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Donald Tsang
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Sir Donald Tsang Yum-Kuen, GBM, KBE (born 7 October 1944) is the current Chief Executive and Head of Government of Hong Kong.
Tsang began his civil servant career in 1967, since then had occupied various positions in finance and trade in the Hong Kong Civil Service, and was appointed Financial Secretary of Hong Kong in 1995, becoming the first ethnic Chinese to hold the position under British administration. He remained in that position after the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong before being appointed Chief Secretary for Administration after the resignation of Anson Chan.
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Sir Donald Tsang Yum-Kuen, GBM, KBE (born 7 October 1944) is the current Chief Executive and Head of Government of Hong Kong.
Tsang began his civil servant career in 1967, since then had occupied various positions in finance and trade in the Hong Kong Civil Service, and was appointed Financial Secretary of Hong Kong in 1995, becoming the first ethnic Chinese to hold the position under British administration. He remained in that position after the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong before being appointed Chief Secretary for Administration after the resignation of Anson Chan. Tsang has won praise for his handling of the Hong Kong economy both as Chief Executive in the mid-2000s and as Financial Secretary in the late 1990s.
Often referred as Bow-Tie Tsang due to his sartorial preference, he assumed the office of Chief Executive of Hong Kong in 2005. Since his accession, he has been criticised for the government's mishandling of a number of incidents, most notably the demolition of Queen's Pier, Political Appointments System, the Leung Chin-man appointment controversy, and the Employee Retraining Levy waiver controversy. Tsang's popularity rating was 51.6% in January, with 16.2% of those surveyed being satisfied with the government's performance, while 34.4 percent believed it was below par.
Personal background
Early life and family
Donald Tsang was born in Hong Kong on 7 October 1944. His father was a police officer of the Royal Hong Kong Police Force and Tsang is the eldest of the five sons and one daughter. After completing his secondary education at Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, an eminent all male Jesuit school in Hong Kong, in 1964, he worked briefly as a salesman at Pfizer Corporation before joining the civil service.
Tsang is married to Selina Pow Siu Mei, and has two sons. His younger brother, Tsang Yam Pui, had been a career police officer who worked his way through the ranks from probationary inspector, and retired as the Police Commissioner in December 2003. Tsang is a devout Latin-rite Catholic and goes to mass every morning, though his political viewpoints are criticised at times by Joseph Cardinal Zen, the cardinal bishop of the local Catholic Diocese.
Tsang is cousin of Daniel Heung, chairman of the Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education of Hong Kong, who was the centre of a scandal when the Oriental Daily News revealed on 7 August that he had transformed a warehouse site in Shatin (rented from the government in 1983) into a private residence. There had been multiple land-use breaches, but no legal action was taken, and it was estimated that rent would have cost about HK$840,000 a year as residential property instead of the annual lease payments of HK$200,000 a year over 16 years of his tenancy. Tsang was subject to questions about his role, as Tsang was the District Officer of Shatin at the time the lease was granted. The Chief Executive's Office denied any impropriety. Heung resigned from his chairmanship position as a result.
Sartorial preference
Tsang is well-known for his preference of wearing bow tie. His nickname, Bow-Tie Tsang , is widely known among Hongkongers. According to an interview with Stephen Chan Chi Wan, the General Manager of TVB, this preference started somewhere between 1988-1993, when Tsang's office was adjacent to Deputy Political Adviser Stephen Bradley's. Bradley, who himself wears bow tie, gave Tsang a bow tie as gift and asked him to try to wear it for a week. Tsang felt comfortable with the bow tie after that week's experience, citing bow tie's design brings fewer hurdles to its wearer than necktie. His penchant for wearing bow-ties and fondness of keeping koi has been portrayed by Chinese contemporary artist Lee Shi-min in the work Hua Koi Tie (2008).
Hobbies
Tsang is also well-known for keeping koi. He had a pond built for them in the Government House at a cost of HKD300,000.
Civil service (1967-2005)
Tsang joined the civil service in January 1967, and he has held positions in many different government departments, ranging from finance, trade to policies relating to the transfer of Hong Kong's sovereignty from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China.
From 1981 to 1982 Tsang studied in the United States, where he completed a Master of Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has also received honorary doctorates from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the University of Hong Kong.
