Jump to content

2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election

← 2012 26 March 2017 2022 →

All 1,194 votes of the Election Committee
601 votes needed to win
Opinion polls
  Carrie Lam John Tsang Woo Kwok-hing
Nominee Carrie Lam John Tsang Woo Kwok-hing
Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Nonpartisan
Alliance Pro-Beijing Pro-Beijing N/A
Electoral vote 777 365 21
Percentage 66.81% 31.38% 1.81%

Chief Executive before election

Leung Chun-ying
Nonpartisan

Elected Chief Executive

Carrie Lam
Nonpartisan

The 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election was held on 26 March 2017 for the 5th term of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (CE), the highest office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Former Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam beat former Financial Secretary John Tsang and retired judge Woo Kwok-hing, receiving 777 votes from the 1,194-member Election Committee.

The two front-runners, Lam and Tsang, emerged after incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying surprisingly announced he would not run for a second term. Both resigned from their posts in the government. Despite leading in the polls, Tsang struggled to receive nominations from the pro-Beijing electors and had to rely heavily on pro-democrats. Lam, with the PRC's Liaison Office actively lobbying for her, attracted 580 nominations, almost half in the Election Committee and only 21 votes short of winning the final election, while Tsang and Woo received 165 and 180 nominations respectively, most of which came from the pro-democracy camp which consisted of about 320 members.[1]

As a result, Lam received 777 electoral votes, beating Tsang's 365 and Woo's 21 votes, higher than Leung's 689 votes in the last election, becoming the first female Chief Executive.

Background

[edit]
The 2014 sit-in protests calling for "genuine universal suffrage" were held in response to the NPCSC decision affecting the 2017 election.

The highest government office of Hong Kong, the Chief Executive, is selected by a 1,200-member Election Committee (EC) which is divided into various subsectors and dominated by pro-Beijing politicians and tycoons. Since the terms of Article 45 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong requiring "selection of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee in accordance with democratic procedures" have not been implemented, the progress to universal suffrage has been the dominant issue in Hong Kong politics since the transfer of sovereignty in 1997.[2]

In 2004, the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) had ruled out universal suffrage in the 2012 Chief Executive election, but in 2007 ruled that the 2017 Chief Executive election "may be implemented by the method of universal suffrage".[3] On 31 August 2014, however, the NPCSC imposed the nebulous condition that "the Chief Executive shall be a person who loves the country and loves Hong Kong" and that the process of selection of two or three candidates by an undemocratic nominating committee continue.[4] The pan-democrats viewed the restrictive nominating process as a violation of international standards for free elections, as candidates unsupportive of the central government would likely be screened out. The "831 decision", as it was called, triggered a class boycott in Hong Kong which escalated into an unprecedented 79-day large-scale occupy movement, internationally known as the "Umbrella Revolution".[5][6]

On 18 June 2015, the Legislative Council rejected the electoral reform proposal 28 votes to 8, with 33 principally pro-Beijing legislators absent in a whip failure. The selection method and procedure thus remained unchanged from that employed in 2012.[7]

Candidates

[edit]

Nominees

[edit]
Candidate Born Party Most recent position Campaign Nominations
received
Carrie Lam
林鄭月娥
13 May 1957
(age 59)
Nonpartisan
(Pro-Beijing)
Chief Secretary for Administration
(2012–2017)

Announced: 16 January 2017
Nominated: 28 February 2017
580 / 1,194 (49%)
Woo Kwok-hing
胡國興
13 January 1946
(age 71)
Nonpartisan
(Non-aligned)
Deputy Judge of the Court of
First Instance
of the High Court[8]
(2016)

Announced: 27 October 2016
Nominated: 27 February 2017
180 / 1,194 (15%)
John Tsang
曾俊華
21 April 1951
(age 65)
Nonpartisan
(Pro-Beijing)
Financial Secretary
(2007–2017)

Announced: 19 January 2017
Nominated: 25 February 2017
165 / 1,194 (14%)

Withdrawn

[edit]
Candidate Born Party Most recent position Campaign Nominations
received
Regina Ip
葉劉淑儀
24 August 1950
(age 66)
New People's Party
(Pro-Beijing)
Member of the Legislative Council
and New People's Party
Chairwoman
(2008–present; 2011–present)

Announced: 15 December 2016
Withdrew: 1 March 2017
Withdrawn
Leung Kwok-hung
梁國雄
27 March 1956
(age 60)
League of Social
Democrats

(Pro-democracy)
Member of the Legislative Council
(2004–2010, 2010–2017)
Announced: 8 February 2017
Withdrew: 25 February 2017
Withdrawn

Other minor candidates included insurer Jenny Kan Wai-fun, Vincent Lau Chi-wing, barrister Albert Leung Sze-ho,[9] ex-DAB member Wu Sai-chuen[10] and Professor Yu Wing-yin.[11][12]

Expressed interest but did not run

[edit]

Other potential candidates

[edit]

Individuals listed below were mentioned as potential 2017 Chief Executive candidates in at least two reliable media sources.

Declined

[edit]

Pre-nomination events

[edit]

October 2016: Emergence of potential candidates

[edit]
Retired judge Woo Kwok-hing became the first candidate to declare his campaign on 27 October 2016.

The Chief Executive race started as early on 27 October 2016 when retired judge Woo Kwok-hing became the first candidate to declare his campaign.[37] He launched an offensive campaign against incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, questioning his achievements during his term, while Woo was being questioned for his lack of experience in public administration.[38]

Around the same time, New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip, a 2012 candidate who did not receive enough nominations, expressed her interest in running for the second time. She criticised a potential candidate, Financial Secretary John Tsang, for not doing much in the last decade. Tsang responded by saying that "if one can be idle at it for 10 years, [he] has quite a bit of talent." He refused to clarify if he would run, only stating that it was "heaven's secret". Leung Chun-ying, who was expected to seek a second term, also unleashed a thinly-veiled attack on Tsang, suggesting ministers should be "responsible" and focus on the upcoming policy address and budget rather than thinking about joining the race. Leung also argued, "will those pushing for the city's independence stop what they are doing? Will those insulting their own country shut up?", referring to the Legislative Council oath-taking controversy. He went on by asking "will the land and housing problems that have accumulated become easier to solve under a new leader or government? Will the cabinet continue to touch on vested interests in the property market with courage and determination, and amid difficulties, to solve the housing problems?"[39]

November to December 2016: Pro-democrats' ABC campaign

[edit]
Incumbent Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced he would not seek re-election on 9 December 2016.

Professionals and activists formed a loose coalition called "Democrats 300+" hoping to snatch over 300 seats in the Election Committee Subsector elections based on the common platform of opposing Leung Chun-ying's second term, many of whom adopted the slogan "ABC" (Anyone but CY).[40] The camp decided not to field a candidate in the election, but rather boost the chances of an alternative establishment candidate.[41] On 9 December, two days before the election, Leung surprisingly announced he would not seek re-election, citing his daughter's ill health, which made him the first Chief Executive to serve only one term.[31] After Leung's announcement, Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam, who previously said she would retire, expressed that she would have to reconsider running for Chief Executive in order to continue Leung's policies.[42]

Despite Leung's announcement, the pro-democrats still managed to win record 325 out of 1,200 seats in the Election Committee election, more than a quarter of seats with a surge of the turnout nearly 20 percentage points higher than that in the last committee election in 2011.[43] After the election, the two potential candidates, John Tsang and Regina Ip, resigned from their Financial Secretary and Executive Councillor posts on 12 and 15 December respectively, being expected to run.

On 14 December, Woo Kwok-hing became the first one to unveil his electoral platform under the slogan of "Good Heart, Right Path, Bright Future for Hong Kong". He proposed to expand the electorate base for choosing the Election Committee from the current 250,000 to one million in 2022, rising to three million by 2032 and eventually quasi-universal suffrage. His attendees included Andy Ho On-tat, former information coordinator during the Donald Tsang administration from 2006 to 2012.[44]

Regina Ip received the New People's Party's endorsement on 14 December and resigned from the Executive Council on the next day. She announced her candidacy on 15 December under the campaign slogan "Win Back Hong Kong", the same one used in her 2016 Legislative Council campaign. She called for a relaunch of the electoral reform process under Beijing's restrictive framework as decreed by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) on 31 August 2014. She also pledged to enact controversial Basic Law Article 23 with "suitable measures".[45] Her campaign launching rally was attended by former colonial Chief Secretary Sir David Akers-Jones and businessman Allan Zeman as special advisers to Ip's campaign office.

In late December, Wang Guangya, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), laid out four basic criteria for the next Chief Executive in an interview with a pro-Beijing magazine: loves China, loves Hong Kong, who Beijing can trust, and capable of governing and supported by the Hong Kong people, in that order.[46]

Mid January 2017: Carrie Lam and John Tsang enter the race

[edit]
Former Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam announced her candidacy on 16 January 2017, and was seen as Beijing's preferred choice.

