sion population can expect an end to this conflict that vladimir putin remaining very quiet on that he's just as spending the day talking about how significant this day is. and of course, tying it into the events that have unfolded in ukraine. i think it's important to highlights that this is one of the most important days in russia during the year. this is and now 77 years since the a soviet union defeated the nazis. and if it's something that is taught in school schools at all levels, and a on the day that vladimir putin actually announced the start of the operation in ukraine state tv started broadcasting footage and movies from world war 2 time. so i think it was very much a part of this narrative that the officials here been building at to coincide with what they're doing. and in ukraine, letting me put in has, over the past few weeks, very much try to portray russia as not only the defenders of an evil

and wrong and the nazis as they call them in ukraine. but also a victim. i think it's important that his words today also echoed that saying that they had to do what they did for their own security. that they were under threats from the western countries and nato. and really, again, justifying his actions because there's been a lot of questions from certain high ranking oligarchs in russia that have since left, that it really didn't see the justification for his actions. he has spent since the start of this operation, explaining why he has chosen to do this. and now would they were people were expecting to hear what they could expect to come next when they could see an end to this conflict. but clearly, lottery putting doesn't see that happening any time soon. and he didn't make any mention of that today. or i don't, we'll leave it there for boundary. we'll talk to the day progresses. the events

there in moscow continue watching the as 70 some 10 of us are the soviet union's victory of nazi germany in world war 2. the mast rights of russia, military and weaponry, which we will see later assemble bay in red square. we just heard from flood, we're putin, it speaking at this anniversary of soviet union, which we have in nazi germany. he said that the russians intervention in ukraine had been necessary because the west was preparing for the invasion of our land, including crimea, will keep an eye on the events and red square and have more analysis that goes on ah, from the al jazeera london broker center to people in thoughtful conversation with no host and no limitation as an artist by nature, they are person call on last party left i way way and in the skipper.

society is not interested in the individuality, the freedom, the spirit of the young person, studio b and spectate on al jazeera. well, hong kong is new leader, father rode freedom that john lee is the former security chief. you lead to the 2019 cracks out on pro democracy protest. it is subject to uphold the rule of law. does that mean that china's grip on britain's former colony is tightening even further? this is entitled ah hello there and welcome to the program. i must either take now the result was a foregone conclusion because there was only one candidate to choose from following

a secret ballot. hong kong has a new leader. johnny is due to replace kerry lamb as chief executive on july 1st. now the staunch china loyalist was elected by a committee of around a $1500.00 members all bettered, to insure their patriotism to president. she's in being and basing. now he says he wants to unify society and make the asian financial hub more competitive. but activists in hong kong say they fear that leaders in basing off the tightening grip . adrian brown has no with china's endorsement, it was just a question of how big john lee's winning margin would be. to give the appearance of an open contest, the secret votes were presented to the election committee before being counted. congratulations, a landslide. 1416 boats. in his acceptance speech, lee promised to leader hong kong that was carrying open, vibrant, and vigilant. safeguarding our country sovereignty,

national security and development interests. protecting hong kong from internal and external press and insuring as stability will continue to be of paramount importance. the former number 2 in the hong kong government had previously served the security chief authorizing the use of tear gas rubber, bullets, and occasional live rounds to disperse, protested during the unrest of 2019. 0, it was an election day of one candidate, 3 protesters, and lots of police. 7000 officers, in fact, enough to keep the few dissenting voices well away from the convention center where the vote was held. analysts say the john lee has china's trust, but winning the trust to hong kong could be more difficult. trust can be rebuilt through several ways. one way is by restoring accountable government and hong kong,

which is in the based i would say under the administration of kerry lamb. so that requires the cooperation of the media of ledge go of civil society. sunday was also mother's day in hong kong. some people we spoke to were aware, there was an election, but just weren't sure that the candidates name. oh dawn, i get off. so you all well, was that your lesson? only one candidate. hong kong people was supposed to choose a data for the 1st time in 2017. it didn't happen then. it hasn't happened. now raising the prospect that this could be the model for future elections to choose. hong kong leader lee is due to be sworn in as chief executive on july. the 1st, traditionally

