Lahm was announced as media outlets reported that Secretary-General John Lee, Hong Kong’s second-highest-ranking official, was set to resign to replace Lahm in May as the next city leader to rule the country. China. “There is only one issue and that is the family. I have told everyone in the past that family is my first priority,” Lam told a regular news conference. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “They think it’s time to go home.” She declined to comment on potential candidates for her replacement, saying she had not decided on her future plans. Lam, born in Hong Kong in 1957 and a lifelong civil servant who describes herself as a devout Catholic, took office in 2017 with the promise of uniting a city that was increasingly outraged by Beijing’s tight grip. Two years later, millions of pro-democracy activists took to the streets in sometimes violent anti-government demonstrations. The unrest led Beijing to enact a sweeping national security law in June 2020, giving it more power than ever to shape life in Hong Kong. An outraged Lam said at the height of the unrest in 2019 that if he had the choice he would resign, adding in remarks to a group of businessmen that the CEO “should serve two gentlemen under the constitution, namely the central people’s government and the people of Hong Kong.” . “The political margin for maneuver is very, very, very limited,” she added, according to an audio recording of her comments received by Reuters. Hong Kong CEO Kari Lam speaks during a post-election press conference in Hong Kong, China, on December 20, 2021. REUTERS / Tyrone Siu / File Photo read more Lam said Monday that he had proposed a government restructuring to the mainland authorities that would include new policy sections, but that it would be up to the next city leader to decide whether to proceed with the plan. City leaders are elected by a small electoral commission stacked with Beijing loyalists, so whoever becomes the next leader of the former British colony will do so with Beijing’s tacit approval. Li, a 64-year-old security official during the protracted and often violent pro-democracy protests in 2019, was promoted in 2021 in a move that some analysts said signaled Beijing’s renewed focus on security rather than the economy. Lee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Other potential candidates for the media include city’s finance secretary Paul Chan and former leader Leung Chun-ying. No one has announced an offer yet. Hong Kong returned from British rule to Chinese rule in 1997 with a guarantee of a wide range of freedoms, including an independent judiciary and the right to assembly, for at least 50 years. The United States has imposed sanctions on both Lam and Lee, among other officials, in 2020, saying they had undermined Beijing’s high degree of autonomy from Beijing and restricted civil liberties with a national security law punishing offenses such as undermining and secession up to life imprisonment. Authorities in China and Hong Kong have denied the allegations in a statement issued Friday stating “Similar, baseless allegations concerning individual rights have been made more than once. Leadership elections have been postponed from March to May 8 to give the government time to tackle the COVID epidemic that has infected more than one million of the city’s 7.4 million people. Lam’s term ends on June 30. Ever since Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule, it has had four executives, all of whom have struggled to balance the democratic and liberal ambitions of many people with the vision of the Chinese Communist Party leadership. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Jessie Pang, James Pomfret, Twinnie Siu; Writes Anne Marie Roantree. Edited by Robert Birsel Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
