is completely disinterested with also tells you something the impending sale is attracting international interest while this piece expected to fetch more than any other contemporary art piece and history. in this case, you guess a beautiful painting by one of the greatest artists afford history. and you get the most famous painting of this artist to show the beauty and disaster at the same time. no other painting has ever shown to us so well. and perhaps no other painting has been so well poised to capitalize on post pandemic pent up demand to see and purchase art. kristin salumi al jazeera new york ah services observe. these are the top stories and shrill, anchor's prime minister man to roger pike's, who has resigned earlier and nationwide curfew was imposed off to russia,

packs of supporters fought with anti government protests as angry over an unprecedented economic crisis. thousands were injured and all fernandez. his morphin colombo, she thinks many won't see the resignation of going far enough. sacrificing the prime minister by him. the raja boxer, a for the president. survival is not something that's going to go down easily with the protesters. they have honestly spoken again and again in recent days and said nothing short of a clean sweep of the roger boxes and of this government. however, i will have to see in the coming hours how they react, but just judging form what they have been saying and doing over the past month. they're unlikely to be appeased. president vladimir putin has told his soldiers in ukraine, they're fighting for the security of russia. he says the invasion was the only right decision. under the circumstances. thousands of troops had been marching in moscow's red square on the day. russia celebrates nazi germany. surrender to soviet

troops. in 1945. earlier on sunday, ukraine's president march to sombre victory de suggesting russia's invasion is equal to that of nazi germany is flawed. of mere zalinski says evil has returned to ukraine, but in a different uniform. and for the same purpose, a poles have closed in the philippines where voters have been choosing the next president's among the 10 candidates casting. their ballots was front runner, ferdinand marcus, junior, son of a controversial former leader who was deposed in a revolution for palestinians have been arrested in the latest rates by israeli police and the occupied west bank is sought. the operation in ramana is linked to the investigation into a stubby attack in israel on thursday. ramana is the hometown of 2 palestinian men accused of killing 3 israelis in the central city of n, a lad. just stay with headlines. more news coming up here in out 0 right after inside store. ah

will, hong kong is new lead up further, erode freedoms that john lee is the former security chief who led to the 2019 cracked out on pro democracy protested. he's staging to uphold the rule of law. does that mean that china's grip on britain's former colony is tightening even further? this is inside story. ah. hello there and welcome to the program i must ozzy attain. 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. john lee is due to replace kerry lamb as chief executive on july 1st . now the staunch china loyalist was elected by committee of around a 1500 members, all betted to ensure their patriotism to present. she's in being and beijing. 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 beijing are for the tightening. nick rip, adrian brown has moved with china's endorsement. it was just a question, but 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 stupidity 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 of hong kong could be more difficult. trust can be rebuilt through several ways. one way is by restoring a countable government in 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, co 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 don lozano but yeah, you all were helping me was that your lesson? 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 lead 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'll recall after 156 years of colonial rule, britain handed back 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, true system 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 vote 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 new leader is. instead a committee of hong kong delete, vetted by beijing churches, him and

a one horse race. ah, well let's not bring in our guests in hong kong. we have tom grande. 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 and england, steve sang is the director of the china institute at so asked university of london . welcome to the program. gentlemen, 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 all right, in saying that what we have seen in hong kong is a change on the pass off a pretence to your actions. true. now it is election in quotation marks,

chinese style. do you lessened subtly, was 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. 1 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 kong 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 are rule of law as a hiding shield to promote the so called independence of hong kong, or to deny the chinese sovereignty of a hong kong. this is made clear, crystal clear, thou by mister lease election. i think people in hong kong will continue to

practice 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 did see some opposition, i guess we can 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 number of the facts of what happened today. 1461 voters in a city of 7000000, representing 0.02 percent of the public cash to balance. and those people were 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 poll 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 out, 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 licked, 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 british 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, some of the disastrous legacy and that we are seeing 3 news outlets closed in the last year or 2. bear in mind. john lee was the number 2 officials must much of the last year. and i'm curious to recall that thing the protest, 60 plus civil society groups responded last year. most of the opposition, the democrats are either behind balls of fled, interest, x, soap, exile,

or quick politics, all together. we're 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 and 50 at the moment about a year ago in the press freedom index. hong kong was, was here last week. it's all the biggest full of any poetry in the world. 248. so this is not only what john, these inheriting, but also what he says, responsibility for as a top professional brought her can you? 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, it 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 and 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, with the rule of law, with the dollar. we've talked about his engagement with various different capital and 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's playing it's cards yet? well i think china just created a moral hazard. full leaders of them will take the more credit countries in europe

