Tung fills Ip and Leung's positions in HK

Embattled Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) said yesterday two top officials had been installed as his financial and security secretaries, filling posts left vacant last month in the biggest crisis to rock his administration.

The appointments came as Tung struggles to rebuild confidence in a government that has grown increasingly unpopular among Hong Kong residents -- a half million of whom marched on July 1 to protest an anti-subversion bill they saw as a threat to their freedoms.

Many now want Tung to resign as they clamor for full democracy in a territory where ordinary citizens have no say in picking their leader. Tung has pledged to listen more closely to the public and regain the trust of the people, though critics doubt he'll deliver.

The appointments announced yesterday follow the unprecedented departures of two Cabinet members that had Tung's many critics claiming he had lost control of his government.

Commerce Secretary Henry Tang (唐英年) was tapped to replace Financial Secretary Antony Leung (梁錦松), who quit July 16 after it became known he could face criminal charges for purchasing a luxury car just a week before raising auto registration taxes, saving himself thousands of dollars.

The head of Hong Kong's anti-graft agency, Ambrose Lee (李少光), was named to replace Secretary for Security Regina Ip (葉劉淑儀), whose resignation was announced just several hours ahead of Leung's.

Shortly before Tung discussed his appointments in a late afternoon news conference, China's state-controlled Xinhua news agency carried a brief story revealing the names and saying they had been approved by Beijing.

Ip cited personal reasons, but she was the key architect of the anti-subversion bill that prompted Hong Kong's biggest protest since Britain returned it to China six years ago.

Critics called the bill a threat to Hong Kong's constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of speech, press and assembly. Although Tung and Ip vehemently denied this, the massive march forced Tung to backtrack, first by watering down the bill and then by putting it on hold.

Tang had been a government secretary for just about a year but he has much more experience as a lawmaker and businessman, and analysts viewed him as a safe, if not particularly inspiring choice.

Some said Tung would have a hard time attracting top candidates at a time when his government is in trouble. The financial secretary is charged with the mammoth task of balancing Hong Kong's budget, which has been swimming in red ink for years.

Lee is head of the Independent Commission Against Corruption and formerly was the Hong Kong immigration chief.

The departures of Ip and Leung came as Tung's government was staggering from the shock of the July 1 march -- Hong Kong's biggest demonstration since 1 million people marched in June 1989 to protest China's deadly crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement.