinners. Is she trying to make this more political than it need be?

Woo chimed in that he did have support from his colleagues, but being in the legal circles, they were low key and didn't want to make their support public, which got a lot of laughs and applause.

Lam tried to show that she was active in visiting Hong Kong's various districts and hinted that Tsang didn't show up once, but he did as far back as December 2013, but that time he was pelted with an egg by a protester which might have turned him off from future visits...

She also said that she was invited to meet with ethnic minorities once -- but Woo countered by saying he had at three meetings with them -- so where was she the other two times? Touche!

At times it felt like Tsang and Woo were tag-teaming against Lam.

But in general Tsang had the upper hand overall because of his knowledge of policies, while Woo doesn't have that experience and could only speak from a legal perspective. He tried to discredit Lam by saying if she was a witness in a court case, she would not be a trustworthy one... but the court of law and the court of public opinion when it comes to politics are two different things.

We want our politicians to be honest, but we know they cannot do that 100 percent of the time. Woo took a dig at her, saying she would have to pay back her tycoon supporters somehow...

The vote will be held in a week and 7 million of us have no say, but just under 1,200 people do. This is not a fair election, but here we are again, five years later going through the motions again.

As Tsang said in his closing remarks, we thought we voted for the best person, but that turned out not to be the case (referring to his former boss, Leung Chun-ying). Tsang explained earlier that Lam is CY Leung 2.0 because she has similar policies and nothing new to add. The former financial secretary said it would not be good for Hong Kong to have someone like this again, and have to wait another five years for change.

What is Beijing going to do? Tsang definitely has the popular vote, while pro-establishment are told to vote for Lam. However, some critics believe Tsang won't create much change either, having been a seasoned civil servant for decades. And what about him saving up so much money in the reserves only to be spent on white elephant public works projects instead of allocating more resources to the people who need it most -- the poor, ethnic minorities, and first time home buyers who need an extra hand.

We'll have to see what happens next Sunday. Bickering among ourselves isn't going to get us anywhere either...

Elections with Chinese Characteristics

It is expected Carrie Lam will win the election, but by how many votes?

Beijing seems to be fretting over the "election" of the next chief executive of Hong Kong, because it is worried that its preferred candidate Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor may not have an outright win.

According to an anonymous source who is a local member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference who has met with senior leaders in Beijing, said they are concerned that their lobbying for Lam may have a negative impact on her.

John Tsang is giving Lam a run for her money, and Beijing too

Last week Lam also voiced concern for Beijing outright lobbying for her, saying she would discreetly tell them not to do it, knowing it could affect her votes as well as the public's perception of her.

The anonymous source said Lam may have trouble governing effectively because her rival John Tsang Chun-wah has greater popularity with the public than her. "But they [Beijing] said they have no choice under current circumstances", the source said.

These revelations behind the scenes show how desperate Beijing is to orchestrate the election, but yet Tsang seems to be throwing a spanner in the works which is interesting.

But why is Beijing so worried?

Its preferred candidate will win -- she already garnered 579 nominations, way more than both Tsang (159) and Woo Kwok-hing (180).

Woo Kwok-hing is popular with locals as well as Tsang

How about worrying about how she is going to persuade the public in televised debates how she is going to represent the average person, and stand up for Hong Kong's interests? That's what people care about, and Woo and Tsang already focused on getting the popular vote as a vital part of their strategy. They didn't have the guanxi, but they have local appeal. Lam has the opposite.

Lam may not win on the first ballot, but she will definitely on the second.

For Beijing to worry so much about this reveals how it cannot even deal with democracy at all. No wonder they keep delaying it!

Hong Kong in Li Keqiang's Report

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivering his annual work report today

This morning Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered his work report at the annual meeting of the National People's Congress in Beijing.

The 20,000 word report took him about 90 minutes to read out, but journalists who have a hard copy of it can skim through it in minutes.

Towards the end Li talked about Hong Kong, and he continued the familiar refrain of upholding the "one country, two systems" principle, and that it be applied "without being bent or distorted".

What does he mean by that curious clause?

In the past 20 years we've seen an erosion of "one country, two systems" in Hong Kong, but perhaps Beijing sees it another way.

Li said independence will "lead nowhere" in Hong Kong

Nevertheless, for the first time in his work report, Li spoke about Hong Kong independence, saying the movement would "lead nowhere".

