An online pro-establishment group “Support CY Leung” initiated a campaign outside North Point MTR station on Sunday in support of the chief executive.
An estimated 15 activists from the group were seen wearing white T-shirts with the slogan “support CY” and encouraging passers-by to show their gratitude to Hong Kong’s leader.
“We set up this street station to encourage you to write greeting cards for Leung, the chief executive. After we collect all greeting cards, we will send them to the Office of the Chief Executive on August 12,” said Gigi Mak, an organiser of the campaign.
August 12 is the birthday of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.
The group was also seen distributing the same badges Leung used during his election campaign in 2012.
The group also has a Facebook page to spread its pro-establishment viewpoint. As of 3pm on Monday, the group received more than 1,600 likes.
A Now TV political commentary programme said that groups had started organising campaigns to gather support for Leung Chun-ying to run for a second term. It said Beijing had not confirmed a preferred candidate for the 2017 chief executive election, so Leung would need to show that he had popular support in Hong Kong.
On Sunday, Chinese state news agency Xinhua published an interview with Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah on Hong Kong’s role in China’s “one belt, one road” initiative. This sparked speculation that Tsang may have become Beijing’s preferred choice as the city’s next leader.
