Hello, Quartz Index readers!
As the world looks to Washington, DC today for Donald Trump’s US presidential inauguration, another significant election looms on the horizon: Hong Kong will get a new leader on July 1, the 20th anniversary of the handover from British to Chinese rule.
Hong Kong’s chief executive is elected not by direct elections, but by a 1,200-member “election committee” that critics charge is heavily stacked in favor of business interests likely to be pro-Beijing.
Four candidates are in the running to be Hong Kong’s next chief executive:
- Woo Kwok-hing, 71, a retired judge who criticized Hong Kong’s current leader Leung Chun-ying for failing to bridge Hong Kong and Beijing
- Regina Ip, 66, a lawmaker and Hong Kong’s first female director of immigration, and the first female security minister
- Carrie Lam, 59, Hong Kong’s chief secretary, nicknamed “the good fighter” for bridging disputes between the public and government, though she’s become more conservative and is believed to be Beijing’s favorite
- John Tsang, 65, former financial secretary, a relatively well-liked politician in Hong Kong, who gave a popular speech in 2015 speech reaching out to the city’s youth
A recent poll shows Tsang in a slight lead over Lam.
Similar to the US election, the next leader will be tasked with bridging the city’s various divides, many of which stem from gross inequalities.
—Molly Rubin
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