John Lee: The former Hong Kong cop Beijing trusts

HONG KONG: As a former beat cop who rose to become Hong Kong's security chief, John Lee is the one person China's leaders trust to run the city as their loyal lieutenant, analysts and insiders say.

Lee, 64, is expected to be anointed Hong Kong's next chief executive by a small committee on Sunday, the culmination of a choreographed, Beijing-blessed race with no other candidates.

His elevation caps a remarkable rise for a man whose police career lifted him from a working-class family to the upper echelons of Hong Kong's political establishment.

It also places a security official in the city's top job for the first time, a man who played a key role in the suppression of huge democracy protests and Beijing's subsequent political crackdown.

Insiders say Lee's unwavering commitment to that role won China's confidence at a time when other Hong Kong elite were seen as insufficiently loyal or competent.

"John Lee is the one that the central government knows the best, because he was in constant contact and interaction with the mainland," pro-establishment lawmaker and prominent business figure Michael Tien told AFP.

Lai Tung-kwok, Hong Kong's security minister before Lee took the role, put it another way.

"He is a man who has stood the test," Lai told AFP. "If he really wants something done, he will try his best to tackle the obstacles."