On 12 January 2017, Carrie Lam resigned from her Chief Secretary post (having at some point previously renounced her British citizenship, which would have excluded her from running) and announced her plan to run for Chief Executive if her resignation was approved.[47] In a closed-door meeting, she laid out an eight-point "achievable new vision" for Hong Kong and told participants that God had called on her to run. On 16 January, the two Secretaries' resignations were simultaneously approved by the central government. Some pro-Beijing politicians saw this as a sign that Lam was the central government's favoured candidate, as Tsang had resigned a full month before Lam.[48] Lam officially declared her candidacy on the same day, promising good governance with greater transparency and "new blood" in her cabinet, at a press conference in which she was joined by Executive Councillor Bernard Chan, director of her campaign office.[48] The chairman's council of her campaign office included prominent figures, former Hong Kong Stock Exchange chairman Ronald Arculli among them.[49]

As Lam declared her candidacy and Tsang was expected to run, political analysts observed that Regina Ip's chances of getting the minimum 150 nominations were reduced. Ip revealed that two or three electors, including Allan Zeman, had turned their backs on her to support Lam. A teary-eyed Ip told a media gathering on 17 January, "[i]n the past ten years I started from nothing, working hard bit by bit, splashing out my own money, putting in much mental and physical effort. Can you say I had not taken on responsibilities for Hong Kong society? When I handled Article 23, I did not perform satisfactorily?" Ip's remarks came after Leung Chun-ying praised Lam for her "ability and willingness to take on responsibility".[50]

Former Financial Secretary John Tsang launched his campaign on 19 January 2017 after his long-awaited resignation was approved by the central government.

John Tsang officially declared his candidacy on 19 January with a slogan of "Trust, Unity, Hope", after more than a month-long delay in the acceptance of his resignation by the central government, which put his campaign in limbo. To contrast himself with Lam, who was perceived to follow Leung Chun-ying's hardline and divisive policies, Tsang described himself as a good listener accepting of different views. He appealed to "all 7.35 million Hongkongers so that together we can make Hong Kong a better place." Retired senior civil servant former Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service Rebecca Lai Ko Wing-yee and former Permanent Secretary for Food and Health Sandra Lee Suk-yee became director and officer of Tsang's campaign office respectively, despite a number of his supporters switching to Lam's camp amid reports suggesting he failed to get endorsement from Beijing.[51] Tsang also launched his election Facebook page, which drew more than 100,000 likes in a day.

In a closed-door meeting with senior media executives on 20 January, Lam reportedly said she decided to run to prevent the election from being won by someone not accepted by Beijing, which would cause "constitutional crisis". Woo Kwok-hing criticised Lam for using a "despicable tactic" to attack her opponents. Lam's campaign office later clarified that Lam was only making a general comment without targeting anybody in particular.[52] She was also criticised for being out of touch with ordinary people after she appeared unfamiliar with how to use an Octopus card to pass through a turnstile in the Mass Transit Railway (MTR). A similar gaffe followed shortly thereafter when it was reported that Lam did not know convenience stores do not sell toilet paper and had to take a cab back to her former official residence to get one, which was dubbed "loo paper-gate" by English media.[53][54] She was further under criticism for being ignorant after giving HK$500 to an illegal beggar who was allegedly "trafficked" from China.[55]

Late January to early February 2017: Canvassing nominations

[edit]
New People's Party Regina Ip faced an uphill battle to garner nominations after Lam and Tsang announced their candidacies.

After days of candidates meeting with the Election Committee members from different sectors to canvass at least 150 nominations in order to enter the race, by 27 January multiple reports speculated that Carrie Lam had already secured 300 to 400 nominations. Heung Yee Kuk and the New Territories Association of Societies (NTAS) stated that they inclined to nominate Lam.[56] Together with pro-Beijing parties Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), and Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA), as well as Import and Export subsector and Sports and Culture sub-subsectors, Lam was estimated to grab more than 500 nominations. In contrast, despite topping the public opinion polls, John Tsang was speculated to have secured fewer than 100 nominations. Tsang stated "[t]here is no reason for me to believe that the central government does not trust me," as pro-Beijing electors felt pressured if nominate him amid the speculation that he was not Beijing's choice.[57] Regina Ip was speculated to hold about 20 nominations from her New People's Party, while Woo Kwok-hing, who had not revealed any electors' endorsement, repeatedly said he was confident in receiving enough nominations.[58]

Hours before Carrie Lam's large-scale election rally on 3 February, John Tsang launched a crowdfunding website. The website went down within minutes due to overloading. The public responded actively, with more than one million Hong Kong dollars being raised in just the first few hours. Former Secretary for Development Mak Chai-kwong, despite being the former top aide to Carrie Lam, also showed support for Tsang in a Facebook video.[59] Under the campaign slogan of "We Connect", including the catchphrases "We Care, We Listen, We Act", Lam's campaign rally was attended by nearly 800 pro-Beijing figures and tycoons from both the Henry Tang and Leung Chun-ying camps in the last election. She also revealed a star-studded campaign team, which included a council of chairpersons consisting of Ronald Arculli, Laura Cha, Moses Cheng, Jonathan Choi Koon-sum, Timothy Fok, Lam Tai-fai, Eddy Li Sau-hung, Victor Lo, Lo Man-tuen, Anthony Wu, Yu Kwok-chun and Allan Zeman; senior advisers consisting of heavyweights including senior pro-Beijing politicians including Chan Wing-kee, Cheng Yiu-tong, Hung Chao-hong and Rita Fan, tycoons such as Robin Chan, Aron Harilela, Xu Rongmao, Robert Kuok, Peter Lam, Lee Shau-kee, Vincent Lo, Robert Ng, Peter Woo and Charles Yeung and others such as Lawrence Lau, Lau Chin-shek, Li Fung-ying and Joseph Yam.[60]

On 5 February, Woo Kwok-hing updated his election platform, including the implementation of the Basic Law Article 22, which states that no mainland authorities can interfere in Hong Kong internal affairs.[61] On the next day, John Tsang unveiled his 75-page election platform entitled "Convergence of Hearts, Proactive Enablement", with the promise of revisiting Article 23 national security legislation and political reform. Other policies included introducing a progressive profit tax, developing New Territories North and East Lantau and abolishing all Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) and Basic Competency Assessment (BCA) tests, among others.[62]

Pro-democracy legislator Leung Kwok-hung announced his candidacy through the "civil nomination" campaign on 8 February.

Legislator "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung of the League of Social Democrats (LSD) formally announced his Chief Executive bid on 8 February through a "civil nomination" mechanism conducted by post-Occupy group Citizens United in Action, in which he would seek to secure 37,790 votes from members of the public, one per cent of the city's registered voters before he would canvass for the nominations from the Election Committee. He explained his decision was to urge the pro-democrat electors not to vote for any pro-establishment candidate who could not represent the pro-democracy camp at all even if they view as "lesser evil", as some democrats had inclined to support John Tsang, the relatively liberal pro-establishment candidate to prevent hardliner Carrie Lam from winning. He also aimed to reflect the spirit of the 2014 Umbrella Movement and the voice of those low-income people. His bid was supported by four radical democrat legislators People Power's Raymond Chan, Demosisto's Nathan Law, Lau Siu-lai and Eddie Chu, while the mainstream pro-democrats cast doubt over Leung's candidacy, believing it would contribute to the victory to Carrie Lam.[63]

Being the only one of the four candidates who had not published an election platform, Carrie Lam held a press conference titled "WeConnect: Manifesto Step 2" on 13 February, one day before the nomination period, to reveal some details of her manifesto, including boosting education spending to HK$5 billion, tax cut to small- and medium-sized enterprises, and creating more land for housing through reclamation, urban redevelopment, and developing brownfield sites or country parks.[64]

Allegations of Beijing manipulation

[edit]

There were reports that central government officials had given a "red light" to John Tsang running in the election and had allegedly asked John Tsang not to run more than ten times, including rumours of him being offered the deputy governor post at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in return for not running. Tsang refuted such claims, only saying that there were "friends" who supported him and some who did not.[65]

On 17 January, New People's Party deputy chairman Michael Tien complained the election had "lost its shape" due to the increasing interference of "an invisible hand". He revealed that many of the 1,194 Election Committee members had received phone calls asking them to nominate certain candidates. Tien did not disclose the name of the candidate backed by the "invisible hand", even though the Liaison Office had reportedly informed senior editors of the local pro-Beijing newspapers that Carrie Lam was Beijing's preferred candidate, and had actively lobbied for Lam.[48][66] The senior editors were told to "gradually devote more extensive coverage" to Lam.[67] However, several political observers, as well as the pro-Beijing Sing Pao Daily News who has launched months-long headline editorial attacks on the Liaison Office, said the Liaison Office does not reflect Beijing's wishes on the matter as the election has become part of the power struggle within the Chinese Communist Party in which the Liaison Office tries to keep its grip on Hong Kong.[68] In late February, Sing Pao staff began to be harassed and stalked by unknown individuals. A residence of a staff member was also splashed with red paint and threatening leaflets were thrown around the staff members' homes.[69]