and north america. if they accept john needs to research, then they basically are telling authoritarian countries in the world that if they then make somebody who has done something particularly odious, pretty put him in a position of authority. and whatever thompson has imposed on that cushioned will be lifted. so given the, making it practically impossible for the united states government to allow to need to visit the us. and then we will get into it an acronym and the of the chinese or warranties accusing to us. and perhaps other western countries are being hosted out to hong kong because they would not accept the chief executive of hong kong. we should never be in a situation like that. i want to talk a little bit more about john lee of mine, and it will affect how he went on so

i, i think both referred to, you know, all the international 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 code or dynamic 0 policy. at the moment, we have mass on 2477 days quarantine in the hotel, many rivals. this is meant to be asian will city and international shipping. hong kong is not going to be able to change that and regain it state to submit this big brain drain, an exit a. unless china chain you it's, i felician if coven policies. and that's not going to change me until perhaps november when choosing paying is rubber stamping to lease a life. so the doors are close really here in terms of how much john lee can do, because the mainland border has to look and we have china before a conference, international travel and self and the content ministration of admitted 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 greater 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 6th 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 damaged, as undermining rule of law. we should use the same criteria to look at those rioters storming the electrical building, setting up allison, attacking please,

your name it. i think mom i and they both it and trump van the 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 about 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 comes and the power they hold. and the housing situation here. but i think the book and most people have today when they seen this rather broad and vague manifesto is glittering generality, is 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 to 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 year. 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 signed. 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 went through the period of the eighty's and

ninety's. went home combs, police force, transform yourself, and walk from one that was systematically corrupt to become the most respected department in the hong kong government. and when he was separately for security in 2019, in a matter of weeks, he adopted tactics that completely squandered the leg, concede that the police beloved in the previous quarter of a century, turning into the most hatred and despised department in the hong kong government. and that is before he was even referring to she john as providing inspirational x experience, he should look back into the history of the hong kong police force where it got things right the way 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, the just slogans in speaking of policy practices. mr. gal, i want to ask you because i notice amid the trials of those currently being prosecuted in hong kong under the national security law, which mr. lee has been a big proponent of. i see even a beijing appointed judge has criticize the delays in terms of process there. could china potentially go too far ahead? 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 kong 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, the practice of system one nation under god, indivisible, no one can really use force to achieve independence of any particular state that will 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 law. give united states. although i grant 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. and look 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 most of the democrats are behind balls the next dollar 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 waving a flag or a sticker advocating independent. these are the kinds of things that people haven't been tutored 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, a 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 was 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 questioning, 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 for further 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 twitter. handle is at a jayden type story for me and the se, hey, on the whole team here in the ah and on may, 15th lebanon will hold its 1st parliamentary elections since the country went into economic collapse in 2019 political and security pensions are running high with many lebanese desperately wanting change and new leadership, but will they're about to be enough to change the status quo. special coverage on

elsie, poland, counting the cost. the ear raises the stakes of the back to level russian energy, but of what caused the rural hits up to yeah. high. but as proof of war against sanctions really watching netflix subscribers did for the 1st time of the decade of view of still watching. counting the cost on al jazeera, actual capital is capital, which nature created. when nature is transformed into a commodity big business takes a new interest by landscapes protecting landscapes. it's a phenomenal opportunity to be able to use a business model to achieve sustainability of nature. but at what's risk, banks, of course, don't do that because they have at the heart protection of nature. they do that because to see a business in pricing the planets on al jazeera trust in authority is up in the old time low. you want hench haiti distrust this is an awful about what the truth

actually is. al jazeera investigative unit pulls back the curtain and reveals how fear suspicion and conspiracy theories have become. the 2 of the powerful were in a dangerous territory and that dangerous territory runs deep. what happens now that we literally diverge, that may well be how democracy does the truth illusion coming soon on a just the me, oh um, hello, i am and we are going out to our headquarters. these are the top stories on al jazeera shank is prime minister has quit hinder roger pascals resignation follows wakes of protests against the government handling of economic crisis. and nationwide, curfews been imposed earlier fighting between rival political groups in colombo, led to 78 people being taken to hospital police use gas to break up the dispute at the prime minister homes and nelson. and as reports from the capital that many people still want be happy.