Leung Chun-ying’s association to Xi Jinping’s enemies dooms his chances at re-election
HONG KONG—Leung Chun-ying, the chief executive of Hong Kong, is not in good standing with the present Chinese leadership and will almost certainly not be endorsed for a second term come election time next March, Epoch Times has learned.
The source, an individual with authoritative information about the delicate political operations between China and Hong Kong, said that members of the Xi Jinping administration in Beijing are unified in opposition to Leung seeking another five-year term next year, and that he has “virtually no chance of getting reelected.” The source added: “He won’t be allowed to stay on, and can’t possibly stay on.”
Candidates for the office of Hong Kong Chief Executive typically try to seek some form of endorsement from Beijing; the latest round of elections are slated for the end of March 2017.
One of the reasons for Beijing’s estrangement from Leung is closely related with Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping taking the title of “core” leader after a key political conclave in the last week of October, the source said. Since taking top office in 2012, Xi has been purging the Party of Jiang’s elements, and consolidating power. Xi’s formal assumption of status as paramount leader sends a message that the political strength of the previous “core” leader, former Party boss Jiang Zemin, is on the wane.
Leung is widely considered to be part of Jiang’s faction through his association with Zeng Qinghong, Jiang’s right-hand-man and former Chinese vice chairman.
Read the full article at Epoch Times.
Featured image: Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying at a press conference in Hong Kong on June 20, 2016. Credit: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images