Carrie Lam dismissed speculation that the Liaison Office had been canvassing for her behind the scenes, saying that she did not see any evidence or the need for the Liaison Office to lobby for her.[70] Lam later added that she has no power to tell the Liaison Office not to lobby the electors to vote for her in an interview. She admitted that it would be counterproductive if the public believed a "visible hand" was behind the election.[71]

On 6 February, multiple media reports said National People's Congress (NPC) chairman Zhang Dejiang, who was also head of the Communist Party's Central Coordination Group for Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, and Sun Chunlan, head of the party's United Front Work Department, were in Shenzhen to meet with some Election Committee members from the major business chambers and political groups.[72] It was reported that Zhang told the electors that the Politburo of the Communist Party that had decided to support Carrie Lam in the election.[73]

During the nomination period, it was reported that HKMAO director Wang Guangya told the electors at a meeting in Shenzhen that John Tsang was the contender with the least support from the central government.[74] Few days later, Hong Kong Economic Journal cited unnamed sources that Tung Chee-hwa, former Chief Executive and vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) said in a closed-door meeting that Beijing may not appoint Tsang as Chief Executive even if he wins the election. He said this was the reason he asked Carrie Lam to run in the election in order to prevent an "embarrassing situation".[75] 30 electors of the Legal subsector in the Election Committee expressed "deep concerns" about Tung's comments in a joint statement, stating that "such action undermines the fairness of our Chief Executive election and shows a callous disregard for the aspirations of most Hong Kong people to have free and fair elections without ignorant and insensitive interference."[76]

Regina Ip also said in an interview that someone claiming to have close relations with Beijing had offered to compensate her with top posts at the NPC or the CPPCC if she quit the race, but she had refused the offers, stating that she was not interested in any "consolation prize".[77][78]

Nominations

[edit]

The nomination period ran from 14 February to 1 March 2017. A minimum number of 150 nominations from members of the Election Committee must be acquired in order to stand in the election.[79]

Nominations received in the Election Committee by each candidate

  Carrie Lam (48.58%)
  Woo Kwok-hing (14.99%)
  John Tsang (13.82%)
  Did not nominate (22.61%)

On 25 February, John Tsang became the first candidate to submit his nominations. Amid the alleged pressure from the Liaison Office which actively lobbied for Carrie Lam, Tsang struggled to seek nominations from the pro-Beijing camp and had to rely heavily on the pro-democrats. Liberal Party honorary chairman James Tien was one of the few pro-Beijing electors to publicly endorse John Tsang earlier on 19 January, stating that he would nominate Tsang.[80] Liberal Party's Selina Chow and leader Chung Kwok-pan also nominated Tsang, making Liberal Party the only pro-Beijing party to nominate Tsang.[81] Thomas Wu, son of tycoon Gordon Wu of the Hopewell Holdings, was among the only tycoon to nominate Tsang, although his father nominated Carrie Lam.[82] Film director Derek Yee became the only elector from his subsector to nominate Tsang.

Out of Tsang's total of 165 nominations, 127 came from the pro-democracy camp. Five pro-democracy electors from the High Education subsector became the first pro-democrats to nominate Tsang, followed by Democratic Action Accountants, handing 17 nominations to Tsang.[83] On 16 February, the Democratic Party announced its seven legislators would nominate Tsang, making it the first time a pro-democratic party nominated an establishment candidate.[84] Pro-democrat Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU) also backed Tsang with its 35 nominations from the Education and Higher Education subsectors. The other sectors where Tsang received the most nominations included Information Technology, where he bagged 21 of the 30 nominations. He also received half of the nominations from the Medical subsector. Tsang was criticised by pro-Beijing media and politicians for accepting support from the pro-democracy camp. Tam Yiu-chung said that Tsang now clearly represented the pan-democrats while an editorial in the Beijing mouthpiece Ta Kung Pao attacked Tsang for "making a deal with the devils".[85][86]

Woo Kwok-hing made an emergency plea for support after getting just three nominations on the first day of the nomination period.[87] As the "Democrats 300+" planned to nominate John Tsang and Woo Kwok-hing to boost the competitiveness of the election, Woo gradually received nominations from pro-democrat electors. Six electors from the Higher Education subsector including Civic Party founding chairman Kuan Hsin-chi became the first pro-democrats to decide to nominate Woo, on 15 February.[88] 46 pro-democracy members also decided to nominate Woo subsequently.[89] After Tsang received enough nominations, pro-democrat electors turned to nominate Woo. On 27 February, Woo became the second candidate to be nominated, with 180 of nominations, almost all of them came from the pro-democracy camp.[90]

The three nominees who stood in the final election: Woo Kwok-hing, Carrie Lam and John Tsang.

Carrie Lam submitted a total of 579 nominations on 28 February, and submitted an extra one on the next day, just 21 votes short of the final number needed to win the race. Although she was widely seen to have secured more than a minimum number of 150 nominations in the early stage, she reportedly aimed at securing more than 600 nominations to project herself as a clear winner before the secret ballot. Lam dominated in the business and politics sectors, winning three-quarters of the votes in the business sector, but failed to receive any nomination from the pro-democracy camp. The pro-Beijing Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGGC) which commanded the 18-seat Commercial (Second) subsector became the first chamber to declare it would hand all its nominations to Lam on 8 January. The two pro-Beijing parties Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong (BPA) and Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), which commanded over 100 votes, also endorsed Lam. However, instead of bundling their votes the two parties allowed their electors to freely nominate any candidate. Some DAB legislators did not nominate Lam at the end, including Holden Chow and Elizabeth Quat.[91][92] Contrary to observers’ expectations, the Labour subsector, which is dominated by the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), also returned only five out of its 60 nominations to Lam as its legislator Wong Kwok-kin earlier expressed reservations about Lam's proposed labour policies, although it was seen as Lam's strategy to reserve her strength.[93][94] The same happened with the pro-Beijing-dominated Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association and Hong Kong and Kowloon District Councils subsectors, which commanded 73 votes combined but handed only two nominations to Lam.

Other political sectors such as the 27-seat Heung Yee Kuk and 51-seat Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), including deputy chairman of the CK Hutchison Holdings Victor Li, also decided they would hand in all their nominations to Lam, although Li's father, Hong Kong most influential tycoon Li Ka-shing, had refused to back any candidate despite alleged Liaison Office pressure. "But I would definitely cast my vote," Li said. "You would offend people by nominating [a specific candidate] but no one would know who I voted for [in the secret ballot]."[95][96][97]

In response to controversy surrounding her lack of a full election platform, Lam revealed a manifesto titled "Connecting for Consensus and A Better Future" on 27 February, two days before the nomination period ended. The platform focused on reforming the government structure and boosting the economy, including expanding the Central Policy Unit, establishing a Culture Bureau and a new Tourism Bureau, and dividing Transport and Housing Bureau into two, but did not make any promise on relaunching electoral reform or Article 23 legislation.[98]

Regina Ip withdrew from the election, conceding the number of nominations hours before the nomination deadline on 1 March, for the second time after her 2012 bid. She received a number of nominations "far behind what was needed", despite backing from her New People's Party and a few electors from business sectors.[95] Ip also gained a nomination from a pro-democrat elector from the Accountancy subsector, who wished to send Ip into the race to split Lam's votes.[99] However, as Lam aimed to grab more than 600 nominations, Ip faced an uphill battle to secure her nominations. She urged "a certain candidate" not to ask for additional backing since that person had secured more than enough nominations already.[89] She attributed her failure to the restrictive selection process of the 1,200 structure of the Election Committee membership as she was "squeezed out" by the Beijing-supported Lam and democrat-supported Tsang and Woo.[100]

Candidate Estimated
nominations
Nominators Ref

Carrie Lam
580 / 1,194 (49%)
Blocs: Agriculture and Fisheries, Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong[1], Catering, Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong15/18, Chinese Medicine12/30, Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Confucian Academy, Culture9/15, Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong[2], Employers' Federation of Hong Kong9/16, EP3010/15, Federation of Hong Kong Industries17/18, Finance15/18, Financial Services16/18, Heung Yee Kuk, Hong Kong Buddhist Association, Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce12/18, Hong Kong Taoist Association8/10, Hotel14/17, Import and Export11/17, Insurance12/18, National People's Congress31/33, New Territories District Councils53/70, Performing Arts13/15, Real Estate and Construction16/18, Sports, Textiles and Garment14/18, Tourism11/18, Transport8/18, Wholesale and Retail16/18
Individuals: Chan Chun-ying, Frank Cheng Chi-yan, Tommy Cheung, Chow Luen-kiu, Fung Tak-lee, Junius Ho, Lam King, Lam Shuk-yee, Lee Sau-king, Leung Yiu-wah, Ma Fung-kwok, Anthony Vincent Ng Wing-shun, Jimmy Ng, Shiu Ka-fai, Tam Chi-chung, Marco Wu Moon-hoi, Frankie Yick, Yiu Si-wing
[101]

