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Leung Chun-ying picked to run HK
BIG INFLUENCE: Leung’s main rival, Henry Tang,
was seen as the front-runner in a fixed election, but he apparently blew his
chances when allegations of an affair leaked out
Reuters, HONG KONG
A picture of Hong Kong chief
executive-in-waiting Leung Chun-ying is seen near the Chinese central
government’s liaison office in the territory after a protester threw eggs on it
following the Hong Kong chief executive selection process.
Photo: AFP
Leung Chun-ying gestures during a
news conference after being selected as Hong Kong’s new chief executive in Hong
Kong yesterday.
Photo: Bloomberg
An election committee of about 1,200 Hong
Kong notables picked Beijing-loyalist Leung Chun-ying (梁振英) as the territory’s
next leader yesterday following a campaign marred by scandal and public
discontent at perceived interference by Beijing.
Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is a
freewheeling capitalist hub enjoying a high degree of autonomy and freedom, but
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders in Beijing have resisted public pressure
for full democracy.
Hong Kong’s 7 million people have no say in who becomes their chief executive.
Instead, a committee filled with business professionals, tycoons and Beijing
loyalists selected Leung, with 689 of 1,132 votes cast, as successor to the bow
tie-wearing Donald Tsang (曾蔭權), who cannot stand again.
Leung’s main rival, Henry Tang (唐英年), got 285 votes.
Several dozen protesters inside the voting venue erupted in shouts and jeers as
the result was announced.
“We want direct elections immediately” they chanted.
Outside, up to 2,000 protesters, some who camped out overnight, yelled slogans
and waved banners to show their anger at being denied a voice.
“We demand universal suffrage right now,” said Daisy Chan (陳倩瑩), head of the
Hong Kong Federation of Students.
Compared with previous chief executive elections, this one was marked by scandal
and mud-slinging between the two main candidates, and it also brought into the
spotlight China’s extensive influence over political affairs.
Leung is a self-made Hong Kong-born surveyor with deep China connections and a
reputation as a tough political operator. Tang is the affluent scion of an
industrialist and a former civil service chief.
Tang was widely seen early on as the Beijing-backed candidate, but his image was
dented by revelations of a love affair and a scandal over illegal construction
at his villa.
That was enough apparently to convince Beijing to switch its backing to Leung.
“Somehow Tang has managed to blow a fixed election,” a Western diplomat in Hong
Kong said.
Many dismayed residents had demanded a fresh election with new candidates.
Underlining the frustration, most of more than 200,000 people said they would
abstain if given the chance to vote, according to a University of Hong Kong
poll.
“It isn’t as if there aren’t capable people; there are plenty of capable,
committed people,” said Anson Chan (陳方安生), Hong Kong’s respected former civil
service chief, dubbed the territory’s “conscience.”
“As long as the central government continues to place more emphasis on control
... on somebody in their own camp, I don’t think we’re going to see the right
leader emerging,” the Liberal Party’s James Tien (田北俊) said.
Hong Kong was promised a high degree of autonomy when it was handed over to
Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula, with a promise
of full democracy as an “ultimate aim.”
Beijing has promised to allow a direct election for the territory’s leader in
2017, but for the time being, CCP leaders and the territory’s tycoons exert a
high degree of control over politics.
Nevertheless, Hong Kong remains a beacon of democratic reform and civil
liberties in China, which wants to absorb Taiwan, perhaps under a similar
formula.
Leung, 57, has a reputation of holding a more innovative policy vision.
He has also been dogged by accusations of being a CCP member, which he denies.
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