It was perhaps inevitable the Premier would mention this issue, following the swearing in fiasco involving Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching of Youngspiration, who pledged allegiance to a "Hong Kong nation" and called China insulting names the Japanese used during World War II.

That resulted in the National People's Congress Standing Committee to rule that making "insincere" oath-taking punishable by instant disqualification. Leung and Yau were later stripped of their seats in the Legislative Council.

There is a law suit under way to further disqualify four more pan-democrats...

In Li's address he said: "We will continue to implement, both to the letter and in spirit, the principle of one country, two systems, under which Hong Kong people govern Hong Kong."

He also added the Basic Law would be followed in Hong Kong and Macau. "The notion of independence will lead nowhere," he said.

Leung set to be rewarded in stopping independence

And to reward Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying for his efforts in quelling the independence movement, Yu Zhengsheng, the fourth most senior leader in China's Communist Party and chairman of the government's political advisory, said Leung will become a delegate to the advisory body.

In reality the independence movement in Hong Kong is a tiny minority. Did Leung exaggerate how serious this group was in order to be rewarded with such a post? Or is this just another way to give him a bone for not running for Chief Executive again?

Beijing is also mum about its preference of who will become the city's next chief executive. In a meeting with Hong Kong and Macau delegates, Zhang Dejiang, the National People's Congress chairman reiterated Beijing's four criteria for Hong Kong's next leader: he or she must "love the country and love Hong Kong", be trusted by Beijing, be capable of governing, and be supported by the Hong Kong people.

Oh and by the way, Zhang added, Beijing has "substantive and constitutional power" to appoint the next leader.

Does this mean John Tsang Chun-wah and Woo Kwok-hing still have a decent chance?

We'll find out March 26...

Number of the Day: 579

Carrie Lam has definitely secured her name on the ballot for the CE election

Hong Kong Chief Executive contender Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor must have been an overachiever as a kid because today she handed in a whopping 579 nominations to the Electoral Affairs Office be eligible for next month's election.

She only needed a minimum of 150 nominations. Her rival John Tsang had 156, and Woo Kwok-hing 179.

Surely Tung Chee-hwa's hug is a big hint from Beijing?

Some say she did that to quash Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee's chances, others say it's just in her nature to get A++ on everything. We're not in school, Carrie. And this isn't the real race -- that's next month!

The real work begins now, getting out into the hustings and trying to get 601 votes on March 26.

While people may nominate her now, it doesn't mean she has 579 votes in the bag.

Many worry she is CY Leung 2.0, while others are resigned to the hints from Beijing that she is the preferred candidate. As the vast majority of us aren't allowed to vote, we'd at least like to see her work for her votes.

Lam didn't handle negotiations with the students well in 2014

Her handling of the recent Palace Museum fiasco isn't going as smoothly as she had hoped, and the vestiges of the Occupy protests are continuing to haunther too.

Not everyone is as enamoured of her as Beijing had hoped...

Picture of the Day: Woo Kwok-hing

Woo Kwok-hing commuting like everyone else on the MTR

I forgot to post this picture last week.

Last Friday after I checked out the interactive art installation Super Pool, I took the MTR home, and who got on the same carriage? A guy who looked like Woo Kwok-hing, who is now officially the second person to run in the election for the next chief executive of Hong Kong.

Was it him? I wasn't sure, but it looked like him.

He got on the train, saw an empty seat and sat down. No one recognized him or even said hello. I was very surprised he had no assistant with him. He just sat down, saw that others were focused on their phones so he decided to do the same.

In the end he got off at Sai Ying Pun and just as low-key as he got on, he left the train without anyone noticing.

Cool? Or pathetic no one seemed to care?!

A Three-Horse Race

Big smiles from John Tsang securing enough nominations to run for CE

It's not even Wednesday yet and two chief executive hopefuls have already submitted their formal nominations.

Former Finance Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah beat the pack (and almost tripped) on the way to the electoral office on Saturday with a submission of 160 nominees, even though the requirement is 150.

