John Lee’s biggest move in his first 100 days as Hong Kong’s leader was to end Covid quarantine. Now comes the hard part – winning on economy and talent

After 100 days in office, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and his administration can justifiably say they succeeded where his predecessor failed: they persuaded Beijing that Hong Kong could open up to the rest of the world without strict quarantine rules further debilitating the city’s economy.

But the win has not eased the pressure on Lee to do much more to get the city back to pre-Covid levels of normalcy. Hong Kong is still lagging behind compared with many other places that have opened up and decided to live with the pandemic, if not declare it completely over.

To many observers, Lee’s 100 days have been about tackling decisively the quarantine rules blamed for the exodus of residents, expats and businesses. He has taken a “no turning back” approach on the Covid-19 front, making it clear that the city should not return to tougher pandemic control measures.

Yet, after he reduced it to a “0+3” policy of no quarantine but just three days of medical surveillance, the issue is becoming framed by the proverbial phrase of whether the glass is half full or half empty and many still see it as half empty, according to analysts who spoke to the Post.

Apart from managing the Covid-19 situation, Lee has pledged a “result-oriented approach” to solving problems. Earlier, he said he would reveal how he had fared after his 100th day, which falls on Saturday, and set out his plans for tackling the city’s pressing housing crisis and improving governance.

His 100th day in office would be less than two weeks before his inaugural policy address on October 19, where again the heat is on to produce game-changing initiatives after building up expectations in the past months.

How did Lee fare and what could be his answers for the coming months?