Woo Kwok-hing
180 / 1,194 (15%)
Blocs: Academics in Support of Democracy13/30, Civic Party[3], CoVision1613/16, Demo-Social Front18/22, Democratic Action Accountants2/21, Doctors for Democracy14/19, Health Professionals for Democracy 3022/30, Hong Kong Social Workers' General Union, IT Vision8/30, Land5cape 2016, Legal20/30, O Superpower, Progressive Engineering, Together for Social Welfare
Individuals: Fernando Cheung, Chan Kan-tik, James Kwok Tsz-kwan, Joseph Lee, Lee Ka-lun, Shiu Ka-chun, Tsang Yuk-ting, Tung Chung-yin, Haster Wu Ka-yi, Raymond Yeung Chi-leung, Yeung Tak-yu, Yiu Chung-yim, Waiky Yiu Kwok-wai
[102]

John Tsang
165 / 1,194 (14%)
Blocs: ABC.P.A3/4, Academics in Support of Democracy16/30, CoVision163/16, Demo-Social Front3/22, Democrat Professionals Hong Kong, Democratic Action Accountants19/21, Democratic Party[4], Doctors for Democracy5/19, Health Professionals for Democracy 306/30, Hearts of Accountants, Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, IT Vision21/30, Legal6/30, Professional Commons, Public Doctor HK
Individuals: Fiona Chan Ho-yan, Chan Kin-yung, Pierre Chan, Chan Tong-sang, Ricky Chim Kim-lun, Choi Kin, Selina Chow, Charles Chu Sai-ping, Chung Kwok-pan, Ho Pak-leung, Ronnie Ho Pak-ting, Ip Hing-cheung, Kwan Ka-lun, Kelvin Lau Chi-to, Lee Yu-ming, Leung Ka-lau, Luk Wang-kwong, Mak Suet-ching, Man Ka-leung, Ng Ming-him, Jason Shum Jiu-sang, Tang Wai-yee, James Tien, Tsui Luen-on, Wan Siu-fai, Thomas Jefferson Wu, Derek Yee, Yim Shun-see, Banny Yu Yuen-mau
[81]

Pro-democrats' civil nomination

[edit]

The pro-democracy group Citizens United in Action, which was formed to promote Occupy Central initiator Benny Tai's "ThunderGo" plan in the 2016 Legislative Council election, launched the "CE Civil Referendum 2017" to engage the general Hong Kong population, who had no vote in the election. It conducted a "civil nomination" online, from 7 to 22 February, in co-operation with the University of Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme (HKUPOP) and the Centre for Social Policy Studies (CSPS) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Any candidate that secured 37,790 votes, one per cent of Hong Kong's registered voters, from the general public would be a "civil candidate" in a "civil referendum" to be held from 10 to 19 March.[103] On 13 February, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data issued a statement concerning the "existing privacy risks" of the organisers collecting personal data.[104] In response to that, the organisers updated their system afterward and extended the nomination period until 28 February.

On 25 February, Leung Kwok-hung who pledged to only enter the race if he received enough civil nominations announced he would not run for the Chief Executive, as he only secured 20,234 nominations from the general public, about 17,000 fewer than the threshold. Among the 20,234 nominations, 13,440 were collected in public while the rest of them online. Leung stated that his being able to collect more than 20,000 nominations with personal contact information and identity card numbers had proved that "civil nomination" is achievable.[105] None of the candidates received the minimum number of 37,790 in the "civil nomination" as a result.

Debates and forums

[edit]

There were a few forums organised during the nomination period, including a public forum organised by D100 Radio on 19 February attended by Leung Kwok-hung and Woo Kwok-hing and a forum organised by Power for Democracy on 25 February and attended by Regina Ip and Woo Kwok-hing.[106]

Schedule of the 2017 Chief Executive election debates and forums
No. Date Time Host Moderator(s) Participants
 P  Participant.  I  Invitee.
 N  Non-invitee.  A  Absent invitee.
Tsang Lam Woo
1 5 March 2017 7:30 p.m. Path of Democracy Joseph Tse
Ronny Tong
Stephen Chiu
A P P
2 6 March 2017 Afternoon Hong Kong Federation of Insurers Ronnie Ng A P P
3 8 March 2017 7:30 p.m. IT Vision/Charles Mok Danny Fung P A P
4 10 March 2017 10:00 a.m. Hong Kong Journalist Association Shum Yee-lan
Allan Au
P P P
5 12 March 2017 2:00 p.m. Hong Kong Professional Teachers'
Union
Ryan Lau P P P
6 14 March 2017 8:00 p.m. now TV/Cable TV/TVB/
Phoenix HK/CRHK/
Metro Radio/RTHK
Kenneth Ng (TVB)
Mei Wong (Cable TV)
P P P
7 19 March 2017 7:00 p.m. Preparatory Committee for the
Chief Executive Election Forum
Joseph Tse
Kaman Lee
P P P
8 22 March 2017 7:00 p.m. Legal subsector Ambrose Ho P A P

5 March 2017 – Path of Democracy

[edit]

The first election forum after the nomination period was held on 5 March 2017 by think tank Path of Democracy. John Tsang was absent from the debate, as it was speculated that Tsang saw convenor of Path of Democracy Ronny Tong as Carrie Lam’s supporter. In the debate, Lam tried to distance herself from unpopular current Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, dismissing suggestions by Woo that she was "Leung Chun-ying 2.0", while Woo Kwok-hing was targeted for his lack of experience in finance.[107]

12 March 2017 – Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union

[edit]

An election forum was organised by the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU) in which all three candidates met on the same stage for the first time. The candidates took turns to answer questions from the electors as well as some 400 educators in the audience. Carrie Lam said she is a victim of "white terror" in response to online attacks on her, as well as on her supporter actress Josephine Siao. John Tsang refuted Lam, saying that online comments are not "white terror" but suppression on dissent.[108]

14 March 2017 – Seven media outlets

[edit]
Candidate Polls[109]
Tsang 81.38%
Lam 13.95%
Woo 4.67%

A two-hour televised debate co-organised by seven electronic media outlets took place at TVB City on 14 March 2017.[110] All three candidates received questions from members of the audience and journalists and also directed their questions at each other. Tsang criticised Lam for being "CY 2.0", the second version of the divisive incumbent Leung Chun-ying, saying that people fear society will have "split 2.0" if Lam wins. Lam challenged Tsang for advocating a progressive profits tax, an idea he had opposed during his office as Financial Secretary.[111] Lam also dropped a bombshell by stating that she would resign if her position was contrary to mainstream public opinion. Former candidate Regina Ip and political scientist Ma Ngok said that Tsang won the debate while Woo was clearly not prepared. On the other hand, commentator Michael Chugani said none of the three was able to deliver a knock-out blow to emerge the winner.[112]

19 March 2017 – Election Committee

[edit]
All three candidates attended the election forum organised by the Election Committee members.

A two-hour forum was co-organised by a group of Election Committee members from both the pro-democracy and pro-Beijing camps on 19 March 2017 at AsiaWorld-Expo. Some 507 of the 1,194 election committee members attended the forum. The three candidates took 21 questions from the floor, 19 of which were from the democrats as the pro-Beijing electors did not submit their questions. Lam made a dig at John Tsang's "paperless office" when he was in office as Financial Secretary – an implication of Tsang's laid-back working style. Tsang retorted by saying that it was more important to "work smart" than "work hard".[113] John Tsang also mocked Lam by stating that she would be a "three-low" Chief Executive with low popularity, low energy and low legitimacy.[114] Woo criticised Tsang and Lam for passing the buck on the incumbent government's mistakes. Political scientist Ivan Choy said Tsang was the best performer although Lam also made big progress.[113] According to a poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme (HKUPOP) after the forum, 62 per cent out of the 717 respondents said they would vote for Tsang if eligible after watching the forum, against 24 per cent for Lam and seven per cent for Woo.[115]

Pro-democrats' civil referendum

[edit]

