She was formerly a prominent government official of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and was the first woman to be appointed the Secretary for Security to head the disciplinary service.

In 2020, Larry Diamond, her supervisor at Stanford University, publicly criticized Ip's handling of the democracy movement and freedom of the press in Hong Kong.

After massive public protests and the government's withdrawal of the proposed national security legislation, Ip resigned from office on 25 June 2003, citing personal reasons.

In 2003, Ip returned to Stanford University to pursue a master's degree in East Asian Studies, with Larry Diamond as her supervisor.

[15] She withdrew her candidacy after failing to receive enough nominations before the deadline and thus did not qualify to stand for the election on 29 February, which made her campaign last for only nine days.

After incumbent Leung Chun-ying announced he would not seek for re-election, Ip resigned from the Executive Council to launch her campaign.

She announced her candidacy on 15 December under the campaign slogan "Win back Hong Kong" after receiving her party's endorsement.

She called for a relaunch of the electoral reform process under Beijing's restrictive framework as decreed by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) on 31 August 2020.

She attributed her failure to the restrictive selection process of the 1,200 structure of the Election Committee membership as she was "squeezed out" by the Beijing-supported Lam and democrats-supported Tsang and Woo.

According to Ku, Ip had turned herself into a provocative political figure due to her departure from the "institutionalised bureaucratic ritual" adopted by civil servants in the past.

[23] She spearheaded the government's attempt to codify Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23, and pushed hard for it to be legislated by July 2003.

[30] In February 2022, Ip wrote a commentary on SCMP, criticizing Western democracy and saying that "Many continue to indulge in the fallacious fantasy that adopting a procedure for electing our political leaders based on public participation will deliver good governance.

"[32] In July 2008, Ip was once again embroiled in controversy for her comments about police tactics used against reporters covering the heated scenes in queues for Olympics tickets.

In commenting about the man-handling of Hong Kong reporters by the Beijing police, she had said that "neck-shoving [techniques]... were most effective in stopping trouble-makers".

The following day, she stated that she supported freedom of the press and apologised for the "slip of the tongue", clarifying that she was neither implying that journalists were troublemakers, nor endorsing the actions of the police.

[33][34] In April 2015, Ip wrote in a controversial article in Ming Pao that she had received complaints while she was Secretary for Security from 1998 to 2003, from "foreign women" in Discovery Bay that the government was "allowing Filipino domestic helpers to seduce their husbands", and was accused of being sexist and racist by many media reports.

She defended her clothing choice, saying that "wearing fur is actually the same as eating beef...Mink farming can be more humane than rearing chicken or cattle."

[37] On 5 September 2016 one day after the 2016 Hong Kong Legislative Council election in which she was re-elected, Ip's car was photographed at the Liaison Office.

The West tends to glorify these people as defenders of Hong Kong's freedoms, but they have done great harm to the city by going against its constitutional order and stirring up chaos and disaffection toward our motherland.

And given the two's vast disparity in size and Hong Kong's growing dependence on the mainland, the city's progressive integration with China is unavoidable .

"[43][44] This is despite the fact that high-level government officials, including Carrie Lam, Tam Yiu-chung, and Tung Chee-hwa have children with foreign citizenship.

[47] In March 2021, Ip said that those in Hong Kong who use the BN(O) passport for working holiday visa applications to 14 countries should be denied the ability to fly on airlines by the government.

"[55] Ip has expressed desires to legislate against discrimination against LGBT people and supported the city to host the 2022 Gay Games.

[64] Later in the month, Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn said that despite lobbying by Ip and the Hong Kong Golf Club, "The government, at this moment, is still fully committed to implementing this project and we have not changed our mind.

"[67] In August 2022, Ip proposed waiving double stamp duties for mainland Chinese without right of abode in the city, taxes implemented earlier to cool down demand and prices for housing in Hong Kong.

"[69] Stock prices of property developers jumped on the news, and Ip later said about the contradiction "the Bloomberg headline said the government had been considering it, so it caused some misunderstanding" and that she would "be more careful and explain things more clearly in the future for sure", without issuing an apology.

[70] Paul Chan reaffirmed the government's position, and later announced that there would be "no plan or intention" to reduce measures to cool down demand, against Ip's suggestion.

[73] Ip made the comments in reference to an incident where Glory to Hong Kong was played in a rugby match in South Korea.

[76] In July 2023, in response to the Hong Kong government putting bounties on 8 overseas democrats, Ip said "As far as I know, some of the wanted people are very active in the UK.

On the surface they are Hong Kong-style tea parties, but actually they are designed to brainwash and confuse politicians and to encourage them to condemn and sanction China.