HONG KONG — Hong Kong ’s first postcolonial leader, Tung Chee-hwa, who struggled to cope with an Asian financial crisis and growing protests for democracy in the early years under Chinese rule, has died at 89.
His office said in a statement that Tung died peacefully in the presence of family members Tuesday.
Tung, a shipping tycoon, had little political experience before a panel of pro-Beijing elites picked him to be the first leader of the southern Chinese territory after the end of British colonial rule in 1997.
Many believe Beijing perceived Tung as a loyalist who would obey the Communist leadership’s edicts. He was also seen as beholden to Beijing because China’s state-run banks helped rescue his family’s ailing shipping company — Orient Overseas Container Line — during a global slump in the 1980s.
The early years after the handover were sensitive. The “one country, two systems” formula, in which Hong Kong was supposed to maintain civil liberties and other remnants of its British past while Beijing had the final say on issues such as political change, was still untested.
Tung was praised for his work ethic, even nicknamed “7-11” because of his reputation for long workdays, but his clumsy political skills and perceived indecisiveness as major crises mounted eroded his popularity and led to a less flattering nickname, “Old Dumb Tung.”
Shortly after Tung took office in 1997, Hong Kong was hit by bird flu — the first known cases of the virus in humans. The wealthy city’s economy was also battered by a financial crisis that swept across Asia.
Tung’s response to the two crises was widely criticized and his deep distrust of the media hindered his ability to improve his image. He was also prone to policy gaffes that made him the butt of jokes.
Despite his rocky first term, Tung was reelected unopposed by the pro-Beijing electoral committee in 2002.
A year later, Tung faced another serious test when SARS — severe acute respiratory syndrome — hit Hong Kong, killing nearly 300 people and devastating the economy. Tung’s government was accused of a sloppy, sluggish response.
Later in 2003, Tung gained more critics by proposing an anti-subversion law, locally known as Article 23 legislation. Many saw it as a threat to civil liberties, and an estimated half million people joined a street march against it. The government later scrapped the legislation.
Hong Kongers held another massive protest in 2004 to demand direct elections for the city’s leader and the entire legislature. Tung sided with China’s communist leaders, who rejected it, and the rally became an annual event for pro-democracy supporters for years.
The large-scale protests might have signaled to Beijing that the Hong Kong public was becoming more politically divided and that Tung was losing control.
He confirmed he was leaving on March 10, 2005, insisting his failing health was the reason, not pressure from Beijing. “If I continue as chief executive, I won’t be able to handle it,” he said.
Many were suspicious about Tung’s explanation because no health problems were apparent in the months before his resignation.
According to a 2005 biography, Tung was born in Shanghai on May 29, 1937, and his family moved to Hong Kong in 1947 — two years before the Communists took over the mainland. But in 2017, he told mainland Chinese media that he was born on July 7.
After earning a degree in marine engineering from the University of Liverpool in 1960, Tung worked for General Electric and his family’s business in the United States before returning to Hong Kong in 1969.
He started a think tank after leaving the city’s top job and remained a Beijing loyalist during major protests for democracy in 2019 and an ensuing crackdown on dissent in which the central government imposed a national security law on the city that outlawed subversion.
As the protests raged in September 2019, he was among 42 people who received national medals and honors from Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a ceremony in Beijing for their contributions to the country. Tung was recognized for devoting himself to the implementation of the “one country, two systems” policy.
Following the enactment of the security law in 2020, massive protests that once challenged Tung’s leadership vanished in the city. Hong Kong also enacted the Article 23 legislation security law in 2024. Tung had not been seen at public events over the last several years.
Leung writes for the Associated Press.
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