Hong Kong Leader to Step Down With China Now Firmly in Control
- Carrie Lam said she informed Beijing of decision in March 2021
- Financial hub isolated over democracy crackdown, Covid moves
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Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said she wouldn’t seek a second term, ending a tumultuous tenure that saw China cement control over the once-freewheeling financial hub.
Lam announced her plans at a news briefing Monday, capping a five-year term that was defined by twin crackdowns on the democratic opposition and Covid-19. Beijing took unprecedented steps to intervene in the affairs of the former British colony during her time in office, imposing policies that raised questions about Hong Kong’s future as “Asia’s world city” and contributed to the largest population drop in at least six decades.