Beijing Plans To Remove Carrie Lam By March: Report

Beijing is reportedly drawing up plans to replace Carrie Lam with an interim chief executive, following almost five months of violent anti-government protests.

The Financial Times said if President Xi Jinping goes ahead with the plan, Carrie Lam’s successor will be installed by March and cover the remainder of her term, which ends in 2022.

Quoting unnamed sources it said were close to deliberations, the article said leading candidates include the former head of the Monetary Authority, Norman Chan, and former Chief Secretary Henry Tang.

The sources said mainland officials wanted the situation to stabilise before making a final decision, as they didn’t want to be seen as giving in to violence.

Tang campaigned to be chief executive in 2012 but his popularity plummeted after it was found he had built an elaborate basement at his home without permission.

Pro-democracy lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting said he was astonished by the report, saying changing the SAR's leader is not the way to solve the ongoing political crisis and the government should respond to the protesters' demands instead.