Hong Kong leader John Lee raised HK$11.3 million in cash from 58 pro-Beijing groups for election campaign
- Lee’s campaign expenses totalled HK$9.1 million, of which HK$2.7 million was spent on election rallies and HK$754,000 on Facebook advertisements
- His team bought three banknote counters and a safe as they chose to receive funds as cash instead of through online or bank transfers
Lee’s team bought three banknote counters and a safe, which cost about HK$10,000 in total, as they chose to receive the funds as cash instead of through online or bank transfers due to sanctions by the United States over the Beijing-imposed national security law.
Of the HK$9.1 million Lee spent on the month-long campaign – the shortest in the city’s history – HK$2.7 million went on election rallies and HK$754,000 on Facebook advertisements. He did not allocate any funds for YouTube, as Google had terminated his channel citing the sanctions.
The Registration and Electoral Office made Lee’s declaration of donations and expenses public for scrutiny on Monday, nearly two months after he was elected on May 8.
The Post learned that he had submitted the documents more than a week before he was sworn in last Friday, but election authorities decided to release them on the first working day after he took office.
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