He was attached to the Asian Development Bank in Manila in 1977 for a year and worked on water supply and railway development projects in the Philippines and Bangladesh.
As Deputy Secretary of the General Duties Branch between 1985 and 1989, Tsang was responsible for the implementation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the promotion of the "British Nationality Selection Scheme". He served as Director-General of Trade between 1991 and 1993, and was responsible for all facets of trade negotiation and administration affecting Hong Kong. In May 1993, he was promoted to Secretary for the Treasury, where he was responsible for the overall allocation of resources, the taxation system and the cost effectiveness of the Hong Kong government.
In September 1995, Tsang was appointed Financial Secretary, becoming the first ethnic Chinese to hold the position. He was created a Knight Commander in the Order of the British Empire in 1997 for his long-time service to Hong Kong, he was knighted by Prince Charles of Wales in the Government House hours before the handover. Tsang was also awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal by the Hong Kong Government in June 2002. During his term as Financial Secretary, Hong Kong's public spending grew steadily as public revenue remained robust and government budget in surplus. Public expenditure to GDP rose to as high as 23%, though still the lowest among developed economies. He also approved a raise in civil servants' salary at the beginning of the Asian economic crisis. The salary raise was finally reversed, aligning civil servants' salary to 1997 levels.
During his six-year tenure, he steered Hong Kong through the Asian financial crisis that swept across the region in 1997 and 1998. He worked with Joseph Yam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and waged war on the speculators attacking the Hong Kong currency peg.
On 1 May 2001, former Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan resigned her post, citing personal reasons. Tung then appointed Tsang to become the Chief Secretary and invited a civil service outsider, Antony Leung, to take up the post of Financial Secretary.
As Chief Secretary, Tsang ranked second to the then Chief Executive of Hong Kong Tung Chee Hwa, advising him on matters of policy and deputising for him during his absence. He was also a member of the Tung's inner cabinet, the Executive Council, which is also the highest policy-making body in Hong Kong. He assumed the post of acting Chief Executive when Tung's resignation was approved by the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China on 12 March 2005.
Acting Chief Executive
According to the Basic Law, if the Chief executive resigns, the Chief Secretary will assume the duty as acting Chief Executive for a maximum of six months. At 17:30 (HKT) on 10 March 2005 in Hong Kong, Tung Chee Hwa announced his resignation due to "health problems". The resignation was endorsed by the Central People's Government on 12 March, which also confirmed Tsang as Acting Chief Executive. Tsang then assumed power as head of the Hong Kong government. As Chief Secretary he served as acting Chief Executive until 25 May 2005, following Tung Chee Hwa's resignation on 12 March 2005. He resigned as Chief Secretary on the afternoon of 25 May, after the Chief Executive Election (Amendment) (Term of Office of the Chief Executive) Bill was passed at the Legislative Council, and went on leave. Financial Secretary Henry Tang took up as acting Chief Executive. His resignation was accepted by the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China on 2 June 2005.
It was always clear that Beijing had already endorsed Tsang as the new Chief Executive and that he would be elected unopposed by the 800 members of the Election Committee on 16 June 2005. He was formally appointed by the Central People's Government as the Chief Executive on 21 June 2005. However, an interpretation of the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress made it clear that Tsang would only serve out the remaining two years of Tung Chee Hwa's term, rather than the full five years originally mooted. In 2007, he was re-elected for a full 5 year term.
On 25 May 2005, Tsang resigned as Chief Secretary for Administration because of his intention to run for the post of Chief Executive.
Mr Michael Suen. the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, became Acting Chief Secretary for Administration as soon as Tsang's resignation was accepted by the Central People's Government.
Chief Executive election
Tsang's resignation as Chief Secretary was accepted by the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China on 2 June 2005. David Li Kwok-po acted as his election campaign manager. Tsang stood on a platform of "Resolute, pragmatic action".
On 15 June, he handed in his nomination form which bore the signatures of 674 of the approximately 800 members of Election Committee which the Returning Officer determined that his nomination was valid. Two other would be contenders failed to gain the necessary 100 election committee members' endorsements, and their nominations were declared invalid.
During the Chief Executive election campaign, Donald Tsang received about HK$27.33 million sponsorship Tsang used only HK$4.12 million of the sponsorship. The remaining HK$23.21 million dollars would be donated to 14 charitable organizations.
