Asia

Hong Kong set to get new leader as anointed by Beijing

Associated Press
Published | Updated

FILE - In this March 23, 2017, file photo, Hong Kong chief executive candidate, former Chief Secretary Carrie Lam, waves to supporters at an election campaign in Hong Kong. She’s seen as loyal to China’s Communist leaders yet without the polarizing persona of her former boss Leung Chun-ying, whose initials inspired Lam’s nickname of C.Y. 2.0. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File) (The Associated Press)

Pro-democracy protesters display a placard reading "I want genuine universal suffrage" and a Hong Kong national flag during a demonstration in Hong Kong, Saturday, March 25, 2017. Hong Kong is poised to choose a new leader on Sunday when members of a committee dominated by elites favored by Beijing cast their ballots in the first such vote since 2014's huge pro-democracy protests. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) (The Associated Press)

FILE - This combination of three file photos taken March 14, 2017 shows Hong Kong chief executive candidates, from left, former judge Woo Kwok-hing, former Financial Secretary John Tsang and former Chief Secretary Carrie Lam, speaking during a chief executive election debate in Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s next leader will be chosen Sunday, March 26, 2017 by an election committee stacked with pro-Beijing elites who heed the wishes of China’s communist leaders rather than the semiautonomous region’s voters. A closer look at each potential replacement to unpopular incumbent Leung Chun-ying, whose term ends in June. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File) (The Associated Press)

A committee dominated by pro-Beijing elites is set to cast ballots to choose Hong Kong's next leader in the first such vote since 2014's huge pro-democracy protests.

The election committee's 1,194 members will vote Sunday morning, with the city's former No. 2 official Carrie Lam widely expected to win after getting the backing of China's communist leaders.

The system, which was at the root of 2014's protests, has been criticized by pro-democracy activists as a "fake election."

Lam is an efficient and pragmatic administrator but unpopular with Hong Kongers because she's seen as a proxy for Beijing and out of touch with ordinary people.

Her main rival is John Tsang, who is highly popular but doesn't have Beijing's support.