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Hong Kong’s wealthy remain wary of the rise of its ‘populist’ chief executive
Stanley Ho, the billionaire casino mogul and property developer, once said he would quit Hong Kong if Leung Chun-ying became the city’s chief executive. Mr Leung, he said, “hates the rich”.
Now Mr Ho’s nightmare has come true. An election committee of 1,200 members, many taking their cue from Beijing, has made Mr Leung Hong Kong’s next leader.
Mr Leung, the son of a policeman, has pledged to make housing more affordable and to narrow what World Bank figures show is the worst income disparity among all developed economies. His “populist” agenda has prompted fear among the city’s tycoons that he could crimp their ability to make money and damage Hong Kong’s reputation as a financial centre with low taxes and a laisser-faire economic philosophy.
The business elite first became wary of Mr Leung in the late 1990s when the then government adviser helped devise policies designed to increase the supply of affordable public housing. Critics say this went against Hong Kong’s non-interventionist traditions and exacerbated a long housing market slump triggered by the Asian financial crisis.
If Hong Kong’s wealthy are wary of Mr Leung, some of the city’s poor are more upbeat. Many hope his administration will start to improve the sometimes appalling living conditions of the one in five people who lives below the poverty line.
“He has consistently said that he thinks Hong Kong has a shortage of affordable housing,” says Man Lai Foon, a middle-aged refuse collector. “Most people like us think [this] is the main reason why it’s so awful to be poor in Hong Kong.”
But Mr Leung – who has become a wealthy property developer – still scores poorly in public opinion polls. His strong ties with Beijing have raised concerns among some about the durability of Hong Kong’s core civil liberties.
Fears that he would be less tolerant of dissent have been exacerbated by persistent rumours that he is a closet member of the Communist party – a claim he denies – and by his public support for a proposed anti-subversion law.
“There is increasing concern that Mr Leung does not share the community’s core values of personal liberties, the rule of law and economic freedom and that this will be reflected in an autocratic style of governance,” says Anson Chan, former head of Hong Kong’s civil service.
Mr Leung has flatly denied such suggestions. During his campaign, he pledged to uphold the rule of law, human rights and clean government as well as freedom of the press, speech and assembly. In his victory address, he said he would uphold the “one country, two systems” principle, which prevents Beijing from meddling in the city’s local affairs.
Victor Shih, associate professor at Northwestern university, says Beijing understands the need to protect the impartiality of Hong Kong’s courts and its freedom of information. Maintaining investor confidence is vital to its role as an international financial centre, he says. As well as being a place where Chinese companies can raise capital, Hong Kong is Beijing’s chosen gateway for the internationalisation of the renminbi.
“There is the fear that, under [Mr Leung’s] administration, Beijing will have a more direct voice in how HK is managed,” says Mr Shih. “But it is in China’s interest to preserve the status quo.”
Commentators also say that, even if Mr Leung plans sweeping changes, these will be hampered by his lack of public support and the opposition of the business community. In September, voters will select representatives to the city’s legislative chamber, where government bills are often blocked.
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