The first term of Donald Tsang as chief executive of Hong Kong, officially considered part of "
The 2nd term Chief Executive of Hong Kong
The 2nd term Chief Executive of Hong Kong relates to the period of governance of Hong Kong following the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong, between 1 July 2002 and 30 June 2007. There were two Chief Executives of Hong Kong during this period:
* ...
", relates to the period of governance of Hong Kong since the
transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong
Transfer may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović
* ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film
* ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies
...
, between 25 June 2005 and 30 June 2007. Former civil-servant
Donald Tsang
Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012.
Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyi ...
was elected on 25 June 2005 to fill the position vacated by the resignation of his predecessor,
Tung Chee Hwa
Tung Chee-hwa (; born 7 July 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He is currently a vice-chairman of the Chi ...
.
Election
Donald Tsang who resigned from his
Chief Secretary for Administration
The Chief Secretary for Administration, commonly known as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong, is the most senior principal official of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The Chief Secretary is head of the Governme ...
was the only candidate, he was declared elected unopposed on 16 June. Nonpartisan legislator
Chim Pui-chung and
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
chairman
Lee Wing-tat
Lee Wing-tat (; born 25 December 1955) is a former Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), returned by direct election as representative of the New Territories West constituency. He was the former third Chairman of the Democr ...
failed to secure the minimum number of 100 nominations to enter the race. Before the election, controversies sparked as the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress interpreted Article 53 that the term of office of the new Chief Executive shall be the remainder of the previous Chief Executive but not the new term.
Cabinet
Ministry
Executive Council non-official members
The Executive Council was expanded with adding 8 new non-official members to the Executive Council, which balanced the ratio of composition to 14 official members (3 secretaries of the department and 11 secretaries of the bureaux) and 15 non-official members.
First term
Food safety
After 80% of fish from mainland China was found to contain
malachite green
Malachite green is an organic compound that is used as a dyestuff and controversially as an antimicrobial in aquaculture. Malachite green is traditionally used as a dye for materials such as silk, leather, and paper. Despite its name the dye is ...
, forcing many fish stalls to close, fishermen and businessmen criticised the Tsang administration for acting too slowly. Subsequently, the approval rating of Tsang and his administration fell in polls.
Fearing
H5N1
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 (A/H5N1) is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species. A bird-adapted strain of H5N1, called HPAI A(H5N1) for highly pathogenic avian influenza virus of type ...
bird flu would come back to Hong Kong one day, Tsang announced that free fresh chicken sale would be replaced by a system of central slaughtering starting from 2009. A slaughter house will be built in
Sheung Shui
Sheung Shui (, literally "Above-water") is an area in the New Territories, Hong Kong. Sheung Shui Town, a part of this area, is part of the Fanling–Sheung Shui New Town in the North District of Hong Kong. Fanling Town is to its southeast ...
.
Relations with pan-democrats
On 30 August 2005, Tsang announced that the Guangdong Provincial Government invited all 60 members from the
Legislative Council to visit
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
between 25 September to 26 September 2005. This was the first chance for most of the pro-democrats such as
Martin Lee
Martin Lee Chu-ming, SC, JP (; born 8 June 1938) is a Hong Kong politician and barrister. He is the founding chairman of the United Democrats of Hong Kong and its successor, the Democratic Party, Hong Kong's flagship pro-democracy party. He ...
to visit the mainland China since 1989.
Tsang has talked of discriminatory treatment of political parties and politicians, describing their relationships with him as either intimate or distant. This is what is known as the policy of friend-or-foe dichotomy (親疏有別). In June 2008, through praising
Frederick Ma, the former Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, for his even-handedness with all political parties,
pan-democratic politicians landed an indirect attack at Tsang's style. Tsang explained that he had been quoted out of context. He explained in the Legislative Council that what he meant was he would "stay close" to what was representative of mainstream public opinions, and "stay away" from what was against mainstream public opinions.
Political reform
On 30 November, he televised appeal for support on the electoral reform package. Opposing the package publicly, thousands of Hong Kong people demanding immediate universal suffrage (63,000 as reported by the police, 81,000 - 98,000 by HKU-POP research team, at least 250,000 by the organisers) demonstrated against the reform package four days later. It was clear that Tsang would not change the reform package which was supported by about 60% of the population.
On 21 December, the Legislative vetoed his reform proposal as the government failed to get support from more than two-thirds of the councillors. Some lawyers in Beijing said that if the problem can't be solved, Donald Tsang has the power to dissolve the
Legco under the
Basic Law. He angered democrats, who voted down his proposals, when he referred to them as "horrid animals".
Economic policies
Henry Tang
Henry Tang Ying-yen (; born 6 September 1952) is a Hong Kong politician who served as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong between 2007 and 2011. He held the position of Financial Secretary from 2003 to 2007. In 2012, he lost the Hong Kong Chief ...
introduced the
Goods and Services Tax (GST) to the public in early 2006. Despite public opposition and opposition from all pro-Beijing and pan-democracy parties, Tsang publicly supported the GST in September 2006. The plan for the tax was shelved unexpectedly on 5 December 2006, prior to the end of the planned consultation period.
[Chester Yung]
"Sales tax sunk"
, '' The Standard'', 6 December 2006
Besides, Tsang announced that the Government no longer adopted the positive non-intervention policy in September 2006, further harming the relations between the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
and the government. He said the term had never reflected the policies of the government accurately. He is of the view that "Big Market, Small Government" is a more accurate description of the way Hong Kong operates.
Environment
Tsang has been criticised for not doing enough to improve Hong Kong's environment. In recent years high
air pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different typ ...
levels have been an increasing concern for people in Hong Kong, with pollutants from factories and power stations in China's industrial hinterland mixing with the fumes of the region's growing fleet of vehicles and wafting into the city on prevailing winds. The city has fallen in the rankings in several quality of life indices and there are worries that foreign firms will relocate to cleaner cities such as
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
and
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera''
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, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
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. Concerns over the pollution's effect on public health and the tourism industry are also rising. In mid-2006 Tsang launched the "
Action Blue Sky Campaign
The Action Blue Sky Campaign is an environmental campaign in Hong Kong, organised by the Environmental Protection Department, to clean up the city's air pollution. It was officially launched by Chief Executive Donald Tsang on July 25, 2006. Acco ...
" and outlined a comprehensive plan to tackle air pollution in Hong Kong and in collaboration with the neighbouring
Guangdong province. Scepticism however remained among the expatriate and local population of Hong Kong and, in late November 2006, they ridiculed Tsang for citing the long life expectancy of Hong Kong residents as evidence of Hong Kong's high quality of life relative to other major cities in the East Asian region.
See also
*
Second term of Tung Chee-hwa as Chief Executive of Hong Kong
The Second term of Tung Chee-hwa as Chief Executive of Hong Kong, or Tung administration, officially considered part of " The 2nd term Chief Executive of Hong Kong", relates to the period of governance of Hong Kong since the transfer of sovereignt ...
*
Second term of Donald Tsang as Chief Executive of Hong Kong
The Second term of Donald Tsang as Chief Executive of Hong Kong, officially referred to as "The 3rd term Chief Executive of Hong Kong" relates to the period of governance of Hong Kong since the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong, between 1 July 2 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:First Term Of Donald Tsang As Chief Executive Of Hong Kong
Hong Kong Government