Recently Carrie Lam and her close aides have come under criticism from all sides. Since she presented her latest policy address, the pro-establishment camp and key opinion leaders from the blue-ribbon camp have been railing against her almost every day. The two state-owned newspapers in Hong Kong that serve as the mouthpieces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and other pro-Beijing papers have also spared no effort to launch broadsides against the government’s anti-pandemic measures. It is obvious that Lam has prematurely become a lame duck.

The main reason why Lam has come under attacks from the pro-establishment camp is that she has fallen out of favor with Xi Jinping. Yet her character has also played a part. People from the pro-establishment camp are an interest-driven lot. They go where the wind blows and have an acute sense of who are favored by Beijing and who have fallen out of favor. At the launching ceremony of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge two years ago, Lam, clad in a red coat, stood by the side of Xi, who presided over the ceremony. She also walked side by side with the president, while Vice Premier Han Zheng, in charge of Hong Kong affairs, and then Macau chief executive Fernando Chui, could only follow Lam and Xi from behind. Afterwards, Matthew Chung described Lam as “a red dot among the green bushes”. How confident she was! At the time, no one dared to say anything bad about her.

Lam is an arrogant person. When she was the darling of Beijing, she held herself with even higher regard. In fact, shortly after she took office, she already treated the pro-establishment camp with contempt as she was praised by Beijing for getting off to a new start with her administration. That sowed the seeds for her being attacked today. At the time, it was claimed that the SAR government had to rely on the Liaison Office to get some lawmakers to help the government canvass votes at the Legislative Council (LegCo). But Lam retorted that “I am the one who handles my own affairs”. No matter how complex and controversial LegCo affairs were, she and her team did all the lobbying work and talked to lawmakers. She made it clear she would not let the Liaison Office interfere in her administration’s affairs. Xi was very pleased with her, and she was keen to free herself from the shackles of the pro-establishment camp and the Liaison Office. She thought she was highly competent and was popular among Hong Kong people. She expected civil servants to support her, thinking that the policies she pushed were all good. On the contrary, the pro-establishment camp consists of a motley crew of people, many of whom are poorly educated and incompetent. Lam, who sees herself as an elite, simply views them with contempt. Having sorted out the controversy surrounding the co-location arrangement at the West Kowloon High-Speed Rail Terminus, she got even more arrogant, so much so that she was ambitious enough to think she could consolidate her status in the eyes of CCP leaders by pushing the evil extradition bill through. Her hubris incurred the hatred of the pro-establishment camp. This is a classic case of character determining one’s fate.

Nevertheless, following the year-long anti-extradition movement, Lam has completely fallen out of favor with Xi. With no backing in Beijing, her only asset is her loyalty. So she has to make even more efforts to implement Beijing’s orders. The astute and crafty pro-establishment camp surely can see the subtle shift of Lam’s political standing. Previously despised, ignored and held with contempt, all the pro-establishment figures have snapped, taking their revenge on Lam and bashing her madly. Those who want to seize power or are vying for Beijing’s favor are also taking the opportunity to get back at her. The Liaison Office, which was previously hindered by her as she tried to seize its power, is also stabbing her with force. Which is why she is coming under attacks from all quarters today.

As Lam is falling, everyone is bullying her. While the pro-establishment camp is an indecent, ugly bunch of people, Lam deserves no sympathy. But then with the chief executive prematurely turning into a lame duck while people within the pro-establishment are fighting each other, how can government policies be implemented properly and people’s livelihood improved? How is Hong Kong going to move forward?

(Poon Siu-to, veteran journalist)

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