She's credited by supporters as being Hong Kong's conscience, but regarded by Beijing with scorn and suspicion. Some want to see her become Hong Kong's next leader. Others can't wait to get rid of her.
Love her or loathe her, there's no denying Anson Chan (
Should she decide to run, she will be the only contender likely to put any real pressure on Chief Executive Donald Tsang (
Highly respected by many, Chan, 66, was the former British colony's first woman -- and the first ethnic Chinese -- to rise to the No. 2 post in the civil service. A gifted public speaker with a commanding presence, she is often held up as a beacon for defending Hong Kong's rule of law and civil freedoms.
Chan has been opaque about whether she will challenge Tsang in the race for the top job. But she has provided local media with ample material for speculation. Since appearing unexpectedly at a rally for democratic reforms last December, she has made clearly measured public appearances to express her sympathies toward the pro-democracy camp.
Recent opinion polls suggest her vocal support for democracy in Hong Kong has reverberated with large parts of the community -- even as they irk Beijing. Despite Chan's frustrating silence on whether she will run, nearly 30 percent of those surveyed said they'd support her if she ran alongside Tsang.
If uncontested, three out of four people will support Tsang, whereas just over 50 percent say they would back Tsang if Chan were to run against him.
But analysts say it's clear she has little chance of winning because she doesn't have Beijing's blessing, unlike Tsang. Chan's close ties to the former British colonial government is well known, as are her undisguised poor relations with Hong Kong's former leader, the Beijing-backed Tung Chee-hwa (董建華).
Pro-Beijing figures had criticized her lack of loyalty to the deeply unpopular Tung when she was in office, and more recently mocked her as a "self-appointed savior" for championing the cause of democracy.
Although Hong Kong was promised full democracy eventually under a "One Country, Two Systems" framework, Beijing has repeatedly said the city isn't ready for universal suffrage. An 800-member election committee picks the leader and only half of the city's legislature is directly elected.
"I have strong doubts whether Anson can pose a challenge to Tsang in any effective manner," said Joseph Cheng (
The election committee, packed with loyalists, "certainly has no intention of challenging Beijing," Cheng explained.
The disarmingly toothy smile and stylish suits Chan sports in almost every public appearance have gone far in softening the edges around her authority, and she was the public's favorite candidate for the top job before she quit in 2001.
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