Woo Kwok-hing is also formally in the race with 156 nods

While Tsang has the popular vote among the public for his easy-going attitude, interest in sports, and apparently coffee and French movies, he only managed to bag 10 nominations from the pro-Beijing camp, which doesn't seem to bode well in the election next month if he is to beat Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

Former Justice Woo Kwok-hing is also formally in the race too with 156 nominations. Upon receiving the forms to apply, Woo said it was "his happiest moment" since he declared his candidacy and he would strive to bring democracy to Hong Kong.

Lam has said she will give in her nomination on Wednesday, even though she has apparently secured 300 nominations already. Sounds like she is hoping for extra brownie points.

And as we covered here yesterday Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee is far behind, but continues to try to get more nominations though her chances are slim.

Leung Kwok-hung didn't even get enough public support

But she's not the last one -- "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung is faring even worse than her with not even enough public support to suggest he should run. He had hoped to get 38,000 names from the public, but only got 20,234.

Thank goodness that embarrassment is over. While he thought he would offer an alternative, he was seriously not even a decent candidate. See, the public knows how the game works.

It looks like it'll be a three-horse race and we hope it'll get feisty with Woo holding Tsang and Lam accountable for what they have done or not done. We've already had a few crooks in office, we don't need more...

Regina Ip's Losing Battle

Regina Ip is determined to keep fighting to the end of the chief executive race

Is chief executive candidate Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee trying to get sympathy votes or trying to show she's become a different person since 2003?

She is now saying that Beijing's "insecure" leaders have been trying to offer her top appointments to national bodies in exchange for dropping out of the leadership race next month.

Ip has also criticized front runner Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor as "Regina Ip" from a decade ago, who thought everything she did was right.

"[Lam] was like what I was some 10 years ago," Ip said in an interview with Cable TV, referring to her intense unpopularity when she tried to push through Article 23 and failed spectacularly, and had no choice but to resign.

Carrie Lam is way ahead with 300 nominations, Ip has 20

Continuing her critique of Lam, Ip said: "[She] always fights those who hold different opinions as she has spent too long in the administration and hears only one side of voices -- just like how I was before."

So far Ip has only secured about 20 votes from the Election Committee and needs a minimum of 150 by next Wednesday to be on the ballot.

Lam already has 300 nominations.

Ip also said it was rare for Beijing to express its strong preference for a candidate before the nomination stage.

"The central government is... insecure," Ip said, suggesting Beijing was worried she would take votes away from Lam.

"I think it would bring no good to the governance of the next administration if it is perceived that a candidate could only win the race because of the strong backing from the central government."

She also revealed that someone claiming to have close ties with Beijing had offered to compensate her if she quit the race.

Zhang Xiaoming had offered the LegCo President spot to Ip

"They said I do not necessarily need to stay in Hong Kong if I want to serve the city as they could offer me posts at the National People's Congress or the Chinese People's Consultative Conference... even very top positions. But I do not want a consolation prize," Ip said.

In December, Ip said Zhang Xiaoming, director of Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong, had once asked her to be the Legislative Council president. She dismissed it as a signal from Beijing that she was not a favoured candidate, Ip said at the time.

Is Ip serious? Or is she just talking a load of hot air?

It's really intriguing that she is so open about what Beijing is trying to do behind the scenes.

It seems Beijing is anxious about Ip losing big time and like an overprotective parent wants to cushion the blow by offering what she calls "a consolation prize" now. If you had 20 nominations, would you take up Beijing's offer?

Even Woo Kwok-hing has 70 nominations -- not bad for a black horse.

Ip may have to face the music and realize that even though she may have tried to change her image, people still have very strong reactions to her and distinctly remember what she did in 2003. She may have been following orders, but she pushed through what was very contentious legislation.

The next chief executive may try to pass Article 23 again, but in the meantime Ip is an interesting character who seems determined to fight to the end, even if she loses by a huge margin...

Mr Pringles' Platform and Zhang Dejiang's Meetings

John Tsang officially announced his platform today

Everyone's eagerly talking about the race for the next chief executive of Hong Kong. While many believe it will be Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor who has the upper hand, they have a preference for former Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah.

They call him "potato chips" because he looks like the logo of Pringles chips, a man with a moustache known as "Julius Pringles". Many feel he is more down to earth than Lam, who revealed how out of touch she was when she took a taxi in the middle of the night from her Convention Centre serviced apartment back to her old digs on The Peak to get toilet paper.

