Hong Kong’s pro-establishment press has an easy job deciding the front-page story today: the elevation of Chief Executive CY Leung to the ever-so important ‘National Leadership’ position of Vice-Deputy Assistant Sub-Huge-Face Person at the Chinese People’s Retired Shoe-Shiners Consultative Conference. For added glowing idolization and all-round Wow, it is unprecedented for a sitting Hong Kong Chief Executive to hold this title.
For a dash of context, Hong Kong’s first CE, CH Tung, was unceremoniously kicked out in the middle of his second term, and made a CPPCC Vice-Chairman to save everyone’s face. The second one, Donald Tsang, was unceremoniously installed to replace Tung, and is now in prison (relieved to at least avoid the tedium of the CPPCC). CY, number-three, is being unceremoniously ejected after his first term. He will be one of 22 Vice-Chairmen of the rubber-stamp CPPCC advisory body.
In its wisdom, the Chinese Communist Party has selected former top civil servant Carrie Lam to be the fourth person to take the job. She looks, if anything, even less suited for the position than her predecessors. She lacks any sort of common touch or policy know-how. But she is a capable administrator, and obedient.
Even some Beijing-friendly figures wonder if this is really happening. Hence the zany rumour – that won’t go away – that Chinese officials will pick another candidate at the last minute. South China Morning Post op-ed page regular Tom Plate laments the choice of Carrie as continuing ‘a tradition of mediocrity’ and ‘a major blunder’, when ex-Financial Secretary John Tsang at least brings some personality and popularity.
The more Hong Kong people rebel against poor governance, the more Beijing insists on imposing it upon them.
Meanwhile, the SCMP makes the most of the flimsiest adjectives-stretching shoe-shining opportunities…
Wah! A whole 45 seconds chatting! So important, la!
I still don’t understand why you think this selection is important. Perhaps you can explain this in detail. Twenty years and three so-called chief executives later, Hong Kong has simply not improved. It has all got worse. The executive simply has no power. So why are you banging on about it incessantly?
I just published two paperbacks this week. Be kind to me.
Damn it you made me read a Tom Plate piece. Gawd is he deluded, and I can’t help wonder, if it was all that time he spent with Harry Lee that made him the way he is ?
george, remember, the first million is always the hardest.
Xi: You do realize you screwed the pooch and we had to give you a golden parachute DESPITE clouds of a corruption investigation surrounding you? I am THE King of Corruption, you know…uhh…I mean King of Corruption BUSTING and you’d better not make me look bad.
CY: Thank you ever so much your eminence….this is truly the greatest honour of my life and I wouldn’t trade ANYTHING over this. Not even for the lives of my daughters and wife!
Xi: Good boy…now go take your seat and remember to hand your testicles and any vestige of manhood, in a jar, to the girl wearing red that pours your hot water.
I think we are going to see a surprise of some magnitude re CE erection before the big day. Stay tuned.
Thanks for the “heads up”, Georgie.
I wouldn’t want to buy one inadvertently.
Does anybody with a remotely plausible chance of becoming Chief Executive have any policy know-how whatsoever? It just says how low our standards have fallen, that large number of people are now willing to accept “doesn’t sound like a robot” and “cheers for correct football team” as qualifications to be Chief Executive. Gods help us.