HK's John Lee wants to be a reformer, but one change may need undoing

Perception that the Asian financial hub is no longer its own master is denting confidence

- Magdalene Fung

HONG KONG - Hong Kong leader John Lee wants to be a changemaker — but there is one change in the city's recent history that he urgently needs to undo, according to analysts: It is the increasingly prevalent public perception of Hong Kong's eroding autonomy.

In his speech on the 28th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China on July 1, the Chief Executive burnished his reform credentials, vowing further transformation to equip the Asian financial hub for sustainable growth in an uncertain world.

"We would rather be reformers who rise to challenges than become complacent idlers," Mr Lee said at an event marking the handover at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

By his own assessment, Mr Lee has spearheaded many reforms across the political, economic and societal spheres in the three years since he took the top job on July 1, 2022.

They include transforming his government's culture into a "result-oriented" one, enacting the city's long-delayed home-grown national security law that no other leaders before him had managed to pass, improving the financial market's overall competitiveness, and shortening the public housing wait time to a six-year low of 5.3 years.

Now embarking on the penultimate year of his five-year term, the Chief Executive is making the pursuit of further reform the key theme of his remaining time in office. Under Hong Kong's Basic Law, the chief executive can serve for not more than two consecutive terms.

The importance of reform and developmental transformation featured prominently in Mr Lee's latest address, sharing his vision for the city's future.

Mentions of "development" and "reform" appeared 12 and four times respectively in the 1,200-word speech.