Following the experience of conducting the "civil referendum" in the previous election in 2012, the pro-democracy group Citizens United in Action led by Occupy Central co-founder Benny Tai again launched a "civil referendum" for this election, ranging from 10 to 19 March through online app Telegram or at physical booths at the campuses of the University of Hong Kong, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Polytechnic University on 12 and 19 March. The referendum was said to engage the general public, which lacks the right to vote. The public was asked to pick "support, oppose or abstain" for each of the three candidates. The 325-member "Democrats 300+" on the Election Committee agreed to take either "major reference" from the result or to completely follow it.[116] On 12 March, Tai's team received a last-minute notification that Polytechnic University Students' Union couldn't provide room for the polls due to pressure from the university. Tai called it a "political decision".[117] About 65,000 people voted with 96.1 per cent of respondents opposing Carrie Lam, while John Tsang received 91.9 per cent of the votes.[118]

Final campaign

[edit]

After the election debates and forums, John Tsang further expanded his lead over Carrie Lam in the polls. Tsang continued becoming a social media sensation, posting videos of his supporters from the sectors endorsing him including a clip where he cooked and had meal with his core supporters directed by film director Johnnie To, as well as reading out negative comments made about him, a tactic reminiscent of the popular American show Jimmy Kimmel Live, where celebrities are invited to read mean tweets targeting them. Tsang also met with the general public while campaigning in the streets. On contrary, Lam received largely negative comments on social media. According to analysis by the WiseNews electronic data base, 57.8 per cent of internet comments about Tsang were supportive, with only 10.7 per cent were against him. As for comments on Lam, 83.4 per cent were against her. She was criticised for manipulating the University of Hong Kong’s Emeritus Professor Nelson Chow Wing-sang after posting a video of her visiting elderly people in Sham Shui Po with Chow, despite Chow having not endorsed Lam's candidacy.[119] She was also criticised after one of her campaign staffers said she was "too tired" to make the trip to visit the community in Tin Shui Wai, a New Territories new town with a high proportion of lower-income residents.[120]

John Tsang held a campaign rally on 24 March in Edinburgh Place, Central which was attended by around 3,500 supporters.

Ahead of the 26 March election, Tsang held a rally on the evening of 24 March at Edinburgh Place, Central, the final stop on his half-day bus parade on Hong Kong Island. Around 3,500 showed support at the rally, while some 449,000 people watched the rally on his Facebook page and more than 18,700 comments were left on the page. Film director Johnnie To, Tsang's wife Lynn and his former political assistant Julian Law Wing-chung were among the six guests who spoke at the rally. In Tsang's speech, he said: "We are here to show our love for this city of ours ... I hope the Election Committee members, who have the power to vote, would heed our call and heal the rift, and make Hong Kong the home we imagined it should be." He also made a reference to the 2014 Occupy protests: "Here we stand near Lung Wo Road and Connaught Road – Occupy happened near this place in more than two years ago, but I hope our rally today can give a new meaning to this place. I hope you will remembere that on 24 March 2017, we gathered here for the unity of Hong Kong."[121]

The rally was held after Tsang faced a fresh round of criticism from veteran Beijing loyalist Lo Man-tuen, who was vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference’s (CPPCC) subcommittee on foreign affairs and member of Carrie Lam's campaign office. He accused Tsang of being "an agent of [the] pan-democrats" with United States backing when he chose to ignore Beijing's signals against his running for the Chief Executive. Lo also wrote that Beijing does not trust Tsang because of his "lack of principle on major issues", namely the Occupy protests and 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest. He said Tsang failed to join the Chief Executive and other principal officials in a signature campaign organised by the Alliance for Peace and Democracy against the Occupy Central movement that challenged Beijing's authority" and even expressed appreciation for the local film Ten Years, which was considered a smear on "one country, two systems", in addition to his "laid-back" working style. Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying also slammed his former subordinate's lack of concrete plans for housing.[121][122]

On 24 March, National People's Congress (NPC) chairman Zhang Dejiang and head of the United Front Work Department Sun Chunlan reportedly arrived in Shenzhen to meet with electors from different sectors to lobby for Lam.[123]

Opinion polling

[edit]

Post-nomination period

[edit]
Date(s)
conducted
Polling source Sample
size
John Tsang Carrie Lam KH Woo Don't know/
None of above/
Abstain
20–24 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,273 55.6% 29.1% 9.2% 6.0%
19–23 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,188 56.2% 28.4% 9.4% 5.9%
20–22 Mar 2017 LUPGP 1,042 52.5% 25.1% 8.3% 13.9%
18–22 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,119 57.2% 27.5% 10.0% 5.4%
17–21 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,057 56.4% 29.6% 9.2% 4.8%
16–20 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,018 53.1% 31.6% 10.2% 5.0%
16–20 Mar 2017 MP/HKUPOP 1,017 52.8% 32.1% 10.1% 5.1%
15–19 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,024 52.2% 33.1% 9.1% 5.6%
14–18 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,026 51.3% 34.4% 8.7% 5.6%
13–17 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,041 52.6% 34.0% 7.9% 5.6%
12–16 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,027 51.4% 33.5% 8.4% 6.7%
14–15 Mar 2017 nowTV/LUPGP 410 47.2% 32.5% 8.0% 12.0%
11–15 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,019 51.7% 33.3% 8.1% 6.9%
10–14 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,014 51.0% 33.3% 8.6% 7.9%
9–13 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,014 50.7% 32.2% 9.3% 7.9%
8–13 Mar 2017 SCMP/CCPOS 1,009 46.6% 29.5% 10.1% 13.8%
8–12 Mar 2017 nowTV/LUPGP 934 42.5% 30.0% 11.5% 9.0%
8–12 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP Archived 16 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine 999 50.4% 31.2% 9.9% 8.5%
7–11 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,005 47.5% 33.6% 10.9% 8.0%
6–10 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,010 48.5% 33.8% 10.7% 7.0%
5–9 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,008 48.4% 33.6% 11.3% 6.7%
4–8 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,005 46.4% 34.9% 12.2% 6.6%
3–7 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,004 45.4% 34.6% 13.6% 6.4%
2–3, 5–7 Mar 2017 HKEJ/CCPOS 1,018 41.2% 34.3% 11.8% 12.8%
1–7 Mar 2017 Future@HK/LUPGP 1,014 43.9% 27.6% 12.7% 15.8%
2–6 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,025 47.5% 33.0% 12.4% 7.1%
1–5 Mar 2017 HK01/HKUPOP 1,027 46.1% 33.7% 12.3% 7.9%

Before nomination period ends

[edit]
Date(s)
conducted
Polling source Sample
size
John
Tsang
Carrie
Lam
KH
Woo
Regina
Ip
KH
Leung
Jasper
Tsang
CY
Leung
Antony
Leung
Norman
Chan
Others Don't know/ None of above/ Abstain
20–24 Feb 2017 MP/HKUPOP 1,006 39.2% 32.3% 11.9% 7.1% 9.5%
14–18 Feb 2017 nowTV/LUPGP 1,010 39.2% 29.4% 9.7% 5.9% 2.6% 13.1%
2–8 Feb 2017 SCMP/CCPOS ~1,000 42.5% 28.2% 8.7% 5.6% 15.0%
1–4 Feb 2017 nowTV/LUPGP 1,023 41.7% 25.0% 8.7% 5.9% 18.7%
19–24 Jan 2017 MP/HKUPOP Archived 30 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine 1,005 38.0% 35.3% 10.1% 7.3% 9.3%
18–20, 23–24 Jan 2017 HKEJ/CCPOS 1,036 33.5% 30.9% 8.1% 6.4% 7.2% 13.9%
12–15 Jan 2017 nowTV/LUPGP 1,103 31.3% 22.0% 12.0% 5.4% 7.7% 21.6%
4–10 Jan 2017 SCMP/CCPOS 1,024 27.6% 23.2% 12.6% 9.7% 7.9% 19.0%
16–20 Dec 2016 nowTV/LUPGP 1,007 26.6% 20.2% 11.5% 10.7% 8.0% 23.0%
12–16 Dec 2016 HKEJ/CCPOS 1,032 32.6% 23.9% 11.4% 6.6% 7.6% 18.0%
5–6 Dec 2016 HK01/HKUPOP 516 30.0% 10.8% 8.4% 6.1% 13.9% 6.9% 5.8% 0.5% 4.5% 13.1%
24–29 Nov 2016 nowTV/LUPGP 1,052 28.0% 8.3% 9.8% 6.2% 10.7% 9.7% 27.3%
28 Oct–2 Nov 2016 nowTV/LUPGP 1,020 28.1% 8.3% 12.2% 6.7% 9.7% 7.9% 26.5%
26 Oct–2 Nov 2016 HKEJ/CCPOS 1,005 28.4% 10.3% 13.5% 8.4% 11.4% 9.5% 18.5%
3–5 Oct 2016 Initium/CCPOS 521 32.4% 11.6% 5.1% 11.8% 10.5% 14.1% 14.5%
26–27 Sep 2016 HK01/HKUPOP 513 28.6% 12.3% 3.8% 10.4% 10.9% 7.1% 0.6% 7.5% 19.0%
23 January 2016 HK01/HKUPOP 522 20% 16% 5% 5% 8% 8% 0% 17%[5] 19%