Tsang revealed his platform today, promising electoral reform, but also he would enact Article 23, the contentious law on national security that was shelved in 2003. He would give tax breaks to SMEs and allowances for low-income families.

Some believe that he is still favoured by Beijing, otherwise why was he kept on as financial secretary when Leung Chun-ying became Chief Executive? They think that Beijing had a hand in having Tsang stay on...

Zhang Dejiang had meetings with Hong Kong heavyweights

A friend said she liked Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and we asked her why. She said she's a hard worker, and she has had a tough life -- her husband died young so she was a single parent raising her daughter. As for trying to implement Article 23, she was only doing what she was told to do.

Others like former judge Woo Kwok-hing's personality, but feel he might be "too delicate" to do the job of chief executive in terms of health. They fear another Tung Chee-hwa situation would happen. But he definitely has better Chinese calligraphy skills than the other three candidates.

Adding to the mix is the National People's Congress chairman Zhang Dejiang, who is also the state leader overseeing Hong Kong affairs, go to Shenzhen to meet with influential Hong Kong businessmen and pro-Beijing political parties.

His visit comes a week before the nomination period for the next chief executive begins next Tuesday.

While people who attended the meetings refused to divulge what was said, they would only say it was normal for Beijing to want to know people's opinions on things.

Uh huh.

John Tsang biting into his pineapple bun in Tsim Sha Tsui

The fact the visit was announced after the fact is also curious, but we will leave it at that.

In any event, the other day Tsang visited one of the first three food trucks that have opened for business in Tsim Sha Tsui and got a pineapple bun for HK$20. While he said it tasted good, it was expensive for HK$20.

Excuse me? Isn't he the one who wanted to bring food trucks to Hong Kong? It ain't cheap to set it up, at a minimum of HK$600,000 in start-up costs alone.

Maybe his platform should include measures to prevent landlords from jacking up rents so that small local eateries won't go out of business!

Chinese New Year Countdown

Many people checking out the New Year market in Victoria Park today

Many people in Hong Kong are anxiously preparing for Chinese New Year on Saturday. The wet market near where I live was extra busy, with people buying up all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and meats to prepare for upcoming reunion dinners this week, though officially it's on Friday.

And today was the start of the Chinese New Year markets around town, the biggest of which is in Victoria Park in Causeway Bay. I checked it out this afternoon and luckily it wasn't packed, though still lots of people.

Vibrant-coloured orchids for sale as well as other plants

I didn't have time to go through all the stalls, but the orchids were gorgeous, and this one pictured here is a kind that I've never seen before.

There were of course many rooster-related items, particularly stuffed toys, phone covers, cushions and trinkets.

And what's a Hong Kong fair without some politics, particularly in an election year?

The Democratic Party had a modified game called "fish prawn crab", a kind of gambling game, with caricatures of the four candidates -- Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, John Tsang Chun-wah, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, and Woo Kwok-hing. Even possible candidate Jasper Tsang Yok-sing was in the mix too.

Another stall manned by the League of Social Democrats sold cushions shaped like luncheon meat tins. It was a reference to former pro-Beijing lawmaker Wong Kwok-hing's condemnation of legislative filibusters, that he once said wasted enough taxpayer dollars to buy thousands of cans of luncheon meat for the poor.

We saw some young people roaming around with a basket of stickers and it turns out they had political satire. One of them was a take on Shanghai calendar girls of the 1920s, featuring two women, and the heads were of Regina Ip and John Tsang...

I intend to go back again to check all the stalls out, and maybe pick up some flowers too!

A Step Closer to the Hustings

Carrie Lam announced her resignation as Chief Secretary today

The leadership race for Hong Kong's next chief executive just got more interesting today with Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor resigning from her Chief Secretary post earlier in the day.

At 5pm she held a very short news conference where she said: "There is only one reason for me to resign at this juncture. That is, if my resignation is approved by the Central People's Government, I intend to prepare to contest the upcoming chief executive election."

She sounds pretty confident her resignation will be approved.

John Tsang's resignation has yet to be approved by Beijing

This contrasts starkly to former finance secretary John Tsang Chun-wah's status. He resigned on December 12 and it still hasn't been approved by Beijing yet. It's bizarre, but pundits believe the two former civil servants' resignations will be approved next Thursday, putting them both at the starting block at the same time.

