John Lee Ka-chiu

John Lee Ka-chiu (born 7 December 1957 ) is a Hong Kong politician and former police officer who is the fifth and current Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

On 15 August 1977, at the age of 19, Lee joined the Royal Hong Kong Police Force as a probationary inspector.

In 1980, John Lee married Janet Lam at a young age, with whom he has two sons, Gilbert Lee Man-lung and Lee Man-chun.

Lee did not attend university after secondary school.

He became a Chief Inspector on 11 May 1984.

He became Chief Superintendent in 1997, Assistant Commissioner in 2003, senior assistant commissioner in 2007 and Deputy Commissioner in 2010.

Having served in a wide range of operational duties, including the CID, Complaints Against Police, Service Quality, Personnel, Training, Information Systems, Finance, Policies Formulation, Planning and Development, Lee had been the Commander of Kowloon West Region, Assistant Commissioner (Crime) and Director of Crime and Security, and Deputy Commissioner (Management).

During his tenure as a police officer, Lee obtained a master's degree in Public Policy and Administration from Charles Sturt University in Australia under a self-learning programme sponsored by the force.

Originally a police officer, Lee served as the Deputy Commissioner of the Hong Kong Police Force from 2010 to 2012.

He was appointed Under Secretary of Security by Leung Chun-ying in 2012.

Lee was appointed Under Secretary for Security in 2012 by chief executive Leung Chun-ying and promoted to Secretary for Security in July 2017 in Carrie Lam's administration.

After Carrie Lam became Chief Executive in 2017, he was promoted to Secretary for Security.

In 2021, he succeeded Matthew Cheung as Chief Secretary for Administration, a post which he served until 2022.

A pro-Beijing politician, Lee is known as being a hardliner against the pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong, having played a key role in the crackdown of the opposition.

As the sole candidate approved by China in the 2022 Hong Kong Chief Executive election, Lee was chosen as Hong Kong's next Chief Executive, taking office 1 July 2022 in the presence of President Xi Jinping.

His selection was seen as a move by the Chinese government to focus further on security and further integrate Hong Kong with the mainland.

In 2019, Lee played a key role in the push for the 2019 Hong Kong extradition bill.

On 3 July 2020, the Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency stated that the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was formally established.

There were 10 members of the committee.

As the Secretary for Security of Hong Kong, Lee was a member of the committee.

In October 2020, Lee told Shenzhen Satellite TV in an interview that he was thankful for Beijing pushing through the National Security Law.

In December 2020, Lee defended the freezing of bank accounts belonging to former Democratic Party legislator Ted Hui, and said that other bank accounts, including those of suspect's relatives, could be frozen if they were believed to be related to a crime.

In January 2021, after the arrest of 53 pro-democracy figures, Lee stated to the Legislative Council that they were arrested for "subverting state power".

Lee also stated that "The Security Bureau strongly reaffirms and fully supports the Police's operation, which is resolute and professional."

In addition, Lee stated that the opposition figures' attempts were "evil" and meant to "overthrow" the government.

On 15 January 2021, Lee said that the new National Security Law would include police surveillance of communications, potentially giving the police more power to intercept and read communications.

In April 2021, Lee said that Hong Kong's disciplined services would adopt PLA-style goose step marching in order to demonstrate "nationalistic sentiments" and to "strengthen awareness of national security".

In July 2022, Lee as Chief Executive said that "This time, we've comprehensively adopted the Chinese-style marching, which fully reflects the police's national identity and sense of belonging to the country, and also represents a solemn commitment to the trust bestowed by the nation, and loyalty to the country".

On 25 June 2021, the HKSAR Government announced that the State Council has on the recommendation of the Chief Executive appointed Lee as Chief Secretary for Administration, making him the third former police officer after William Caine, the founding head of the Hong Kong Police Force who served as Colonial Secretary from 1846 to 1854, and Francis Henry May, Captain Superintendent of the Police Force from 1893 to 1901 and Colonial Secretary from 1902 to 1911, to have served in the second-highest governmental position in Hong Kong.

In January 2022, after the arrest of employees from Stand News, Lee said that US media groups should support law enforcement, claiming that "If you are genuinely interested in press freedom, you should support actions against people who have unlawfully exploited the media as a tool to pursue their political or personal gains".

On 4 March 2022, Lee invoked emergency regulation to announce the construction of a bridge linking Hong Kong with Shenzhen; however, satellite images showed that construction appeared to have begun five days before Lee had invoked the emergency regulation.

The border is drawn at the halfway point in the Shenzhen River, and photos show that a barge was on the Hong Kong side on 27 February 2022.

On the day of the emergency regulation was announced, photos show that the bridge was past the halfway point on Hong Kong's side, extending just meters away from Hong Kong land.

On 6 April 2022, Lee resigned and planned to join the 2022 Chief Executive election.

His resignation was approved by the State Council of China on the following day.

On 6 April 2022, Lee resigned and planned to join the 2022 Chief Executive election.

His resignation was approved by the State Council of China on the following day.

He formally announced his candidacy on 9 April 2022.

Lee was the sole candidate who had the blessing of the Chinese leader Xi Jinping's administration in the 2022 Hong Kong Chief Executive election, which was communicated by the Liaison Office.

The Office reportedly told the Election Committee that Lee would be the only candidate given permission by Beijing to be Chief Executive.