a ceremony attended by china's president adrian brown for inside story. you recall after 156 years of colonial rule britain handed back to control of hong kong to china 25 years ago. under the terms of the 1997 deal. china pledge to give the territory a high degree of autonomy with its own executive legislature and judiciary, a framework known as one country to systems to last 50 years. leaders in beijing also agreed to guarantee rights and freedoms for hong kong. people, including the right to protest, a free press and freedom of speech. then in recent years, beijing has cracked down on those freedoms. stroking mass protests and international criticism in 2020, trying to voted to introduce a national security law and hong kong, giving police broad powers to punish critics and silence descend fundamentally changing life. it's 7000000 people. they've had no say and who then your leader is . instead, a committee of hong kong belief vetted by beijing churches, him and

a one horse race. ah, well let's not bring and our guests in hong kong. we have tom grundy. he is the editor in chief and the founder of hong kong, free press, and independent publication in beijing of victor gow is a chair professor adds to child university. and in nottingham, in england, steve sang is the director of the china institute at so asked university of london welcome to the program dental, and thanks for being with us today. and stephen, i want to start with the process that's just taking place, an appointment rather than an election. it seems at this committee of electors, very much handpicked. do you feel like there's now really been a move away from even the attempted semblance of democracy? i think you are right in saying that what we have seen in hong kong is a change from the past of a pretense to your actions, to now it is election in quotation marks,

chinese style. do you lessened subtly walked such as it was that took place in hong kong? really is no different from your actions under the communist party. victor, let me bring you in here because you yourself have been in the corridors of power and beijing. i understand what is china's strategy here? well, 1st of all, let's congratulate mr. lee on becoming the next chief executive of hong kong. i think his election speaks loudly, that stability is restored in hong kong. and the society at large is ready to embrace development and growth as the principal challenge for the residence in hong kong. now for this election to take place in hong kong, let's look at it in historical terms. the british colonists ruled hong kong for more than 150 years. they never elected the governor of hong kong. the governor of

hong kong has always been appointed by the monarch, and he did not represent the people of hong kong. he represented the british pollock, the imperialist interests of hong kong. therefore, whatever grievances or complaints, all dissatisfaction, you may have. you need to say that whatever democratic rights in hong on to day is already a far cry from the no democracy at all before 9097. whether democracy can be further enhanced and improved. of course, there will be, however, no one can use democracy or rule of law as a hiding shield to promote the so called independence of hong kong, or to deny the chinese sovereignty of a hancock. this is made clear, crystal clear, thou by mister lees election. i think people in hong kong will continue to practice

. ready capitalism with hong kong style, and they will be very firmly committed to the one country to system principal, which you're covered hong kong, up to 2047. and while we didn't see some opposition, i guess we could say 3 protest as outside. and then i understand 8 committee members, i believe voted against mr. lee tongue. you can send that there might be consequences for any of those people. i thought there were also there are also 4 blank apparently. but let's look at the numbers. you know the back to want to happen today. 1461 voters in a city of 7000000, representing 0.02 percent of the public cash to balance. and those people well invested by none other than a panel headed by john lee until last year he got

a 99 percent support rate amongst the both and yeah, and the white community, he has an approval rating of 37 percent according to the last credible poke, there was $7000.00 police officers, a lot of them assigned to that protest you mention today that's almost by culture both and all this cost. the election budget over this year is $330000000.00 us dollars. and just to respond that to, to it's very true, british time to do a little intention to install full democracy. but there were attempts, made a democratic reform in both the fifties and the 9th is on their way as which would cost by beijing and steve, i want to bring you in hand because i could see that you didn't necessarily agree with mr. gow. i'll let you have the float. if we do with history as lick to the has raised, then we will have to deal with history as facts one other than fiction. if we

compare the last full british governors with defore chief executives since hong kong become chinese a gained, we can see that all 4 of the last, british governors receive very, very high popular rating. there was no democratic, formal democratic accountability of the british governors to hong kong. but every one of them was so responsive to public opinions that every one of them receive very high rating. none of that applies to the for chief executives of hong kong. there was no which was governor who had to go to hong kong rip 7000 security suckers, people present to make sure that there were no incidence. that just happened with the election of john lee. well, coming back to present day,

i want to get to johnny and just a moment, but i also want to take a look at kerry lans legacy. you've spoken there, steve, about approval ratings. now i see caroline is leaving offices the least popular chief executive ever 33.4 percent approval. mean arguably, it was the 2019 protests that caused. she hasn't been to harden her stance on hong kong. and much of that people believe was due to lans handling of the expedition bell, much of that driven some might argue by her own political ambitions. tom, you're in hong kong. how will people remember her? well, someone of the disastrous legacy and that we are seeing 3 news outlets closed in the last year to bear in mind. john lee was the number to official must, much of the last year. and i'm curious to recall that thing the protest 60 plus, the civil society groups expanded last year. most of the opposition, the democrats are either behind balls of fled, interest, x, soap, exile,

