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Tung reportedly tells top aides of resignation plan

"Beijing has definitely moved from the side of the stage to center stage ... This is not good for our future autonomy."

Emily Lau, Hong Kong lawmaker

Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) has confirmed his resignation plans to top aides, a press report said yesterday, as opponents urged the unpopular chief executive to end the uncertainty surrounding his future.

Tung told members of his Cabinet and other key officials on Monday that he had decided to resign and had discussed his departure with China's leaders, the South China Morning Post reported, citing one of the Cabinet members.

"He said he is resigning because he is tired and his health is not good," the paper quoted the Cabinet minister as saying, adding that Tung had not yet formally tendered his resignation.

Tung, who has so far made no official comment on his early resignation reported by Hong Kong and international media last week, said the time was right to step down because the economy was rebounding, the Post reported.

The embattled leader met senior aides in a steady stream of meetings throughout Monday, including his deputy Donald Tsang (曾蔭權), widely tipped as his replacement, and Financial Secretary Henry Tang (唐英年).

A Chinese-language newspaper, the Sing Pao Daily News, reported Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) will formally announce his acceptance of Tung's resignation on Saturday.

Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said Donald Tsang will take over Tung's duties as of Monday.

Opposition politicians, meanwhile, declared the delay in announcing Tung's resignation an embarrassment, saying it made Hong Kong a laughing stock.

"How can anyone take this seriously, it's just ridiculous," said lawmaker Emily Lau (劉慧卿), who along with several other legislators picketed Tung's office holding a banner that read "What's Happening?"

Lau said keeping Hong Kong in the dark over the future of its political leader was disrespectful.

It also undermined the autonomy granted Hong Kong by China when it took control of the city at the end of British colonial rule in 1997, she said.

"Beijing has definitely moved from the side of the stage to center stage," Lau said. "This is not good for our future autonomy."

In Beijing on Monday, State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇) gave the clearest signal yet that Beijing intends to controversially install a stop-gap leader in Hong Kong should Tung step down as widely expected.

Tang, the most senior Chinese official yet to comment on Tung's reported resignation, said any successor would only complete the two years left in Tung's term and not the full five years of a chief executive's term.

The two-year arrangement is likely to spark concern among analysts and democrats who say it would suggest China intends tightening its control over the territory.

Tung's resignation had been mooted since July 2003 when more than 500,000 people marched in protest at an unpopular anti-subversion law proposed by China. The rally sparked a political crisis from which he never recovered.
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