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.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
RSS