Hong Kong leader aims to attract talent but vows further crackdown

John Lee pledges to enact anti-subversion law while emphasising need to alleviate brain drain

Hong Kong's new leader has pledged to enact an anti-subversion law, tighten up cybersecurity and crack down on false information and crowdfunding activities, after China's Xi Jinping issued calls to reinforce national security.

In his first policy address since becoming the city's chief executive in July, John Lee also emphasised the need to proactively trawl the world for talents" to help alleviate a brain drain, acknowledging that the local workforce had shrunk by about 140,000 in the last two years, after a national security law came to force.