Hong Kong's first female leader a 'tilted bridge' over troubled waters

Carrie Lam was sworn in as Hong Kong's first female leader

Carrie Lam, who was sworn in as Hong Kong’s first female leader on Saturday, is a former student activist who climbed the rungs of the civil service over 36 years, and a tough, capable and possibly divisive Beijing-backed leader.

Lam, most recently Hong Kong’s number two official, has to unify the Chinese-ruled city as public resentment swells at Beijing’s growing interference in its affairs despite being promised a high degree of autonomy.

She also has to reinvigorate the economy and address growing social inequalities and high property prices, issues Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted at her swearing-in ceremony.

Several sources who have worked with Lam say she’s intelligent, hard-working and able to push controversial government policies, earning her the trust of Beijing factions who strongly lobbied for votes on her behalf when she was chosen in March.

But her hardline and pro-Beijing tendencies, say critics and opposition democrats, risk sowing further social divisions in the former British colony that returned to China 20 years ago under a “one country, two systems” formula that guarantees it wide-ranging freedoms.

“Carrie Lam ... is a nightmare for Hong Kong,” said student activist Joshua Wong in March, one of the leaders of the student-led “Umbrella Movement” protests in 2014 which blocked the streets for 79 days demanding full democracy.

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Reuters