Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (
Tung planned to announce his resignation before flying to Beijing to take over a new post on an elite advisory group to the Chinese legislature, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said yesterday.
Tung avoided reporters waiting outside government headquarters as he went to work yesterday. He has so far refused to directly address the rumors that he would quit two years early. His silence has helped fuel the media frenzy over his future that began last week.
Earlier yesterday, high-ranking Chinese officials in Beijing heaped praise on him in an apparent send-off.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (
Zhang Chunxian (
"He's humble. He works very diligently. He has goodwill toward people when he's thinking about problems. He's done everything he can for Hong Kong's development," Zhang told reporters.
Tung, 67, was a shipping magnate with little political experience when he took the job as Hong Kong's chief executive. In recent years, his public approval ratings have been dismal, largely because many think he's indecisive and too cozy with big business.
Hong Kong has never enjoyed full democracy. The British opposed it, and the Chinese have continued to block reforms that would give voters the power to directly elect the chief executive and the entire legislature.
Tung was elected by an 800-member committee dominated by people partial to Beijing. If he resigns, the No.2 ranking official, Donald Tsang (
Also yesterday, pro-democracy lawmakers called for an urgent debate on whether the legislature should demand an explanation of Tung's future. The call was rejected.
Opposition lawmaker and unionist Lee Cheuk-yan (李卓人) lashed out at the government's silence over the rumors.
"The government is once again turning Hong Kong into an international joke," Lee said.
"The rumor has dragged on for more than a week and the administration neither confirmed nor rejected it. The public is losing their confidence in the government," he said.
Tung's resignation rumors began last week when local media reported that he would be named a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference -- an elite advisory panel to the Chinese legislature. On Tuesday evening, the body nominated Tung to be a vice chairman -- a position usually given to retired leaders. The group is expected to approve the appointment on Saturday.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image