HONG
KONG - Hong Kong’s incoming leader,
Leung Chun-Ying, is the son of a policeman who carved out a fortune from real
estate before entering politics as a relative outsider.
Born in
1954, Leung is known as a self-made property consultant and, most recently, as
the soft-spoken convener of the Executive Council, the city’s top policy-making
body.
His
family hails from China’s eastern Shandong province but he proudly claims to be
born and bred in Hong Kong, the Cantonese-speaking former British colony which
was reunited with China in 1997.
Better
known by the initials CY, the 57-year-old studied surveying in Hong Kong and
real estate management in Britain before returning to his home town in 1977 and
joining the local office of global property firm Jones Lang Wootton.
He rose
to become one of the most well-known figures in the city’s influential property
sector, as Asia-Pacific chairman of real estate advisory firm DTZ Holdings, and
today has an array of business directorships.
At just
34 years of age, Leung was named secretary general of the high-powered Basic
Law Consultative Committee, tasked with drafting the city’s constitution after
its return to Chinese rule.
That
appointment led to persistent allegations that he is a secret member of the
Chinese Communist Party, a suggestion he repeatedly denied through his election
campaign.
Two
years after the handover he was appointed as convenor of the Executive Council,
a role that saw him advise governments on the big decisions of the day.
He
stepped down in September last year to run for the post of chief executive
against a man most observers saw as a shoo-in for the job, business and
government insider Henry Tang.
The son
of a Shanghai textile baron, Tang was considered to have the backing of Beijing
and the city’s powerful business tycoons, who together dominate the election
committee that decides the chief executive election.
But his
more confident style and populist proposals – including promises to address
corruption, the wealth gap and soaring housing prices – put him well ahead of
Tang in terms of popular approval ratings.
He
watched calmly as Tang’s campaign imploded in a series of verbal gaffes and
personal scandals, which helped to overshadow questions about his own
background and alleged conflict of interest in a property deal.
Beijing
did not openly switch sides, but when the committee met on Sunday it was Leung
who won the majority of its 1,200 members. Leung won with 689 of the votes,
according to an official count.
In a
victory speech on Sunday, he promised to reunite Hong Kong after the most
divisive election in its history.
“From
today onwards, there is no Tang camp or Leung camp, there is only one Hong Kong
camp, all Hong Kong people are in this camp. I need the support from everyone
to work together,” Leung said.
He
promised to “reunite” Hong Kong and protect its “rights and freedoms” following
an election which split the city’s establishment camp and forced Beijing to
heed popular opinion as never before.
“With
one heart and one vision we can turn Hong Kong into a more prosperous, more
righteous and more progressive society,” he said, acknowledging “deep-rooted
problems” such as high property prices and a yawning wealth gap.
He also
said he would “pave the way for enhanced democracy with an open and fair
election system” in 2017, when Beijing has promised all citizens will be
entitled to vote for chief executive from a vetted group of candidates.
Leung’s
five-year term starts in July after outgoing Chief Executive Donald Tsang’s
term expires.
Leung
was chosen by a Beijing-appointed committee as thousands of protesters rallied
outside the harbourside convention centre where the vote took place, demanding
full democracy in the semi-autonomous former British colony.
Leung’s
main rival was establishment insider Henry Tang, who was initially considered
the strong Beijing-backed favourite. But his campaign struggled to recover from
a series of personal scandals and verbal gaffes.
Tang
received only 285 votes from the committee and at an emotional press
conference, he apologised to his supporters and promised to continue to serve
the people.
Pro-democracy
candidate Albert Ho trailed with 76 votes, and he condemned the result as a
“disgusting” display of “blatant interference” from China.
The
2012 election has been complicated by the behind-the-scenes machinations of
mainland China’s own once-in-a-decade leadership struggle, with various
factions seeking to flex their muscles ahead of the transition later this year.
The
Hong Kong protests, which could be heard inside the tally room, were noisy but
generally peaceful. Some demonstrators tried to force their way into the
convention centre but were held back by police.
Committee
members such as Asia’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, were mobbed by reporters and
harassed by protesters as they arrived to cast their ballots.
Radical
lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung arrived in a yellow emperor suit, a pig-wolf mask and
holding a papier-mache Chinese tank, shouting “I am the king and kingmaker",
in a theatrical parody of the election process.
Hundreds
more marched on mainland China’s Hong Kong liaison office, where they passed
out “hell money” for the dead, symbolising the death of local democracy in the
city of seven million people.
Leung’s
humble origins as a policeman’s son stand in stark contrast to Tang’s
background as heir to a textile fortune, but both men are considered
pro-Beijing, establishment figures.
Leung
carved out a fortune from real estate before entering politics as a relative
outsider.
Born in
1954, he is known as a self-made property consultant and, most recently, as the
soft-spoken convener of the Executive Council, the city’s top policy-making
body.
The
election committee is packed with mainly pro-Beijing members of the business
and political elite, leading to anger among ordinary Hong Kongers about the
lack of a transparent and open election process.
The
vast majority of Hong Kong’s residents were excluded from the “small circle”
poll, carried out according to the One Country, Two Systems arrangement in
place since the 1997 handover from Britain.
Leung
was considered an outsider at the start of the race, with insufficient
experience of business and government and too little support from the city’s
tycoons to win Beijing’s express backing.
Tang,
59, was initially seen as Beijing’s choice but his campaign faltered with the
discovery of a huge illegal entertainment suite in his home and an admission of
marital infidelity.
His
popular approval ratings, while never high, plunged and his wealthy backers
were forced to reconsider their positions, leading to an unprecedented split in
the establishment camp.
Outgoing
leader Tsang and his predecessor, Tung Chee-hwa, the city’s first post-handover
leader, were by contrast elected virtually unopposed after receiving the clear
backing of Beijing.
Leung,
who is married with three teenage children, says he finds gardening
“therapeutic", loves hiking and football, and swims every night at his
private pool.
AFP
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