Two-way contest

[edit]
Date(s)
conducted
Polling source Sample
size
John Tsang Carrie Lam Don't know/
None of above/
Abstain
14–18 Feb 2017 nowTV/LUPGP 1,010 53.6% 33.0% 13.4%
1–4 Feb 2017 nowTV/LUPGP 1,023 53.6% 31.2% 15.3%
18–20, 23–24 Jan 2017 HKEJ/CCPOS 1,036 48.7% 39.9% 11.5%

Voting intentions

[edit]

Some 98 per cent of the 325-member "Democrats 300+" coalition, consisting of around 290 votes, decided on voting for John Tsang as he was the most popular candidate in the polls, many of whom supported Woo Kwok-hing in the nomination period including the 11 Progressive Engineering electors. The pro-democracy parties Civic Party and Democratic Party also decided to vote for Tsang. The 24 pro-democracy legislators also issued a statement saying they had "no basis of mutual trust" with Carrie Lam. Liberal Party honorary chairwoman Selina Chow also declared her backing for Tsang, while the other party honorary chairman James Tien had been the most vocal supporter of Tsang since the beginning of the election.[124]

Hong Kong's richest man and an influential figure in the Hong Kong business circle Li Ka-shing and his sons Victor Li and Richard Li, previously believed to be Tsang supporters, reportedly shared a meal with National People's Congress chairman Zhang Dejiang in Shenzhen where Zhang persuaded the Lis to back Carrie Lam. Richard Li subsequently endorsed Lam in an interview published in three Chinese-language newspapers – Ming Pao, Hong Kong Economic Journal and Wen Wei Po.[125] Li Ka-shing, following his son, broke his silence to express support for Carrie Lam, saying he would vote for a candidate trusted by Beijing. He said he was optimistic that the split in the city could be healed, like the Chinese goddess Nüwa who mended the heaven with coloured stones.[126]

Pro-Beijing sectors such as 60-seat Agriculture and Fisheries and 26-seat Heung Yee Kuk which nominated Lam declared they would also vote for Lam in the final election. 14 electors of the 15-member Performing Arts sub-subsector, except for Derek Yee who nominated Tsang, decided to vote for Lam. The largest pro-Beijing party Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) also endorsed Lam in the final election. The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU), although refused to nominate Lam for her unsatisfying labour policies, decided they would all vote for Lam.[127] Financial Services elector Ricky Chim Kim-lun who nominated Tsang switched side to Lam a day before the election, endorsing Lam with 16 other electors of the subsector. Another Tsang supporter, Thomas Wu, son of tycoon Gordon Wu of the Hopewell Holdings also reportedly decided to vote for Lam.[128] One day before the election, Lam had already looked assured of winning on paper, by securing about 750 ballots from the 1,194-member Election Committee.[129]

Results

[edit]

The election was held at the Grand Hall, 3/F, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) from 9 to 11 a.m. on 26 March 2017.[79][130] Carrie Lam became the first female Chief Executive by winning 777 votes in the 1,194-member Election Committee, 197 votes more than the nominations she received from the EC and 88 more votes than Leung Chun-ying's 689 votes from the last election. She also became the first Chief Executive elected without being the most popular candidate[131] and the first to be graduated from the University of Hong Kong (HKU). John Tsang received 365 votes, 200 more than he received in the nomination period. Woo Kwok-hing received only 21 votes, receiving the lowest votes a Chief Executive candidate ever had. The turnout rate was 99.33 per cent. Of the 1,186 ballots cast, 19 were blank votes and four ballots were spoilt. Eight electors did not cast their votes.

26 March 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election results[132][133]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nonpartisan Carrie Lam 777 55.81
Nonpartisan John Tsang 365 31.38
Nonpartisan Woo Kwok-hing 21 1.81
Total votes 1,163 100
Total valid votes 1,163 98.06
Rejected ballots 23 1.94
Turnout 1,186 99.33 +4.44
Registered electors 1,194

Aftermath

[edit]
Pro-democracy electors protested at the polling venue with a yellow umbrella, representing the Umbrella Movement.

After the announcement of Lam winning with 777 votes, citizens ridiculed the number on social media as the word "seven" in Cantonese, pronounced as tsat, is often used as a vulgar term associated with stupidity. Some pro-democracy members of the Election Committee protested in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) and demanded genuine universal suffrage. Organised by the Civil Human Rights Front, around 200 protesters also gathered outside the venue protested against the "small-circle election". A group of protesters from People Power proceeded to protest outside of the Liaison Office.[134]

There was also a counter-protest of about 1,200 pro-Beijing supporters clad in red outside the HKCEC to voice their support for Lam and the government. Many of them mingled and chatted in Mandarin and various dialects, displaying banners bearing the names of the organisers, the residents associations of their mainland home cities, such as Guangzhou, Xiamen and Shanwei. A Cable TV news programme filmed many of these pro-government protesters being paid to attend the rally.[135]

At the AsiaWorld-Expo, the unused backup polling station, two notebook computers storing the name list of the 1,194 Election Committee members and personal data of all 3.78 million registered voters were reported as lost.[136] The incident was investigated by the police as theft, but the whereabouts of the lost computers remained unknown. The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) posted letters of apology to all affected voters, stating the personal data was "protected by multiple encryptions" which were "extremely difficult to break through".[137] Nevertheless, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data received more than 900 complaints in the following days.[138] When questioned by legislators, Chief Electoral Officer Wong See-man explained that the full database was to confirm the eligibility of the 1,194 electors and admitted that the computers were left unattended.[138]

One day after the election, the Department of Justice charged nine Occupy protests leaders of public nuisance offences, including the three Occupy Central founders – academics Benny Tai and Chan Kin-man, and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, legislators Tanya Chan and Shiu Ka-chun, former student leaders Tommy Cheung Sau-yin and Eason Chung Yiu-wah, League of Social Democrats (LSD) vice-chairman Raphael Wong and former legislator Lee Wing-tat. Asked if the prosecutions would embarrass Chief Executive-elect Lam – who said her top task was to heal the social divide in her victory speech – incumbent Leung Chun-ying reiterated that the decision was independently made by the Department of Justice.[139]

After the election, the chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China of the U.S. Congress, Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Christopher Smith, issued a critical statement, warning that Beijing's clear interference in the election demonstrated the precipitous erosion of Hong Kong's autonomy. "If Hong Kong is to become just another mainland Chinese city under the new Chief Executive's leadership, we will have to reassess whether Hong Kong warrants special status under U.S. law," the statement said.[140]

Lam received the appointment from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on 11 April 2017.[141] She was sworn in by General Secretary of the Communist Party and President Xi Jinping, on 1 July 2017,[142] the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Special Administrative Region.[143]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
1–4.^ The parties' nominations were unbundled.
5.^ Other candidates included Audrey Eu (11%), Frederick Ma (3%) and Bernard Chan (1%).

