Hong Kong’s John Lee is not giving any hints on second term

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has said he will focus on the now and “grasp the moment” in preparing Hong Kong for an unpredictable world as he addressed speculation on whether he will be seeking a second term as the city’s leader.

“I think for anybody in the government, focus on what you’re doing now, as the world can be very unpredictable. Nobody predicted, when I was in my first year, that I would have this tariff war that affects everybody in this world,” Lee said in an interview with the Post to review the past three years of his five-year term as Hong Kong’s leader.

“Grasp the moment. Do your best; maximise the value, I think, the chief executive has been creating for society. That is my mission. That is always my goal,” he said, declining to say if he was considering another five-year term.

Lee, a career police officer and security official, rose to Hong Kong’s top post in July 2022, two years after Beijing imposed the national security law in the city following the months-long anti-government protests in 2019.

The next chief executive election is expected to take place in 2027.

During the interview with the Post, he highlighted his administration’s achievements in restoring stability and security, particularly through the enactment of a domestic national security law, a constitutional requirement enshrined in Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.

  

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