Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying will not run again

Yahoo – AFP, Elaine Yu,  December 9, 2016

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announces that he will not run again
 for office and will step down at the end of his term in July, citing family reasons
(AFP Photo/ANTHONY WALLACE)

Hong Kong's unpopular leader Leung Chun-ying, who has been vilified by critics as a puppet of Beijing, said Friday he would not run again for office after a term marked by anti-China protests and political divisions.

Leung said he would step down at the end of his term in July for family reasons after speculation intensified in recent weeks over who would get the nod from Beijing for leadership elections in March.

Some pro-democracy campaigners predicted there would be public "euphoria" at the news, while analysts said the announcement had come as a surprise, just three months before the election in which Leung was widely expected to run for a second term.

Leung said Beijing had been "very supportive" and said he was not stepping down because of a lack of backing from China.

"The central government has always fully affirmed and had high opinions of my work," he said.

China has accepted Leung's decision, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Leung took office in 2012 as concerns were growing that Beijing was tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city and his opponents have slammed him as a hardline leader overseeing the erosion of Hong Kong's freedoms.

His term has been one of political crises with massive pro-democracy rallies in 2014 bringing tens of thousands onto the streets calling for reform and for Leung to step down.

The failure of the protests to win any concessions left the city starkly divided between pro-establishment and pro-democracy camps and sparked an independence movement calling for the city to break entirely from Beijing.

China has expressed its fury over the movement, which it says is illegal and will damage Hong Kong's prosperity.

Last month two democratically elected lawmakers who support a split from China were barred from taking up their seats after an intervention from Beijing.

Lawyers protest at a ruling by China which effectively bars two pro-independence

 legislators from taking office in Hong Kong, on November 8, 2016 (AFP Photo/

Anthony Wallace)

Cautious celebrations

A group of more moderate pro-democracy lawmakers are facing a court case Thursday brought by the government which is also seeking to remove them from the legislature.

Pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong, who led the 2014 rallies, said that while some people might celebrate Leung's decision, there were now fears that he would simply be replaced with another hardline leader.

The chief executive is chosen by a 1,200-strong committee of special interest groups weighted towards Beijing.

The mass "Umbrella Movement" rallies of 2014 were calling for that system to be overturned and for the leader to be chosen by the public.

Those protests were triggered after Beijing said Hong Kong could choose its own chief executive, but that candidates would have to be vetted.

"I think CY Leung not getting re-elected is of course a good thing... he has triggered lots of public discontent," Wong told AFP but added there needed to be broader fundamental changes.

"The problem is not about people, but that the system needs to be reformed," he said.

Pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo also warned that campaigners should not be complacent.

"Whoever is chief executive is still going to be hand-picked by Beijing," Mo told AFP.

Analyst Joseph Cheng said that there had been speculation that Beijing had refused to back Leung as it had not signalled support.

Riot police form a line during a political protest in Hong Kong, one of many during

the term of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (AFP Photo/ISAAC LAWRENCE)

"Normally we expect some signals from Beijing by this time," he said.

There are question marks over how much support Leung could rally from the pro-establishment camp after his rocky term. Beijing may want a stronger candidate, said analyst Edmund Cheng.

Leung only secured 689 votes of 1,200 in 2012.

"To assure that Beijing has better control of the current system, they may want to increase the legitimacy of the next chief executive, and they may want someone to get more (votes) than that," said Cheng, professor of government and international studies at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Leung said he was stepping down out of "responsibility as a father and a husband" and that it was not to do with his performance as leader.

Reports in local media have said that Leung's daughter Leung Chai-yan, 25, has been in hospital for more than a month, although the reasons are unclear.

His daughter hit the headlines in 2015 after slapping her mother in public and announced she was leaving home because of explosive rows with her parents.

China's spokesman for Hong Kong and Macao Affairs told Xinhua: "We express our deep regret that Leung has decided not to pursue another term due to family reasons, and we respect his decision."

Only one candidate has declared they are running for the leadership so far -- retired judge Woo Kwok-hing.

"With Mr. Leung not running, I hope society will be less divided," Woo said Friday.

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"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa, Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version)

"... I want you to watch some countries. I don't have a clock [this statement is Kryon telling us that there is no time frame on his side of the veil, only potentials]. I'll just tell you, it's imminent [in Spirit's timing, this could mean as soon as a decade]. I want you to watch some countries carefully for changes. You're going to be seeing changes that are obvious, and some that are not obvious [covert or assumptive]. But the obvious ones you will see sooner than not - Cuba, Korea [North], Iran, of course, and Venezuela. I want you to watch what happens when they start to realize that they don't have any more allies on Earth! Even their brothers who used to support them in their hatred of some are saying, "Well, perhaps not anymore. It doesn't seem to be supporting us anymore." Watch the synchronicities that are occurring. The leaders who have either died or are going to in the next year or so will take with them the old ways. Watch what happens to those who take their place, and remember these meetings where I described these potentials to you.

The Old Energy is Alive, But Not Happy

I want to tell you something: Old energy dies kicking and screaming. Old energy does not surrender, ever. Old energy simply dies hard and slow. There will be hold-outs for a long time. There will be those who are convinced that the only way to get what they want is to create drama, war, and fear. They continue to want to spring up in places you felt were safe, and to pull you backwards with them. They hate the fact that the earth is going soft on them, and they continue to rattle their sabers, make threats, and make news doing it. They're not the majority, Human Being, but often they are the loudest. When you walk around in perfect health and you are feeling great except for your sore toe, what do you think about? Your SORE TOE! So then you watch your media talk about sore toes for endless hours, and you get depressed. I know you understand the metaphor. ..."

"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)

“…  There's another quantum energy on the planet that has the quantum factor... the Great Shift. It is a benevolence that you have created, and that is new. You now sit in a revolutionary change and some of you are aware it and feeling it. It is the shift of Human consciousness and it's shifting right into the quantum factor, since you are becoming more quantum in your consciousness... and it is becoming benevolent. That is why you're seeing this earth react the way it is.

You're starting to see those who will not allow the old systems. You will no longer have dictators. Citizens all over earth want control over lives. They don't want war. They want their families to be safe! They want peace and abundance. They want their grandchildren to have hope for a better life than they had. You're starting to see it over and over in these places that have had dictators for years. ..”