Home>News Center>Life
             
     

    Smooth operator takes helm in Hong Kong
    (Agencies)
    Updated: 2005-03-18 09:25

    His trademark bow tie was burgundy and gray, with a matching handkerchief pointing from the breast pocket of a three-piece suit.


    Donald Tsang, now acting chief Executive of HKSAR [baidu]
    Donald Tsang, acting chief executive of HKSAR, laid out his goals as Hong Kong's new leader in the language of a practiced statesman, in which no problem seems beyond solution if the right committee is formed.

    Tsang, who has a reputation as a natty dresser and smooth operator, met with foreign correspondents Monday in Hong Kong, two days after taking over as the region's acting chief executive.

    He sought to reassure the world that Hong Kong was still on the path to rule by law and greater democracy despite the sudden departure of his predecessor Tung Chee-hwa.

    "There is absolutely no conspiracy in all this," Tsang declared.

    After ignoring a week of leaks that he was about to resign, Tung offered his resignation March 11, citing poor health, and was approved by the Central Government the next day.

    So Tsang, as No. 2 in the hierarchy, became Hong Kong’s acting leader on Saturday, pending the selection of a permanent chief executive by an 800-member committee.

    Tsang, the current chief secretary for administration and a 38-year civil service veteran, will be acting chief executive for as long as six months or until the committee picks a replacement, according to the Basic Law, the city's constitution.

    Tsang has topped in popularity polls among all the officials in Hong Kong in the past year, boosting chances that he would be chosen as the next chief executive.

    The 60-year-old, who favors wearing bow ties, is known internationally for his role in defending the Hong Kong dollar's peg to the U.S. currency in 1998 from attacks by hedge funds he dubbed "crocodiles."

    "Tsang is certainly the most capable person among the possible candidates that the Central Government will pick the next leader from," said Albert Cheng, a Hong Kong legislative councilor and former radio show host and critic.

    "He's the one with the highest level of integrity and is the most popular among Hong Kong people."

    Tsang's popularity rested partly on his background, Cheng said.

    Tsang, who grew up in Hong Kong's Central police station where his father was a policeman, had secondary education when he started in the civil service in 1967, after two years as a salesman for U.S. drug company Pfizer Inc.

    He completed a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University in 1981. He succeeded Hamish Macleod to become the first local financial secretary in 1995, when Christopher Patten was Hong Kong’s last British colonial governor.

    Married with two children, Tsang comes from a family of achievers. His sister Katherine Tsang was in January appointed chief executive of Standard Chartered PLC's China business. Younger brother, Tsang Yam-pui, retired in 2003 as Hong Kong's police commissioner.

    Born in Hong Kong, Tsang is a longtime civil servant with a wide circle of friends.

    Officials in Beijing and political figures in Hong Kong say he has the skills to deal with tensions between the leadership and activists who demand direct elections.

    "He was brought up in Hong Kong," said Emily Lau, a legislator who heads the Frontier party. "He knows what Hong Kong people want and how they think."

    Despite a widespread perception in Hong Kong that Tsang has already been anointed in Beijing to become the permanent chief executive, he would not say whether he wants the job.

    His only goals as acting leader, he said, would be keeping Hong Kong's economic recovery on track and preparing for a smooth vote by the electoral committee in July.

    "My mind is totally occupied, and my time is totally occupied, with making sure the electoral arrangements are in place," he said.

    True to his self-declared instinct for caution, Tsang declined to say whether Beijing had given him reason to believe he would be picked July 10 to serve the remaining two years of Tung's second term.

    Opposition political figures in Hong Kong insisted that previous interpretations of Hong Kong's Basic Law had held that any new term would be five years.

    However Tsang said Hong Kong's justice secretary, Elsie Leung, researched the issue and concluded that having the next chief executive finish Tung's term would not violate the law.

    He strongly dismissed suggestions that Beijing was twisting the Basic Law.

    "Rumors can take place. Speculation can be rife. But it is the responsibility of the government to do the right thing." Tsang said.

    Tsang has already gained the support of many residents, according to opinion polls and comments in the street.

    His task now, analysts said, was to retain that support while maintaining smooth communication and close cooperation with Beijing.

    Tsang's comments indicated he had the necessary flexibility. While pledging to make Hong Kong more democratic, he also said democracy could take many forms. "When we say one man, one vote, we have to define what that is," he said.

