China installing former security chief as Hong Kong leader

John Lee, formerly the city's No. 2 official, is the only candidate what is an election in name only.

China is installing a career security official as the new leader of Hong Kong in the culmination of a sweeping political transformation that has gutted any opposition in the Asian financial center and placed it ever more firmly under Beijing's control.

John Lee, formerly the city's No. 2 official, is the only candidate Sunday in what is an election in name only. Well over half of the 1,500-member Election Committee that selects the chief executive has already endorsed him and he needs only a simple majority to win.

Lee will replace Carrie Lam on July 1. Her 5-year term was marked by Hong Kong's most tumultuous period since the former British colony was returned to China in 1997.

The election follows major changes to Hong Kong’s electoral laws last year to ensure that only “patriots” loyal to Beijing can hold office. That also saw the legislature reorganized to all but eliminate opposition voices.

The elaborate arrangements surrounding the pre-determined outcome speak to Beijing's desire for a veneer of democracy. Though they will vote in a secret ballot, Hong Kong’s electors have all been carefully vetted.

“Even autocracies today feel obligated to go through the motions of staging an election in order to project greater legitimacy to their own population and to the international community,” said Yvonne Chiu, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College who has written extensively about Hong Kong politics.

The city's previous four chief executives were also all effectively Beijing appointees. A push to elect the leader by popular vote foundered in 2014 amid protests demanding Beijing also relinquish the right to approve candidates.