or quick politics. all together, we seeing a mass exodus in life of the national security law and harsh coded rules that long ago so being accused of mishandling protests effectively illegal, imitated the moment about a year ago in the press freedom index. hong kong was, was 18, and last week it's all the biggest full of any poetry in the world. 248. so this is not only will japanese inheriting, but also what shows it's home from ballistics for as a top official, broad, her tenure. well, let me throw that then to victor, given the level of unpopularity of carry lamb, the legacy that she is left, and how she moved closer to beijing and the perception of john lee has been very close to beijing. what challenges is he like you to face trying to get hong kong as on side? i think mr. lee has huge challenges. he need to bring the society together. he need to reopen hong kong to foreign business interests. he hopefully will need to visit

to the united states or many other european countries and japan and australia, canada. you name it to make sure the hong kong is here to stay at the one country to system will remain in effect up to 2047. and hong kong will continue to practice capitalism with hong kong characteristics which grew of law with dollar. we've talked about his engagement with various different capital as he can't set foot in the us because he's sanctioned by the u. s. and obviously the crackdown in hong kong has left a bitter taste in the mouth of as many foreign leaders. i'm curious about where steve, you think this might be going in terms of how hong kong is going to be perceived in the eyes of the rest of the world and, and how china is playing its cards yet? well, i think china just created a moral hazard. full leaders of them will take more credit countries in europe and

in north america. if they accept john these 2 with it, then they basically are telling offer a tarion countries in the world that if day, then mix somebody who has done something particularly odious. put him, put him in a position of authority and whatever sanctions imposed on that person's will be lifted. so that is making it practically impossible for the united states government to allow to on need to visit the us. and then we will get into it and acrimony of the chinese authorities accusing the u. s. and perhaps other western countries hoping horsed out or hong kong because they would not accept the chief executive of hong kong. we should never be in the situations like that. i want to talk a little bit more about john lee the now and that will affect how he is

a momentum. so i, i think both of it to, you know, come into national status here and john leave promise to restore it international standing. none of this is going to be possible for as long as on college pursuing what china re income 0 co dynamic 0 policy. at the moment. we have mass on 2477 days quarantine in the hotel, plenty of rivals. this is meant to be asian will city and international city. hong kong is not going to be able to change that and regain it state to submit this big brain drain next to the, unless china chain you, it's, i felician coven policies. and that's not gonna change me until perhaps november when changing pain is rubber stamping to lisa life. so the doors are close really here in terms of how much john lee can do. because the mainland border has to come . we have china before it can opens international travel and self and the content

ministration of admit that i'm calling is going to be cut off for some time. yet while amid all of that, i see in his 44 page manifesto he bowed to tackle inequality. unlike previous chief executives, he's not a politician, not a civil servant, not from the business world, mister guy, what do you make of his ability to address some of these issues, especially given the context that tom's just described. oh, that's exactly what i said that a mr. lee need to bring hong kong together. a hong has huge challenges in terms of housing, jobs for resemble creativity and innovation, as well as connecting in the greater depth when china's mainland, as well as with the rest of the world. the world is changing, china is changing. the grid of bay area is changing hong kong with all its advantages, should adapt to the changing circumstances rather than being complacent or other them being left behind. i think all these need to be addressed by the new chief

executive. therefore, i think reaching out to the rest of the world, including the western world as well as chinese mainland in particular, the greater bay area to address all these challenges in hong kong will be missile these top priority now allow me to make one point. we know what the united states now is dealing with, ah, january, the 6 insurrection occupying the capital of the united states in washington dc. whatever that happened, the hong kong, comparing with the occupation of the capital city in the united states really should be judged by the same light. the united states now is a closing maga as sedition and rebellion, as unlucky as that most as undermining rule of law. we should use the same criteria to look at those riotous storming the electrical building, setting up allison, attacking please,

