Former police official named Hong Kong's No. 2

HONG KONG • The top security official in Hong Kong will take over the No. 2 spot in a Cabinet reshuffle, the latest sign that a crackdown on dissent is central to China's long-term plans for the city.

Security Secretary John Lee - a former long-time police official - has been promoted to chief secretary for administration, Hong Kong's top official Carrie Lam told a news conference yesterday.

China's Cabinet approved the appointments on Wednesday, the official Xinhua news agency said. The next day, a campaign led by Mr Lee forced Apple Daily, the city's biggest pro-democracy newspaper, to shut down.

Mr Lee, 63, will replace Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung, while Police Commissioner Chris Tang, 55, will move into the security secretary role. Mr Raymond Siu, 55, a deputy police commissioner who joined the force in 1988, will take over Mr Tang's position at the law enforcement agency.

Prominent Hong Kong investor David Webb said the government missed an opportunity to appoint a stronger team to repair the financial hub's battered economy.

"Instead, Hong Kong is starting to look more like a police state, with the No. 2 position now being filled by a hardliner whose recent achievement is to cripple a newspaper," he said.

China has carried out an unprecedented campaign to curb dissent in Hong Kong, led by national security legislation installed last year in response to a wave of unrest.

The closure of Apple Daily, which was under pressure after Mr Lee used the security law to freeze its assets as part of the prosecution of its founder Jimmy Lai, represented one of the biggest blows yet to the local democracy movement.

Britain and the United States have condemned the move.

Mr Lee, one of several Hong Kong officials sanctioned by the former Trump administration in the US for their role in implementing the security law, has been a vocal proponent of the legislation.

The new team will be charged with overseeing a series of elections in the coming months under a Beijing-led revamp that, among other things, created a panel to vet candidates for "patriotism".

Chief Executive Lam, who has not said if she will seek a second term when her first expires next year, has also been tasked by Beijing to pass local legislation expanding the city's powers to police national security.

"Because the government is going through the enforcement stage of the national security law, I won't be surprised if the government wants to put people well versed with law enforcement in senior positions," said Mrs Regina Ip, who served as the city's security secretary two decades ago and is a member of the Executive Council that advises Hong Kong's leader.

The chief secretary's post has been a springboard to higher office: Two of the city's four chief executives since its return to Chinese rule in 1997 first served in the role.

The appointment of a law enforcement officer to the top administrative post marks a shift for the former British colony, which has long been dominated by career civil servants like Mrs Lam.

"The mere fact that a particular candidate is coming from a particular background doesn't mean that the job will fit him by asking him only to perform in an area that he is most familiar with," Mrs Lam said yesterday.

Senior appointments are made at the recommendation of the Hong Kong government, but need final approval from Beijing.

Mr Lee's appointment "may be a proactive strategy to elicit loyalty from the police force", according to academic Dongshu Liu, an assistant professor of Chinese politics at the City University of Hong Kong.

"The police force has become much more important for maintaining social order and implementing the national security law. You appoint someone who has been a policeman their entire career - that's a symbol of the increasing power of the police."

BLOOMBERG