Western companies congratulate newly elected Hong Kong Prime Minister Lee

Several Western companies have congratulated former Hong Kong security chief John Lee on his election as the new head of government of the Chinese special administrative region in a newspaper ad.

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Several Western companies have congratulated former Hong Kong security chief John Lee on his election as the new head of government of the Chinese special administrative region in a newspaper ad. The two Beijing-affiliated newspapers Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po published numerous advertisements from local entrepreneurs and companies on Monday, congratulating Lee. Well-wishers also included multinationals such as Swire and Jardine Matheson, as well as the four major auditing firms KPMG, Deloitte, EY and PwC.

Western companies find themselves in an increasingly vulnerable position in Hong Kong, largely as geopolitical tensions with China have increased. As a rule, they refrain from expressing criticism of China’s policies in trouble spots such as Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet and Taiwan.

Some companies, such as banks HSBC and Standard Chartered, and conglomerates Swire and Jardine Matheson, have publicly supported the so-called Security Act. This allows the authorities to take draconian action against any activity they deem to threaten China’s national security.

A Beijing-loyal committee voted for Lee with 99 percent of the votes on Sunday, and there was no opposing candidate. The 64-year-old succeeds the previous Prime Minister Carrie Lam. Lee played a central role in the crackdown on the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, which mobilized millions of protesters in 2019.

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