    Tsang has made a career of such balancing acts. He entered the British-controlled administration in 1967, working for London even as many of Hong Kong's Chinese residents escalated their demands that the British depart.

    He was promoted to financial secretary in 1995, becoming the first ethnic Chinese to hold the job in 150 years of British rule.

    One month before Hong Kong was returned to China, Tsang was named a knight of the British Empire for his work as a civil servant.

    Many thought that the knighthood marked the peak of Tsang's career because it was speculated that it could raise serious doubts about his loyalty to the Central Government. But Tsang quickly adapted to the new political climate. He rarely mentions his "Sir Donald" title.

    As finance minister during the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and 1998, he won praise by shoring up the stock market with public funds and fending off currency speculators accused of triggering the economic woes across the region.

    He's been sidelined a few times during Tung's eight years in office, but he managed to hang on and work his way back into influence. His new job might be the biggest test of his ambition and survival skills.

    Tsang faced some serious challenges in his new job, including leading a cabinet that might contain back-stabbing politicians who want his job, analysts said.

    "If he can't carry out a major reshuffle in the cabinet, can he gain other ministers' confidence and secure their loyalty to him" said Ivan Choy, a political analyst at the Hong Kong's Chinese University.

    Tsang's policies might also be thwarted by the dispute between lawmakers with different political views.

    The economy is aslo facing serious competition from booming cities in southern China that are trying to surpass Hong Kong as a logistics and services hub.

    The public will also carefully watch what Tsang does regarding the city's West Kowloon Cultural District, a huge real-estate project that has drawn accusations of collusion between the government and big business.



    Diving prince Tian Liang's new fling revealed in hot kiss
    Jay Chow's 'Snail' recommended as patriotic
    Quality actor Liu Ye to release photo album
      Today's Top News     Top Life News
     

    US resolution on China's law 'firmly opposed'

     

       
     

    Russia eyes closer military ties with China

     

       
     

    Shanghai leads cities in competitiveness

     

       
     

    Ending EU arms ban: the sooner the better

     

       
     

    KFC pulls food after contamination scare

     

       
     

    Footwear exporters furious over Moscow raid

     

       
      Smooth operator takes helm in Hong Kong
       
      Zhou Xun and Li Daqi's marriage rumor denied
       
      Why do sexes differ? Blame it on X factor
       
      KFC found using banned dye Sudan I
       
      Report: Obesity to lower US life span
       
      Anti-cancer compound in green tea
       
     
      Go to Another Section  
     
     
      Story Tools  
       
      Related Stories  
       
    Tsang: Business can help shape HK's future
       
    Tsang: Reforms must benefit whole nation
       
    Donald Tsang highlights value of civil service
       
    Donald Tsang visits immigration control posts on HK-Shenzhen boundary
      Feature  
      Chen Ning Yang, 82, to marry a 28-year-old woman  
    Advertisement
             
    日本乱人伦中文字幕网站| 黄桃AV无码免费一区二区三区| 精品三级AV无码一区| 久久精品aⅴ无码中文字字幕不卡| 亚洲av激情无码专区在线播放| 久久精品中文字幕久久| 无码国内精品久久人妻麻豆按摩 | 久久久久久久亚洲Av无码| 亚洲一日韩欧美中文字幕欧美日韩在线精品一区二 | 无码AV天堂一区二区三区| 中文字幕在线观看国产| 一二三四社区在线中文视频| 国99精品无码一区二区三区| 日韩网红少妇无码视频香港| 最新高清无码专区| 欧美日韩毛片熟妇有码无码| 亚洲欧美日韩在线不卡中文| 亚洲成人中文字幕| 美丽姑娘免费观看在线观看中文版| 亚洲精品无码久久毛片| 蜜臀精品无码AV在线播放| 国模GOGO无码人体啪啪| 无码人妻黑人中文字幕| 亚洲动漫精品无码av天堂| 中文字幕无码毛片免费看| 亚洲欧美中文日韩在线v日本| 一本无码中文字幕在线观| 久久精品中文字幕一区 | 久久中文字幕无码专区| 亚洲日本中文字幕| 久久久网中文字幕| 中文字幕无码播放免费| 99精品久久久久中文字幕| 色综合中文综合网| 中文字幕在线视频网| 一本本月无码-| 亚洲国产精品无码av| 无码人妻AV一二区二区三区| 色情无码WWW视频无码区小黄鸭| 毛片无码免费无码播放| 岛国av无码免费无禁网|