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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.
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