Tung Chee-hwa
FILE - Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa stands to acknowledge the applause of his colleagues after he was named a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) during a closing ceremony held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, March 12, 2005.
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Hong Kong’s first post-handover leader, Tung Chee-hwa, has died at age 89. His office announced that Tung passed away peacefully on Tuesday with his family present. Tung, a shipping tycoon with little political experience, was chosen in 1997 by pro-Beijing elites to lead Hong Kong after British rule ended. Many saw him as loyal to Beijing, partly because Chinese state-run banks had helped his family’s shipping company during the 1980s. Tung faced challenges like the Asian financial crisis and bird flu outbreak, which hurt his popularity. Despite criticism, he was reelected unopposed in 2002.
