The administration of Carrie Lam as Chief Executive of Hong Kong, or Lam administration, officially referred to as "The 5th term Chief Executive of Hong Kong" relates to the period of governance of Hong Kong headed by Chief Executive Carrie Lam, between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2022.
Election
In the 2017 Chief Executive election, Lam received 777 votes in the 1,194-member Election Committee, beating former Financial Secretary John Tsang's 365 votes and retired judge Woo Kwok-hing's 21 votes. Lam was the first female Chief Executive in history, higher than Leung's 689 votes in the last election. She also became the first Chief Executive elected without being the most popular candidate, as she had been trailing behind Tsang in the polls. She pledged to "heal the social divide" and "unite our society to move forward" in her victory speech.
Lam received the appointment from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on 11 April 2017.
Transitional period The Hong Kong government established the Office of the Chief Executive-elect ahead of the election with a controversial decision to site the temporary office in Hong Kong's most expensive business area in Champion Tower on Garden Road, Central. Former postmaster general Jessie Ting Yip Yin-mei was appointed as the head of the office.
One day after Lam vowed to "heal the social divide" in her victory speech, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's government pressed charges against nine key players in the 2014 Occupy protests, immediately sparking controversy whether Leung embarrassed Lam. Leung also blocked Carrie Lam's pledge to scrap Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) for Primary Three pupils.
On 4 May 2017, former Director of Immigration Eric Chan was appointed the Director of the Office of the Chief Executive-elect as well as the Office of the Chief Executive she was sworn in after 1 July.
Cabinet Carrie Lam announced her new cabinet on 21 June 2017, with six incumbent ministers keep their portfolios including the three top secretaries. The cabinet was reshuffled twice in 2020 and 2021.
Ministry
Other posts
Commissioner of Police: Stephen Lo (2017–2019), Chris Tang (2019–2021), Raymond Siu (2021–present) Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption: Simon Peh Director of Audit: David Sun (2017–2018), John Chu (2018–present) Commissioner of Customs and Excise: Hermes Tang (2017–2021), Louise Ho (2021–present) Director of Immigration: Erick Tsang (2017–2020), Au Ka-wang (2020–present)
Executive Council non-official members
Members Affiliation PortfolioAssumed officeLeft officeBorn in RefNonpartisanNon-official Convenor of the ExCo1 July 201230 June 20221951NonpartisanChairman of the Financial Services Development Council19 October 200430 June 20221949NonpartisanChairman of the Council of the University of Hong Kong1 July 2012Lee1945NonpartisanChairman of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing1 July 201230 June 20221950NonpartisanChairman of the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks1 July 201230 June 20221953BPALegislative Council Member & Vice-chairman of BPA17 October 2012Lee1951DABHong Kong Deputy to the National People's Congress & former vice-chairman of DAB17 March 201630 June 20221951NonpartisanLegislative Council Member25 November 2016Lee1957LiberalLegislative Council Member, Chairman of Liberal Party25 November 2016Lee1949NonpartisanExecutive Vice President of the China Society for Finance and Banking1 July 2017Lee1948NonpartisanChairman of the Elderly Commission1 July 2017Lee1960NPPLegislative Council Member & Chairperson of NPP1 July 2017Lee1950Path of DemocracySenior Counsel & Convenor of Path of Democracy1 July 2017Lee1950FTULegislative Council Member & former Chairman of FTU1 July 201730 June 20221952BPALegislative Council Member & Chairman of Heung Yee Kuk1 July 2017Lee1966Horace CheungDABLegislative Council Member & Vice-chairman of DAB1 July 201730 June 20221974
Extra funding
In her first week in office, Carrie Lam offered subsidies to around 40,000 secondary school leavers and promised permanent jobs for more than 2,300 teachers and promised that she would spend the extra HK$5 billion a year on education.
In January 2018, Lam again handed out HK$500 million in extra funding to the Hong Kong's public hospitals amid the deluge of winter flu cases and a severe shortage of nursing staff. The funds would be drawn by the Hong Kong Hospital Authority from its own reserve of HK$1 billion and would later be reimbursed by the government in the financial year 2018/19.
Oath-taking controversy
The legal action by the former Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen had resulted in the unseating of four more pro-democracy legislators, Leung Kwok-hung, Nathan Law, Yiu Chung-yim and Lau Siu-lai on 14 July 2017 after two pro-independence legislators Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching were ousted from the legislature earlier in November 2016. The event caused the quick deterioration of the relations between the pro-democracy camp and the government after the strained relations had been improved compared to Lam's predecessor. Lam pledged she would not target more pro-democrats in oath-taking controversy.