However, it looks like Lam has a greater chance than Tsang of having Beijing's blessing because her resignation will have the appearance of being approved in a shorter time period.

Nevertheless, according to a recent poll conducted by Chinese University's Centre for Communication and Public Opinion Survey, Tsang seems more popular with younger and educated people, while Lam is a favourite among seniors and less educated. Lam's support rate was 10.2 percent among those aged 18-29 and 18.5 percent for those aged 30-44.

But when it comes to the middle-aged and elderly, she received 29.7 percent among those aged 45-49, and 29.7 percent from those 60 and older.

Regina Ip more popular with elderly and less educated

And by the way, the same could be said of Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, who gets little support from those with tertiary education.

Tsang got 42.5 percent of support from those who described themselves as pan-democrats, while 34.9 percent of localists backed Tsang.

Even former judge Woo Kwok-hing got 22 percent of pan-democratic supporters, and 20.5 percent of localists.

"The poll results show that Lam and Ip's backers are of the same kind and they are more pro-establishment, while the other three potential candidates look like they're backed by the pro-democracy," explained Professor Francis Lee Lap-fung of the Chinese University's Centre for Communication and Public Opinion survey, that conducted the telephone survey of 1,024 people.

It's a small selection of people, but still worth considering. But hey -- our opinion doesn't count so much when only 1,200 people get to decide who are next leader is...

Protest Marks Start of 2017

Some 9,000 people protested the government's bid to oust four lawmakers

It is heartening to see there are still thousands of people in Hong Kong willing to protest on January 1, though at the same time it's disappointing not more people came out to voice their disgust at the Hong Kong government's determination to try to unseat four legislators, including Nathan Law Kwun-chung and "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung.

The Civil Human Rights Front estimated some 9,000 people showed, up and apologized for the low attendance, while police said it was around, 4,500. The police seem to have a habit of halving estimates in a pathetic bid to make protest numbers look smaller on paper.

However, in media footage, it looks like there are more than 4,500 people there, something the authorities cannot deny.

Protesters carried effigies of the four supposed candidates

In any event, the organizer believes fewer people showed up at the annual rally because their main nemesis, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has already bowed out of the upcoming leadership race.

But we have yet to see who will be officially running, and so far Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee is hardly a popular choice, and former Justice Woo Kwok-hing probably doesn't have Beijing's approval.

We are waiting for Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to throw her hat into the ring, but while she has demonstrated her ability to do Beijing's bidding with the shock announcement of a HK$3.5 billion replica of the National Palace Museum in West Kowloon, Hong Kong residents are hardly impressed.

And what of former Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah? His star seems to be fading by the day without the formal green light from Beijing.

What a mess really. And on top of that the government wants to oust four lawmakers from their positions even though they have been formally sworn in without any issues and were democratically elected by the people.

Many are relieved Leung Chun-ying is not running

Zhang Xiaoming, director of Beijing's Liaison Office in Western, made a public statement about three things that should not be breached: harming national security, challenging the authority of the central government and the Basic Law, and using the city has a base to infiltrate and subvert the mainland.

Is he seriously hinting that these four legislators who are pan-democrats are breaching these three things? It's quite laughable for him to even suggest this.

Even Law would not even consider separatism and he's Hong Kong's youngest legislator.

It seems Zhang is trying to his scare tactic that usually works on elderly residents; but really, what have they done that is subversive in any way? Perhaps he's continuing Leung Chun-ying's theory that separatism is growing in interest, when it fact it gained momentum because Leung suggested an increasing number of students were curious about it.

Can we just get back to the issue at hand and end the government's bid to unseat four lawmakers? Perhaps people find it so ridiculous that they didn't see the point in marching for it...

Woo Unveils Platform

Retired judge Woo Kwok-hing unveiled his platform today running for CE

Just when we thought Hong Kong chief executive contender former judge Woo Kwok-hing was fading into the background, he came back today releasing his platform way ahead of everyone else.

He said the platform tackled issues that incumbent Leung Chun-ying failed or refused to deliver. Woo has also secured the support of Andy Ho On-tat, who was the top aide to former CE Donald Tsang Yam-kuen.

Woo promoted his 47-page booklet outlining a number of policy proposals he said were the culmination of him talking to a wide range of people in the past six weeks.

One proposal would be to regulate Uber in Hong Kong...