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Connor, Neil (26 March 2017). "The Hong Kong chief executive election: What you need to know". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  2. ^ HK basic law web pdf. "HK basic law." The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. Retrieved on 8 January 2007.
  3. ^ The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (2013). Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive in 2017 and for Forming the Legislative Council in 2016 Consultation Document (PDF). p. 3.
  4. ^ "Full text of NPC decision on universal suffrage for HKSAR chief selection". Xinhua News Agency. 31 August 2014. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  5. ^ "'Snitch line' in operation against school boycotters in H.K." GlobalPost. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  6. ^ Yung, Chester; Ngai, Edward (21 August 2014). "Hong Kong Students to Boycott Classes If Democracy Demands Aren't Met". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  7. ^ "Hong Kong legislators reject China-backed reform bill". CNN. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  8. ^ "G.N. 4506 No. 32 Vol. 20" (PDF). Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Gazette.
  9. ^ "【Emily Online之特首跑馬仔】落選立會新東補選 「體雕大狀」梁思豪轉戰特首 (15:48)". Ming Pao. 1 February 2017.
  10. ^ "The Chief Executive race and discussion with Regina Ip, Election Committee Subsector elections". RTHK.
  11. ^ "【特首選戰】前貿發局經濟師余永賢宣布參選 政綱倡「科教興港」". HK01. 5 February 2017.
  12. ^ "2017 年行政長官選舉 – 中央平台 (候選人名單)". Government of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  13. ^ "曾鈺成:2017年不參選特首". Apple Daily. 15 June 2013. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  14. ^ "'Let's wait and see': Legislative Council president keeps Hong Kong guessing on possible run for city's top job". South China Morning Post. 5 July 2016.
  15. ^ "Double trouble for CY Leung? John Tsang announces possible bid for Hong Kong's top job soon after Jasper Tsang does the same". South China Morning Post. 29 July 2016.
  16. ^ a b "【政情】特首跑馬仔十人選拔名單". now news. 27 October 2016.
  17. ^ a b "《信報》:港特首人選 北京名單有10人". Apple Daily. 27 October 2016.
  18. ^ Ma, Mary (16 December 2013). "'King fishers' abound in CE race". The Standard. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014.
  19. ^ "Skirting the issue of our next chief". The Standard. 14 January 2014. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014.
  20. ^ Cheung, Tony (16 December 2013). "Antony Leung Kam-chung has chance at chief executive job, says Frederick Ma Si-hang". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  21. ^ "Henry Tang says Antony Leung 'qualified' to run for chief executive". South China Morning Post. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
  22. ^ "陳智思:未來十年不會選特首". Now TV. 8 March 2016. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  23. ^ "【特首戰開鑼】「黑馬」陳馮富珍:香港起了大變化但明年70歲望退休". 22 November 2016. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
  24. ^ Lee, Colleen; But, Joshua (25 March 2013). "Pan-democrats fear party screening after Shenzhen meeting". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  25. ^ Ma, Mary (13 March 2013). "Time calls for suffrage momentum". The Standard. Archived from the original on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
  26. ^ "余若薇:公民黨不打算推舉任何人參選特首". Hong Kong Economic Times. 28 September 2016.
  27. ^ "劉慧卿稱無興趣選特首 單仲偕:樂意抬橋". RTHK. 1 January 2016.
  28. ^ "做女特首? 李慧琼:受寵若驚 啼笑皆非". HK01. 20 March 2016.
  29. ^ "梁振英說五年後有機會願接受普選洗禮". Commercial Radio. 25 March 2012. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  30. ^ "It's Leung's turn for some home truths in illegal structure row". South China Morning Post. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  31. ^ a b Haas, Benjamin (9 December 2016). "Hong Kong's divisive leader to step down amid political crisis". The Guardian.
  32. ^ "李國章:港獨思潮因不滿建制". Apple Daily. 1 December 2016. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  33. ^ "【李八方online】林鄭係搶眼「胭脂馬」?馬時亨話自己唔跑慢慢行". Apple Daily. 12 January 2017.
  34. ^ "唐英年:不參選特首 創社團發掘政治人才". TVB News. 20 May 2015.
  35. ^ 廖梓達 (30 October 2014). "認做錯辭黨魁 田北俊:續為港人發聲". CRNTT.
  36. ^ "Peter Woo has 'zero interest' in running for CE". Radio Television Hong Kong. 15 May 2015.
  37. ^ "Retired judge Woo Kwok-hing first to officially throw hat in the ring for Hong Kong's 2017 chief executive election". South China Morning Post. 26 October 2016.
  38. ^ "Rivals turn up the heat in Hong Kong leadership race". South China Morning Post. 30 October 2016.
  39. ^ "Retired judge pulls no punches as he launches bid for Hong Kong's top job". South China Morning Post. 27 October 2016.
  40. ^ "More join race for election". The Standard. 15 November 2016.
  41. ^ "Hong Kong's pan-democrats hope to play 'kingmaker' in election to choose city's next leader". South China Morning Post. 26 September 2016.
  42. ^ "Hong Kong's Carrie Lam 'will reconsider' joining chief executive race after CY Leung backs out". South China Morning Post. 10 December 2016.
  43. ^ "Pro-democracy camp takes record quarter of seats on Election Committee that will choose Hong Kong's leader". South China Morning Post. 12 December 2016.
  44. ^ "Woo unveils platform, says he is confident of being shortlisted". ejinsight.com. 15 December 2016.
  45. ^ "Regina Ip declares her entry into leadership race with pledge to enact controversial Article 23". South China Morning Post. 15 December 2016.
  46. ^ "DAB says nothing new in Wang Guangya comments". RTHK. 2 January 2017.
  47. ^ "Carrie Lam declares bid to lead Hong Kong". South China Morning Post. 12 January 2017.
  48. ^ a b c "Carrie Lam aims to 'reignite' Hong Kong as she officially announces candidacy for top job". South China Morning Post. 16 January 2017.
  49. ^ "Keeping continuity in Hong Kong politics without the hardline is a balancing act". South China Morning Post. 16 January 2017.
  50. ^ "Ip chokes back tears over Lam praise". The Standard. 18 January 2017.
  51. ^ "John Tsang to officially announce chief executive bid despite no clear nod from Beijing". South China Morning Post. 19 January 2017.
  52. ^ "Hong Kong may face constitutional crisis if winner of chief executive race not accepted by Beijing, says Carrie Lam". South China Morning Post. 22 January 2017.
  53. ^ "Hong Kong chortles over Carrie Lam toilet paper hunt". BBC. 23 January 2017.
  54. ^ "Carrie Lam says she could lose Hong Kong chief executive race in showdown with John Tsang". South China Morning Post. 22 January 2017.
  55. ^ "Leadership hopeful Carrie Lam under fire after giving HK$500 to beggar 'trafficked' from China". Hong Kong Free Press. 27 January 2017.
  56. ^ "【特首選戰】曾水火不容今和解?鄉議局27選委傾向提名林鄭". Apple Daily. 24 January 2017. Archived from the original on 26 January 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  57. ^ "No reason for Beijing to mistrust me, Hong Kong leadership contender John Tsang says, as he takes aim at arch-rival". South China Morning Post. 26 January 2017.
  58. ^ "【特首選戰】西環谷奶媽握400票入閘 勢危薯片提名未過百". Apple Daily. 27 January 2017. Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  59. ^ "Chief executive hopeful John Tsang launches crowdfunding website". South China Morning Post. 3 February 2017.
  60. ^ "Carrie Lam opts for 'we connect' as campaign slogan, promising to break stalemate, overcome division in Hong Kong society". South China Morning Post. 3 February 2017.
  61. ^ "Woo Kwok-hing focuses on Article 22". RTHK. 5 February 2017.
  62. ^ "John Tsang walks thin line as he promises both political reform and revisiting of Article 23 in election manifesto". South China Morning Post. 6 February 2017.
  63. ^ "'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung enters chief executive race, urging allies not to vote for 'lesser evils'". South China Morning Post. 8 February 2017.
  64. ^ "Chief executive hopeful Carrie Lam pledges HK$5 billion for education, tax cuts and housing task force". South China Morning Post. 13 February 2017.
  65. ^ "Unity trust hope – Tsang enters CE race with three-word message to fix 'torn-apart' HK". The Standard. 20 January 2017.
  66. ^ "'Don't ask us to quit': Chief executive hopeful Regina Ip stands firm on candidacy in overcrowded field". South China Morning Post. 17 January 2017.
  67. ^ "Carrie Lam may be Beijing's choice, but Hong Kong still needs a fair leadership race". South China Morning Post. 23 January 2017.
  68. ^ "Can Beijing trust Carrie Lam?". Ejinsight.com. 24 January 2017.
  69. ^ "Sing Pao calls police after paint attack on executive's home". Ejinsight.com. 27 February 2017.
  70. ^ "林鄭月娥稱不見中聯辦為她拉票". 881903.com. 29 January 2017. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  71. ^ "I cannot prevent Beijing's 'visible hand' from campaigning for me, says leadership hopeful Carrie Lam". Hong Kong Free Press. 2 February 2017.
  72. ^ "State leader Zhang Dejiang meets Hong Kong politicians and business leaders in Shenzhen". South China Morning Post. 6 February 2017.
