Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong’s first leader after handover to China, dies
Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong, China’s first leader after the city came under Chinese rule in 1997, has died at the age of 89. His office announced the death of the former shipping magnate, Channel NewsAsia reports.
According to the office’s statement, Tung Chee-hwa died on Tuesday in the presence of family members. It also said that he devoted his life to serving the country and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Years in office
Beijing chose Tung Chee-hwa to lead the former British colony after Hong Kong was handed over to China. He headed the city until 2005, when he resigned two years before the end of his second term, citing health reasons. He was succeeded by his deputy, Chief Secretary Donald Tsang.
His time in office coincided with the Asian financial crisis, record unemployment and a collapse in Hong Kong’s real estate market. The administration was also criticized over its response to the 1997 bird flu outbreak and the deadly SARS epidemic in 2003.
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In July 2003, about 500,000 people protested against restrictive anti-subversion laws proposed by China. The authorities were forced to postpone the bill. In 2004, pro-democracy protests took place in the city again, and in December of that year, then Chinese President Hu Jintao publicly criticized Tung Chee-hwa and his cabinet for their poor performance.
Biography and reaction
Tung Chee-hwa was born on May 29, 1937, in Shanghai into one of China’s wealthiest shipping dynasties. In 1947, his family moved to Hong Kong. He studied marine engineering at the University of Liverpool, worked in the United States, and returned to Hong Kong in 1969 to join the family business.
In 1985, Tung Chee-hwa joined a committee that helped prepare Hong Kong’s Basic Law. Former Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying said that Tung Chee-hwa played a role in introducing the “one country, two systems” principle and had the deep trust of China’s leadership.