"Those who have shared their ideas with me may find I have borrowed some of their insights for my policy blueprint," he said.

His top priority is political reform, vowing to broaden the electoral roll of the Election Committee that will select the city's leader in March from 250,000 to one million voters.

Another is to abolish the TSA or Territory-wide System Assessment for Primary Three pupils that has been criticized for putting extra pressure on students in the form of exam drilling.

Woo also wants to develop brownfield sites -- degraded farmland in the New Territories that are currently occupied by recycling workshops and other operators -- for housing.

He would also regulate Uber despite taxi drivers' protests, and AirBnB accommodation services for tourists.

As the first out of the gate in October announcing his candidacy for CE, Woo doesn't think much of his pro-establishment would-be rivals.

Another would be to scrap the TSA exams for primary three

"Those aspirants who have been waiting, the pan-democrats know full well what they are waiting for. What they wait for runs against pan-democrats' principles. They should not support those candidates," he said.

While former Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah tendered his resignation on Monday, there is speculation Beijing may take a while to confirm him as a candidate, with one Chinese academic claiming Tsang may not be politically correct enough.

However, we shall see. It took two days to confirm Henry Tang Ying-yen but eight for Donald Tsang.

In any case, Woo's platform is pretty much what many people in Hong Kong would like to see. But does he have Beijing's blessing?

Voting for Change

Counting votes in the various professional subsectors for the Election Committee

To say we are pleased with the pan-democrats doing so well in yesterday's election to choose who will be part of the 1,194-member Election Committee is an understatement. And probably many people in Hong Kong will agree.

A record 326 seats were won by pan-democrats, when they were hoping for 300, making the pan-democratic voice worth around 25 percent of the overall seats in the Election Committee.

This compares to 2011 when they only won 211 seats.

A lot of things have changed since then.

John Tsang resigned today, getting close to his campaign run

As we mentioned yesterday, people are becoming more politically active, and in this case, professionals in Hong Kong are very concerned about the eroding rights and freedoms in the city and are keen on universal suffrage.

Ivan Choy Chi-keung, a political scientist at Chinese University, said pan-democrats' victories in professional subsectors showed that the days when Hong Kong professionals only cared for the interests of their respective sectors are gone.

"The basis of the governance in Hong Kong would be undermined if Beijing does not take measures to address the alienation of professionals in Hong Kong," he said.

The pan-democrats won big in legal, education, higher education, health services and welfare subsectors. They also secured seats in accountancy, and architectural and surveying, and even Chinese medicine, previously a pro-Beijing stalwart.

Not much has been heard from former Judge Woo Kwok-hing

Another political scientist at Chinese University, Ma Ngok, added the individual votes by these professionals also showed middle class discontent.

"They are unhappy with the government and current political system," he said. "The  next administration should find ways to rebuild the professionals' confidence towards the government."

The speculation over who will run (and who will win) continues. Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor continues to be a favourite because she is a moderate, while John Tsang is inching ever closer to launching his campaign bid by resigning this afternoon as Financial Secretary.

Although she has yet to formally declare herself in the race, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee has already welcomed the growing pool of possible candidates.

Retired judge Woo Kwok-hing was a refreshing choice early on, but now he seems to be fading into the background, particularly because it doesn't seem that he has any backing from Beijing.

Nevertheless, it's very promising to see the results of Election Committee vote -- everyone is taking these exercises very seriously and it shows how serious many are about creating change within the system. 

What Legal Eagles Want in HK's Leader

Edward Chan (centre) says ProDem21 wants a leader who upholds rule of law

When a group of legal eagles in Hong Kong win seats in the committee that chooses the next chief executive, they promised a competitive election and accuses incumbent Leung Chun-ying of obfuscating the city's rule of law with "Chinese characteristics".

Senior counsel Edward Chan King-sang, who leads ProDem21 says: "We want to have a [chief executive] who can actually uphold the rule of law. We do not want rule of law with Chinese characteristics."

Chan says Leung Chun-ying reverses democracy

The veteran lawyer has teamed up with 20 other barristers, solicitors and legal scholars to compete for the 30 places for the legal sector that will make up part of the 1,200 member election committee that pics Hong Kong's next leader in March.