On 21 June 2005, he was officially appointed Chief Executive of the HKSAR by the State Council of the Central People's Government to complete the remainder of Tung's term, which ended on 30 June 2007. Tsang has used Government House, as his residence.
First term
Food safety
After 80% of fish from the mainland China was found containing Malachite green, forcing many fish stalls to close, fishermen and businessmen criticized the Tsang administration for acting too slowly. Subsequently, the approval rating of Tsang and his administration fell in polls.
Fearing H5N1 bird flu would came back to Hong Kong one day, Tsang announced that free fresh chicken sale would be replaced by a system of central slaughtering starting from 2009. A slaughter house will be built in Sheung Shui.
Relations with pan-democrats
On 30 August 2005, Tsang announced that the Guangdong Provincial Government invited all 60 members from the Legislative Council to visit Guangdong between 25 September to 26 September 2005. This was the first chance for most of the pro-democrats such as Martin Lee to visit the mainland China since 1989.
Tsang has talked of discriminatory treatment of political parties and politicians, describing their relationships with him as either intimate or distant. This is what is known as the policy of friend-or-foe dichotomy. In June 2008, through praising Frederick Ma, the former Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, for his even-handedness with all political parties, pan-democratic politicians landed an indirect attack at Tsang's style.
Political reform
On 30 November, he televised appeal for support on the electoral reform package. Opposing the package publicly, thousands of Hong Kong people demanding immediate universal suffrage (63,000 as reported by the police, 81,000 - 98,000 by HKU-POP research team, at least 250,000 by the organisers) demonstrated against the reform package four days later. It was clear that Tsang would not change the reform package which was supported by about 60% of the population.
On 21 December, the Legislative vetoed his reform proposal as the government failed to get support from more than two third councillors. Some lawyers in Beijing said that if the problem can't be solved, Donald Tsang has the power to dissolve the Legco under the Basic Law.
Economic policies
Henry Tang introduced the Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the public in early 2006. Despite public opposition and opposition from all pro-Beijing and pan-democracy parties, Tsang publicly supported the GST in September 2006. The plan for the tax was shelved unexpectedly on 5 December 2006, prior to the end of the planned consultation period.
Besides, Tsang announced that the Government no longer adopted the positive non-intervention policy in September 2006, further harming the relations between the Liberal Party and the government.
Environment
Tsang has been criticized for not doing enough to improve Hong Kong's environment. In recent years high air pollution levels have been an increasing concern for people in Hong Kong, with pollutants from factories and power stations in China's industrial hinterland mixing with the fumes of the region's growing fleet of vehicles and wafting into the city on prevailing winds.The city has fallen in the rankings in several quality of life indices and there are worries that foreign firms will relocate to cleaner cities such as Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Concerns over the pollution's effect on public health and the tourism industry are also rising. In mid-2006 Tsang launched the "Action Blue Sky Campaign" and outlined a comprehensive plan to tackle air pollution in Hong Kong and in collaboration with the neighbouring Guangdong province. Scepticism however remained among the expatriate and local population of Hong Kong and, in late November 2006, they ridiculed Tsang for citing the long life expectancy of Hong Kong residents as evidence of Hong Kong's high quality of life relative to other major cities in the East Asian region. .
Second term
Political Appointments System
The government named eight newly appointed Undersecretaries on 20 May 2008, and nine Political Assistants two days later, out of a total of 24 newly created positions ostensibly to work closely with bureau secretaries and top civil servants in implementing the Chief Executive's policy blueprint and agenda in an executive-led government. Tsang described the appointments as a milestone in the development of Hong Kong's political appointment system.
A row endured for three weeks over the appointees' foreign nationalities, experience and remuneration levels, and transparency of the selection process. Tsang apologised for not having arranged for the new appointees to meet the public, whilst maintaining there were important points of principle to defend vis à vis the appointees' remuneration and nationalities. Tsang was criticised for the lack of transparency over the appointments, and his apology was seen as 'grudging' and 'reluctant'. A SCMP poll conducted by TNS showed Tsang's popularity declining sharply following the three-week row over the introduction of the Political Appointments System; his disapproval rating rose from 18% to a record 24%, while his approval rating declined from 66% to 60.8% in the space of three weeks. His approval/disapproval rating continued to deteriorate, and stood at 39 percent/41 percent as at late August 2008.
See also
External links
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