Carrie Lam vowed to heal divisions when she became Hong Kong's leader, but her tenure has been marred by massive democracy protests and a crackdown by Beijing that prompted the United States to sanction her.
Carrie Lam vowed to heal divisions when she became Hong Kong’s leader, but her tenure has been marred by massive democracy protests and a crackdown by Beijing that prompted the United States to sanction her.
But she was not popularly elected. Hong Kong’s leaders are instead chosen by a 1,200-strong committee stacked with Beijing loyalists, and Lam secured 777 votes. Fast forward three years and Hong Kong is more divided than at any time in living memory after months of huge and often violent democracy protests last year.
She began her career in the colonial civil service and her rise up the ranks accelerated after Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, earning herself a reputation for being a fighter and a committed Beijing loyalist. When she took the top job three years later Hong Kong’s democracy movement appeared moribund, ground down by the failure of the 2014 protests to achieve any results and the prosecution of its leaders.“If mainstream opinion makes me no longer able to continue the job as chief executive, I’ll resign,” she declared at an election debate.
Her approval ratings tanked to historic lows. But staunchly backed by Beijing throughout, Lam hung on, dismissing the protests and portraying them as a foreign plot to destabilise China.In June, Beijing imposed its security law aimed at ending the unrest, describing it as a “sword” that would hang over lawbreakers.
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