There are other pro-democratic candidates running, such as PanDem9, led by former lawmakers Alan Leong Ka-kitSC and Albert Ho Chun-yan. Former lawmaker Ronny Tong Ka-wah SC is also running.

Chan said Leung was divisive, did not uphold the rule of law and was reversing democracy. He also criticized the chief executive for being transcendent over all branches of the government, saying this was not the rule of law that lawyers in Hong Kong, a common law jurisdiction, had learned at law school.

Chan says Leung should not launch legal challenge of localists

While he disagreed with the two localist lawmakers' use of derogatory language when they took their oaths last month, Chan says it was unnecessary for the chief executive to be named a plaintiff in lodging an unprecedented legal challenge against the legislature to stop them from retaking the oaths.

He said Beijing giving its interpretation of Article 104 of the Basic Law amounted to "legislating for Hong Kong".

While the group were more supportive of former Justice Woo Kwok-hing, they said it was too early to decide who they would support. And although Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah has extensive government experience, Chan said it wasn't vital.

Chan said he was keen on having competition so that it would force the candidates to reveal their vision, by which they would be bound after they were elected.

To them, an ideal candidate had to support real democracy and the rule of law while solving financial and social issues.

ProDem21 like Justice Woo, but seeing who else runs first

Solicitor Michael Vidler, who is in Chan's group, said the candidates should "fight for Hong Kong" rather than "just do the bidding of China".

Ideally we'd like that too, but is that really going to happen? Justice Woo hasn't had the formal blessing from Beijing, and it seems the others are waiting for their green lights to blink on before they throw their hats into the ring.

It is obvious that the position of Chief Executive doesn't look out for the interests of Hong Kong at all. He or she is the middle man, making sure policies decided by Beijing are implemented, and if they are done well, then they will get a second term.

How would they benefit if they were acting in the interests of Hong Kong, when only 1,200 people vote for him or her, and not 7 million people?

It's been a fixed race from the beginning, because -- let's face it -- China knows no other way to run an election...

Two Throw their Hats into Chief Executive Race

Woo Kwok-hing talked to the media today about running for chief executive

The process of running for chief executive of Hong Kong is typically a tightly scripted affairs -- particularly if you have the blessing of Beijing.

But in the case of retired judge Woo Kwok-hing, he doesn't seem to care and believes his professional track record makes him a good candidate, as he had no political baggage and no scandals to be exposed.

He made the announcement yesterday which was a surprise to many, and then he held a 90-minute press conference today.

Unlike other previous candidates who make these formal announcements in five-star hotels or the Convention and Exhibition Centre, Woo instead chose a meeting room in the modest Duke of Windsor Social Service Building in Wan Chai.

And he didn't have an entourage of public relations staff, but two women from a PR firm, and his son and daughter-in-law who came to support him.

Woo criticized CY Leung for dividing Hong Kong society

During the press conference he answered wide-ranging questions from incumbent Leung Chun-ying's problems national security issues.

Woo's first target? Leung. "I don't think Mr CY Leung has been able to address public grievances and halt the division of our society to ensure that Hong Kong's best overall interests are served."

He also said it "really doesn't look good" that Leung put his own name as a plaintiff in the recent legal bid to disqualify two localists, Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching, who insulted China, when the justice secretary alone should be in charge.

When asked about what Beijing thought of him running, Woo admitted that he had disclosed his plans to someone in the liaison office -- though not chief Zhang Xiaoming -- and had yet to hear back.

"The message I got from people who had contacts on the mainland told me that the central government had 'no response'," he said. "But this doesn't mean they had 'no comment'."

While he didn't disclose his platform, Woo said political reform was his top and only priority because failure to make progress in the past 19 years had plunged Hong Kong into division and conflict.

Regina Ip confirmed she would run for CE too

"When political reform is resolved, everything else will become easy," he said. Housing, a major issue taken up seriously by the chief executive, was "less important", Woo said.

Probably triggered by Woo's shock announcement, New People's Party leader Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee confirmed today on Commercial Radio that she is interested in the top job too, though she won't formalize her candidacy until after the 1,200 election committee assembles in December.

She said while Woo may be strongly experienced in law, he may not know much about the economy, livelihood issues and housing.

As a result, she plans to make housing and land the top issues in her campaign.

Ip also made a dig at supposed front runner, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, saying he hadn't accomplished much in the past decade.

The claws are out!