your name it. i think mom i and then those it out from family office. unity throws him out at tom i'm. i'm going to bring you in because you are on the ground with the protesters in the streets during many, many of these days at what would you say to mister gal? i agree, perhaps this time things may be different because you know, the last 5 leaders have always said that they are going to solve the housing problem and any quality you have rising unemployment, there's housing crisis, a mass exodus export to down g. d, p is down, but what you often see with china and he's probably from periphery, whether that be taiwan or jin chang is that they, they try to throw money at the problem and investment infrastructure. and that kind of thing. perhaps misjudging the real root of the issue and integration with china is often the issue in hong kong. so maybe it will be desperate when it comes to the

ty kerns and the power they hold and the housing situation here. but i think the thought and most people had today when they seen this role, the broad and vague manifesto is glittering generality. how's it going to do it? and is it real this time because they really have held it all before in hong kong when it comes to we're going to solve the housing crisis. and tell me very briefly mentioned young there. and i want to bring steven on this because mr. lee was the one in 2019 who sanctioned the use of water, can take us even live rounds on protesters and i see after a visit to since young and that same. yet he then told lawmakers that there could be lessons for hong kong own counter terrorism. strategy, what should we be expecting from him going forward, steve? i think that is a very sign. john lee was a long standing police officer in hong kong. he would have joined the police force probably in the late seventy's and when food

a period of the eighty's and ninety's went home, combs, police force, transform yourself, and one from one that was systematically corrupt to become the most respected department in the hong kong government. and when he was secretary for security in twenty's 19, and in a matter of weeks he adopted tactics that completely squandered a lack of seed that the police blew up in the previous quarter of a century. tony into the most hated and despised department in the hong kong government. and that is before he was even referring to sion. john, as poor winding inspirational eggs, experience, he should look back into the history of the hong kong police force, where it got things right where it earned popping, respect and credibility as chief executive,

she will have to earn that respect and with the ability before he will have a chance to put his policy ideas into practice, otherwise they are just slogans in speaking of policy practices. mr. go, i want to ask him because i noticed amid the trials of those currently been prosecuted in hong kong under the national security law, which mr. lee has been a big proponent as i see, even a beijing appointed judge has criticize the delays in terms of process there. could china potentially go to fi in? no, i think not. why? because one, these should be clear in hong kong, rule of law and democratic rights need to be fully protected. on the other hand, anything which denies china sovereignty of on call is illegal is against the national security law. and anything which advocates, hong kong independence,

for example, will be punished by law. this is very similar to many other countries. for example, in the united states, they practice a system, one nation under god, indivisible, no one can really use force to achieve independence of any particular state that to be illegal punishable by law. many other countries have a civil of things. so you cannot say what's happened the hong kong, under the attack against the hong kong government attack of the very well behaved police, fuzzy hung, all is rule of law is freedom of expression. what happens to washington, for example, occupying the capitol hill is illegal law. you should know and use the same principle and same benchmark to judge these violations against the rule raul, united states, although icons and the hong kong. there have been a mistake. i, i want to bring in tottenham because he is on the ground in hong kong, and i, i don't want to let you go without asking you about public sentiment that now it's

been a while, i believe, since we've had ne, solid pull figures by lost count it looks like support for the opposition movement has increased, but then support for protests has decreased. we've obviously seen very few people out on the streets. there have been coven restrictions, and placed. now given the low turn out that we also saw in the december elections as well, reco low turn out to people even care who is in charge now or is this a a done deal for beijing? it really struck me in the story. we saw alley from adrian, that limited apathy. is it apathy tongue or is it submission? it's difficult to tell because the democrats from behind balls the next follow of quit politics. and i think if anything, it is more about fear, the big thing big to get wrong is but actually in the us, you will not go to prison for your words, for waiting a flag for a sticker, advocating independent. these are the kinds of things that people have been treated or, and that's what keeping people up the street. if you do want to look at any statistics

. well, the last time they surveyed approval ratings, john me out of a favorable rating of about 37 percent. and he has promised a local version of the national security law, which last time that was tabled in 2003 half a 1000000 people onto the street. again, i don't think you're going to see the kind of protest you did in 2019 all back then . but suddenly, i think what's keeping people off the street to the moment is the national security law and how effective it is being, i guess, quoting defend, well, certainly be watching how this all plays out in the coming days, weeks and months. but for now we'll leave our discussion there. thank you to all of our guests, tom grundy, vic, to go and stay sung and thank you to for watching. you can see this program again, any time by visiting a website that's out there a dot com and provide the discussion. do go to our facebook page. that's facebook dot com, forward slash 8 inside story. and remember you can also join the conversation on

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