Border reopening and choice of new ministers at top of Beijing talks, incoming Hong Kong leader says
- John Lee returns from four-day visit to capital, where he met leaders Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang
- In the meeting with Xi, the president said Hong Kong’s electoral revamp had given city a system ‘to be cherished and upheld in the long run’
Incoming Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu returned home from Beijing on Tuesday with instructions to form a top team of like-minded officials to help him implement his policies as he embarks on a new chapter for the city.
A day after meeting China’s top leaders and receiving his formal letter of appointment before he is sworn in as chief executive on July 1, Lee said he would respond as soon as possible so that the central government could approve his ministerial team.
The former career policeman and security chief said he had also told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang that many Hongkongers were eager to see the full reopening of the city’s border with mainland China.
But Lee acknowledged the challenges ahead in achieving that goal, with the city continuing to report hundreds of Covid-19 infections per day and still striving to have 90 per cent of the eligible population inoculated with at least two vaccine doses.
“I will do my utmost, live up to the trust of the central government, and the expectations of residents,” he said.
During his four-day visit, Lee also met Chinese President Xi Jinping and discussed potential principal officials with Xia Baolong, the director of the cabinet-level Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.
“I told him that I will fulfil my responsibility and form the city’s team of ministers as soon as possible for Beijing’s consideration and appointment,” he said. “Mr Xia agreed that it is important to form a team which will help me to implement my policies and directions. It is also important that we share the common values and the general direction [in which] … the sixth term government will be proceeding.”
