A column penned by pro-Beijing writer Chris Wat and critical of Chief Executive Carrie Lam has sparked speculation over the Hong Kong leader’s future.

In the article, Wat admitted it was wrong of her to judge three years ago that Lam could govern the city well, although she appeared to be clueless about how the man in the street lived. To this day, Lam still had no idea about Hong Kong society and was incapable of governing, she argued.

The columnist’s comments raised eyebrows among democracy supporters. Some speculated that Wat, a supporter of former chief executive Leung Chun-ying, might have an ulterior motive, to help Leung in a potential attempt to regain his office in 2022.

Wat seems to be among pro-Beijing camp members who have taken up the new role of “loyal opposition” after the mass resignations of pan-democratic lawmakers from the Legislative Council, as those inside the establishment are allowed to criticize Lam without facing consequences from the central government.

At the same time, the emergence of the Bauhinia Party, a group of mainland-born Hong Kong financiers who are aiming to sign up 250,000 members, may push the local pro-Beijing establishment to the sidelines. It would not be surprising to see more Beijing loyalists criticizing Lam’s government with increased frequency in order to sustain their very existence.

Meanwhile, Lam said she had taken interviews from China Daily and the Wall Street Journal in order to “clarify some misunderstandings and fallacies.”

She slammed an unnamed organization — believed to be the Heritage Foundation in the United States — for saying that national security laws could be the beginning of the end for Hong Kong as a financial center. Most financial centers were protected by all sorts of national security laws, Lam said. If a city faced violent protests like Hong Kong, it would not be able to attract foreign investors and residents could not live safely, she argued.

Hong Kong residents had “gained back their freedoms and human rights in accordance with the laws” after national security legislation was enacted, she said.

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