Suppression on localist and pro-independence movement Localist candidates' disqualification In the 2018 Legislative Council by-election after the qualification, the candidacy of Demosistō standing committee member Agnes Chow, was invalidated by the returning officer as she claimed that "the candidate cannot possibly comply with the requirements of the relevant electoral laws, since advocating or promoting 'self-determination' is contrary to the content of the declaration that the law requires a candidate to make to uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region]." The European Union issued a statement warning that banning Chow from the by-election "risks diminishing Hong Kong’s international reputation as a free and open society". Carrie Lam defended the returning officer's decision, but denied that she had anything to do with the returning officer, stating that "there are absolutely no grounds for that sort of accusation or allegation of pressure."
In the November 2018 Kowloon West by-election, the candidacy of the ousted legislator Lau Siu-lai was also disqualified by the Returning Officer as her advocated for "self-determination" on her 2016 electoral platform. Her ally and elected legislator Eddie Chu, who signed the same statement in the 2016 election, was also barred from running in the rural representative election in December 2018. Lam supported the Returning Officer's decision that "had been made in accordance with the Rural Representative Election Ordinance."
Banning on pro-independence party
In July 2018, the Hong Kong Police Force unprecedentedly served the convenor of the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party Chan Ho-tin a notice under the Societies Ordinance and sought to ban the Party. The police claimed that the party has engaged in sedition and that the party may be banned on grounds of national security with respect to Chinese territorial integrity. The notice contained highly detailed surveillance material on the party leadership's public engagements. On 24 October 2018, Chan Ho-tin and party spokesman Jason Chow Ho-fai filed appeals against the ban with the Chief Executive and Executive Council. The two filed separate appeals to make clear they were acting as individuals, not as a party.
In August, a controversy erupted in 2018 when the Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC) hosted a lunchtime talk with Chan Ho-tin on 14 August. A Financial Times journalist Victor Mallet, vice-chairman of the press organisation, chaired the session. The event was opposed by the governments of China and Hong Kong, because the issue of independence supposedly crossed one of the "bottom lines" on national sovereignty. Upon returning to Hong Kong after a visit to Bangkok, Mallet was denied a working visa by the Hong Kong government. Mallet was subjected to a four-hour interrogation by immigration officers on his return from Thailand on Sunday 7 October before he was finally allowed to enter Hong Kong on a seven-day tourist visa. Carrie Lam refused to make any comment, only stating that the Immigration Department was not obliged to explain individual cases.
Infrastructure projects Express Rail Link co-location plan The proposed "co-location arrangement" of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link has sparked concerns that it might constitute a breach of the Hong Kong Basic Law and undermine Hong Kong's autonomy of "one country, two systems", participially with immigration control. Under the arrangement, mainland customs officers will be allowed to set up checkpoints and exercise jurisdiction at the West Kowloon station.
On 28 December 2017, the Hong Kong Bar Association criticised the arrangement for distortion of the Basic Law, stating it damages the rule of law in Hong Kong as Article 18 was clearly written and leaves no room for any interpretation which would allow Chinese law to apply in any certain part of HKSAR. Since there is no legal basis, confidence in the "one country, two systems" principle will decline. The Hong Kong government has defended the co-location agreement, stating that rule of law isn't damaged nor does undermine the Basic Law. Carrie Lam responded to criticism by stating "some Hong Kong legal professionals have an elitist mentality or double standards, that is, they think that Hong Kong’s legal system is supreme, and that the mainland legal system – a big country with a 1.3 billion population – is wrong." Her statement prompted widespread disbelief as she appeared to defend China's legal system being better than Hong Kong's legal system, hypocrisy as she herself is seen as an elite out of touch with society, damaged the one country, two systems principle and for attacking the character rather the arguments of Hong Kong's top lawyers.
The long-debated plan was finally passed on 14 June 2018 in the Legislative Council by 40 to 20 votes after Legislative Council President Andrew Leung capped debate time for the bill at 36 hours to counter pro-democrats' filibustering. The cross-border Express Rail Link was opened on 22 September 2018, followed by the opening of another cross-border infrastructure Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge on 23 October 2018 by paramount leader Xi Jinping. Lam entering the venue side-by-side with Xi and ahead of Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui and First Vice Premier Han Zheng. The entrance raised eyebrows among those who saw it as a departure from protocol for her to walk in front of top mainland officials.
Lantau Tomorrow Vision
In October 2018, Lam launched a development plan in her second policy address which suggested the construction of artificial islands with a total area of about 1,700 hectares through massive land reclamation near Kau Yi Chau and Hei Ling Chau of the eastern waters of Lantau Island. The project meets with controversies and opposition for its high cost of estimated HK$500 billion (US$63.8 billion) – amounting to half of the city's fiscal reserves, as well as environmental concerns.
National Anthem Bill
The Hong Kong government has proposed the local implementation of the National Anthem Law of the People's Republic of China. Lam dismissed the calls for a public consultation for the controversial bill as some provisions deemed as too vague by the pro-democrats. Lam stated that "I do not understand why one has to insist on the term 'public consultation'," calling the term only a "label". She also insisted the proposed bill only targets people who deliberately insult the national anthem and the residents not to worry about it.
Late 2018 to early 2019 crises UGL case closure