the times | Tuesday April 5 2022 35been used to imprison opponents and
stifle dissent.
Lam avoided questions about her
legacy yesterday, saying it was not yet
time to reflect on her experience in
public service as the pandemic, still
ravaging local communities, was “of
paramount importance”.
In 2021, China stepped up its pro-
establishment drive, overhauling Hong
Kong’s electoral system to ensure only
“patriots” could rule the territory.
The election for the chief executive
has been postponed until May 8
because of the worst Covid-19 outbreak
of the pandemic. On Sunday 3,709 new
cases and 111 deaths were reported. The
latest wave has infected 1.2 million
peole and claimed 7,959 lives.
Boycotting Hong Kong’s courts helps no
one, Melanie Phillips, page 30
Hong Kong judges, letters, page 32Musk insisted he didn’t
want to go in anywayTrump endorses Palin’s
comeback congress run
Page 36Carrie Lam, the leader of Hong Kong,
has said she will end five turbulent
years in power, raising the prospect that
the territory will slide further towards
becoming a police state.
Lam, 64, said she was prioritising her
family and felt it was time to leave
office, insisting the role of chief execu-
tive had been her “sole consideration”.
Her term has been marked by a steady
erosion of freedoms under the Beijing-
backed government.
It brings to an end months of specula-
tion over whether Lam would seek
another term. When she told the main-
land she was stepping down, Lam said
yesterday the news was met with
“respect and understanding”.
Her successor will be picked in May
and John Lee, the city’s security chief
during the 2019 protests and now Lam’sdeputy, is being touted as a possible
frontrunner. Lee, who has no expertise
in economics, business or social affairs,
is a former policeman, whose career in
government has focused exclusively on
matters of security. If he is chosen by
the Chinese government as leader, it
will reinforce the sense of many in
Hong Kong that it is on course to
become a de facto police state.
Lee, 64, joined the Hong Kong police
force in 1977 and became deputy com-
missioner before joining the security
bureau. He was appointed minister for
security by Lam in 2017. During the pro-
tests that convulsed the territory two
years later, he was uncompromisingly
supportive of his former police col-
leagues, adding to the sense of griev-
ance among protesters.
In the most notorious incident at
Yuen Long in July 2019, police turned a
blind eye while scores of thugs set about
passengers at a railway station with
metal and wooden sticks after an
anti-government demonstration. Lee
defended the police action.
Last year Lam appointed him chief
secretary, her No 2 — the post from
which she was promoted to chief
executive. During the demonstrations
in 2019, he had followed Lam closely by
first insisting that a new extradition law
must be passed, then abandoning it,
while apologising “for the controver-
sies and rifts it has caused in society”.
Lam’s popularity has declined
sharply during her term, particularly
over the legislation that would have
allowed crime suspects to be extradited
to mainland China for trial; protests
that engulfed the territory, and Beijing’s
national security law, which hasBeijing to tighten
grip on Hong Kong
as leader departs
Hong Kong
Richard Lloyd Parry Asia EditorAnalysis
T
he wonder is not that
Carrie Lam is quitting,
but that she lasted this
long (Richard Lloyd
Parry writes). Twice as
chief executive she has faced
historic crises. Twice, her poor
judgment and unsympathetic
style made things worse.
The first debacle was in 2019
when opposition to a new
extradition law exploded into a
mass democracy movement that
brought millions to the streets.
The pressure got to Lam who,
foreign diplomats say, was tearful
in private meetings. Many people
expected her to become the
fourth out of four leaders to exit
mired in controversy. But
incompetent Hong Kong chief
executives cannot be blamed on
the poor judgment of voters.
They are chosen by Beijing,
and losing another would have
signalled weakness. Lam, in any
case, was almost irrelevant in the
struggle between China and the
army of democracy activists.
The draconian national
security law that followed in
effect quashed the protest
movement, letting Lam reset her
leadership just in time for Covid.
Hong Kong had a fairly good
pandemic until this year when it
suffered one of the worst waves of
infection in the world. Having
failed to vaccinate its elderly, the
territory at one point had the
highest death rate anywhere.
Lam announced mass testing,
then changed her mind, and
continued to dither until Beijing
sent in its own experts.
Her decision not to seek a
second term allows it to be said
that she is retiring at the request
of her family. It also enables a
fresh start with a new leader,
though one who will be little
more than the local face of a
government in thrall to Beijing.Tesla chief ‘turned away’ at Berlin nightclub
Musk said he had refused to enter
the club because a sign outside read
PEACE. He tweeted: “Peace. Peace?
I hate the word. Those who do care
about peace (myself aspirational-
ly included), don’t need to hear
it. And those who don’t care
about peace? Well.. .”
Berliners did not buy this,
though, mocking his reason-
ing and stating their belief
that he did not pass muster at
the door.
“Elon, be honest, are you
just angry they didn’t let you
in?” tweeted the Berlin-based
comedian Shahak Shapira. So
far, there has been no response.The local tabloid Berliner Kurier
commented: “If Elon Musk was in-
deed turned away at the Berghain
club door, he need not fret ... As a 50-
year-old billionaire, you can
sometimes get rejected.”
Frank Ellrich, a top German
techno producer known as
A*S*Y*S, took aim at Musk’s
reasoning. “I think you mis-
understood here something
essential! Peace, Love & Uni-
ty is the founding motto of
the Techno culture! Ber-
ghain THE Techno templein Berlin.” Insiders say leather fetishists
and transvestites have a good chance of
getting in, and extravagant hairstyles
also help. But anyone looking smart or
conservative can forget it.
Musk had managed to get into
another club, called Sisyphos, wearing
a Zorro mask to hide his identity, Berlin
newspapers reported.
The Tesla founder was also seen
dancing in Germany two weeks ago at
his new factory in Grünheide, outside
the capital, as the first 30 German-
made Teslas were handed to buyers at
the ceremony opening of the factory at-
tended by the chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
Musk buys Twitter stake, page 37
You can’t come in, Times2, page 3anti-frost candles as sub-zero temperatures this week threaten new growth on vines in the Chablis district of BurgundyYOAN VALAT/EPAHong Kong chief secretary John Lee
hopes to replace leader Carrie Lam