Will popular John Tsang even get nominated for Hong Kong’s leadership race?

The nomination period for the chief executive election ends next Wednesday, and Beijing’s mouthpieces in Hong Kong are desperate to ensue that former chief secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has an easy ride to victory.

Earlier this month, reportedly, the central government even went to the extent of having National People’s Congress chairman Zhang Dejiang (張德江) relay its message to a coterie of Election Committee members that Lam is the one and only person it supports. In fact, the central government’s liaison office has exhausted all means to rally people behind Lam. It even sought to create the impression that Hong Kong’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, and his two sons favoured Lam. It played up the Li family’s Lunar New Year ritual of visiting the liaison office. But Li wisely said he would not publicly back any of the four candidates.

The situation is getting worrying as former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, the only viable contender who can challenge Lam, is still unable to secure enough nominations to become an official candidate.

The Election Committee members from the pro-establishment camp have apparently fallen into line, lest they be seen by Beijing to be acting in defiance of its instruction. Any establishment figures who back Tsang in public may suffer “economic sanctions” if they rely on the mainland for business.