  73. ^ "【特首跑馬仔】張德江南下深圳傳話 消息人士:張稱林鄭是中央唯一支持的特首人選 (11:05)". Ming Pao. 6 February 2017.
  74. ^ "Tsang Beijing's 'least favorite'". The Standard. 22 February 2017.
  75. ^ "Tung Chee-hwa: Beijing may not appoint Tsang even if he wins". ejinsight.com. 22 February 2017.
  76. ^ "Fairness of Hong Kong chief executive poll under threat from ex-leader's comments, lawyers say". South China Morning Post. 23 February 2017.
  77. ^ "Regina Ip says Beijing offered her top jobs to quit Hong Kong leadership race". South China Morning Post. 23 February 2017.
  78. ^ "Leadership hopeful Regina Ip rejects Beijing's 'consolation prize' job offers, stays in race". Hong Kong Free Press.
  79. ^ a b "Nomination period for Chief Executive Election starts on February 14, 2017". Hong Kong Government. 23 December 2016.
  80. ^ "【特首選戰】薯片叔參選第一票! 義氣田少撐可促和諧". Apple Daily. 19 January 2017. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  81. ^ a b "【特首選戰】曾俊華160張提名曝光有咩建制派撐?爾冬陞田少周梁上榜". Apple Daily. 25 February 2017. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  82. ^ "【特首選戰】胡文新堅守承諾 提名曾俊華入閘". Apple Daily. 25 February 2017. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  83. ^ "【特首選戰】曾俊華先奪會計界18票 譚香文:踢走女版689". Apple Daily. 14 February 2017.
  84. ^ "【特首選戰】民主黨all-in曾俊華:若不能入閘全港市民失望". Apple Daily. 16 February 2017. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  85. ^ "John Tsang not pan-dems candidate: Tsang Yok-sing". RTHK. 27 February 2017.
  86. ^ "胡官真入閘 或攤分曾俊華民望". Apple Daily. 27 February 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  87. ^ "Chief executive hopeful John Tsang wins first significant nominations from Hong Kong pan-democrats". South China Morning Post. 14 February 2017.
  88. ^ "【特首選戰】胡國興獲6名高教界選委提名". Sing Tao Daily. 15 February 2017.
  89. ^ a b "Buck for Hong Kong ministers does not stop with bosses, chief executive hopeful Carrie Lam says". South China Morning Post. 18 February 2017.
  90. ^ "【特首選戰】胡官獲180提名 成候選第二人:200%決心阻林鄭當選". Apple Daily. 27 February 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  91. ^ "中總已將18提名表格交林鄭". Hong Kong Economic Journal. 8 January 2017. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  92. ^ "CE contender Carrie Lam secures first political party endorsement for Hong Kong's leadership". South China Morning Post. 13 February 2017.
  93. ^ "Carrie Lam dwarfs the competition, enters Hong Kong chief executive race with 579 nominations". South China Morning Post. 28 February 2017.
  94. ^ "【特首選戰】葉劉寸工聯會「做戲」 薯片叔溫提奶媽多爭泛民票". Apple Daily. 28 February 2017. Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  95. ^ a b "【特首選戰】提名期展開 林鄭穩握186票入閘 胡官獲零的突破". HK01. 14 February 2017.
  96. ^ "【特首選戰】政協51票全畀林鄭 常委稱唔會轉軚「中國人講口齒」". Apple Daily. 15 February 2017. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
  97. ^ "Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-shing breaks habit in refusing to back anyone for chief executive race". South China Morning Post. 19 February 2017.
  98. ^ "Carrie Lam's election manifesto focuses on economy, government reforms". South China Morning Post. 27 February 2017.
  99. ^ "【特首選戰】民主派選委雪中送炭提名葉劉 稱欲保送入閘鎅林鄭票". HK01. 23 February 2017.
  100. ^ "Regina Ip drops out of Hong Kong chief executive race". South China Morning Post. 1 March 2017.
  101. ^ "【特首選戰】林鄭提名名單全紀錄 工聯會民建聯留一手?". Apple Daily. 28 February 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  102. ^ "【特首選戰】胡國興179張名單全面睇 社福界1選委提名無效". Apple Daily. 28 February 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  103. ^ "【特首選戰】民間提名開始!薯片叔領放 拋離長毛胡官". Apple Daily. 7 February 2017. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  104. ^ "Privacy watchdog in rare political intervention". The Standard. 14 February 2017.
  105. ^ "【特首選戰】長毛宣佈不參選:2萬人撐證公民提名可行". Apple Daily. 25 February 2017. Archived from the original on 1 April 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  106. ^ "胡官穩袋150票勢入閘 有民主派選委不介意提名葉劉". CitizenNews. 25 February 2017. Archived from the original on 8 July 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  107. ^ "Hong Kong leadership hopefuls lock horns at first debate, but John Tsang stays away". South China Morning Post. 5 March 2017.
  108. ^ "Lam says she is a victim of 'white terror', as Hong Kong chief executive candidates face off". South China Morning Post. 12 March 2017.
  109. ^ "【2017行政長官選舉辯論】本台調查:逾八成受訪者認為曾俊華表現最好". now news. 15 March 2017.
  110. ^ "Three Hong Kong chief executive candidates to spar in media debate". South China Morning Post. 14 March 2017.
  111. ^ "Hong Kong leadership race rivals point fingers over records in office". South China Morning Post. 14 March 2017.
  112. ^ "Who won the big Hong Kong chief executive debate?". South China Morning Post. 14 March 2017.
  113. ^ a b "Carrie Lam faces social media backlash after final debate". South China Morning Post. 19 March 2017.
  114. ^ "Famous last words – Final election face off in front of just 507 EC members". The Standard. 20 March 2017.
  115. ^ "特首民投僅6.5萬人投票 鬍鬚獲八成七支持淨值 林鄭負九成四". CitizenNews. 20 March 2017. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  116. ^ "Organisers of mock poll to pick Hong Kong leader hope one million take part". South China Morning Post. 8 March 2017.
  117. ^ "Politics behind Poly U decision: Benny Tai". RTHK. 12 March 2017.
  118. ^ "John Tsang backed by almost 92 per cent of voters in mock poll for Hong Kong's next leader". South China Morning Post. 19 March 2017.
  119. ^ "John Tsang wins Hong Kong leadership battle ... at least on Facebook". South China Morning Post. 24 March 2017.
  120. ^ "Hong Kong leadership race contender Carrie Lam meets Tin Shui Wai community after 'too tired' comment". South China Morning Post. 23 March 2017.
  121. ^ a b "Thousands show support for John Tsang at campaign rally". South China Morning Post. 24 March 2017.
  122. ^ "Beijing 'doesn't trust John Tsang because he ignored its warning not to run' in Hong Kong chief executive election". South China Morning Post. 24 March 2017.
  123. ^ "【特首選戰】張德江抵深圳 為奶媽箍票". Apple Daily. 25 March 2017. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  124. ^ "Pan-democrats pledge more than 290 votes for John Tsang in Hong Kong leadership race". South China Morning Post. 20 March 2017.
  125. ^ "Hong Kong's richest man, Li Ka-shing, and sons talked into voting for Carrie Lam as leader". South China Morning Post. 16 March 2017.
  126. ^ "No names, but Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing drops heavy hint he backs Carrie Lam as next leader". South China Morning Post. 22 March 2017.
  127. ^ "【特首選舉】工聯會呼籲63名選委全投林鄭 黃國健承認有施壓策略". HK01. 24 March 2017.
  128. ^ "【特首選戰】提名曾俊華 詹劍崙胡文新選前叛變票投林鄭". Apple Daily. 25 March 2017. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  129. ^ "Hong Kong chief executive candidate Carrie Lam gets enough votes on paper to win election". South China Morning Post. 25 March 2017.
  130. ^ "Election Committee members urged to vote tomorrow". Hong Kong Government.
  131. ^ Chan, F. (2019). "Digital Representation in an Electoral Campaign Influenced by Mainland China: The 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive Election". Issues & Studies. 55 (2): 1950005. doi:10.1142/S101325111950005X. S2CID 191769704.
  132. ^ "Result of the Chief Executive Election held on 26 March 2017". elections.gov.hk.
  133. ^ "Turnout rate". elections.gov.hk.
  134. ^ "Protests show call for Hong Kong unity is a distant dream". South China Morning Post. 26 March 2017.
  135. ^ Tong, Elson (28 March 2017). "i-Cable films Carrie Lam election day supporters being paid HK$600 each to attend rally". Hong Kong Free Press.
  136. ^ Ng, Ellie (27 March 2017). "Hong Kong gov't loses computers with personal data of all registered voters". Hong Kong Free Press.
  137. ^ Ng, Ellie (31 March 2017). "Gov't will post 3.2m letters of apology to voters about missing election computers". Hong Kong Free Press.
  138. ^ a b Cheng, Kris (3 April 2017). "No one was guarding election computers before they disappeared, chief electoral officer admits". Hong Kong Free Press.
  139. ^ "Timing under debate as nine Occupy participants charged a day after Carrie Lam wins chief executive election". South China Morning Post. 28 March 2017.
  140. ^ "Pan-democrats missed chance by not joining election race, Hong Kong's outgoing leader says". South China Morning Post. 28 March 2017.
  141. ^ "Carrie Lam receives Hong Kong leadership appointment from Premier Li Keqiang". Hong Kong Free Press. Chief executive-elect Carrie Lam received her appointment order from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday morning to serve as Hong Kong's next leader, beginning July 1.
  142. ^ "庆祝香港回归祖国20周年大会暨香港特别行政区第五届政府就职典礼隆重举行" (in Chinese). Liaison Office. 1 July 2017. 庆祝香港回归祖国20周年大会暨香港特别行政区第五届政府就职典礼1日上午在香港会展中心隆重举行。中共中央总书记、国家主席、中央军委主席习近平出席并发表重要讲话。
  143. ^ "Hong Kong's first female chief executive Carrie Lam sworn in by President Xi Jinping, as city marks 20 years since handover". South China Morning Post. 1 July 2017.
[edit]

Government websites

[edit]

Campaign websites

[edit]

Election platforms

[edit]