Controversial HK chat show host will run for LegCo

A popular Hong Kong radio chat show host sacked by his employer is expected to run in elections for the city's top lawmaking body, a newspaper said, a move that would displease Beijing.

"Albert Cheng (鄭經翰) has confirmed he is planning to run," the Apple Daily said on Saturday.

Cheng fled Hong Kong in May saying he had received threats of violence. He left his job on Thursday after Commercial Radio terminated his contract early.

"To continue to speak, I have no other option but to enter the Legislative Council," Cheng told the newspaper. The election is due in September.

A businessman and an outspoken critic of the governments of Beijing and Hong Kong, Cheng was not immediately available to comment on the report.

"If he enters the Legislative Council, he is sure to stir up more turbulence in the political arena, putting even more pressure on the weak administration of Tung Chee-hwa (董建華)," Apple Daily said, referring to the city's Beijing-backed leader.