22
This is what “true democracy” looks like in the words of Chinese head of state Xi Jingping: After an unopposed election on Friday, he vowed to appoint Hong Kong’s former security chief, John Lee, as the city’s new head of government. Lee had previously received 99 percent of the votes in a committee hand-picked by Beijing. By then, the 64-year-old, who is on the US sanctions list, had made a name for himself in suppressing the protest movement. It will herald a new era in the city of 7.5 million: few contradictions, decisions in small circles.