HONG KONG — Hong Kong held a state funeral Sunday for its first post-colonial leader, Tung Chee-hwa, who led the city through the initial years of its transition from British rule after it was returned to China in 1997.
Chinese officials from Beijing joined Hong Kong political leaders for the service in what was the third state funeral in the former British colony since the 1997 handover.
Tung, a shipping magnate who was the city’s chief executive from 1997 to 2005, died Sept. 8 at the age of 89. He grappled with the Asian financial crisis, the SARS epidemic and public protests during his nearly eight years in office.
Visiting official Shi Taifeng, a member of the Politburo of China’s ruling Communist Party, referred to Tung in a eulogy as a close friend of the party and a renowned patriot, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.
He said that Tung was an outstanding contributor to the one-country, two-systems framework that governs Hong Kong and nearby Macao, a former Portuguese colony returned to China in 1999.
Flower wreaths lined the wall outside the Hong Kong Funeral Home, and Tung’s casket was draped in a Chinese flag when it was brought out after the service. The media were not allowed inside.
Other visiting officials included Xia Baolong, the director of China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office. About 200 people were invited to the service, according to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper. Members of the public paid condolences at three venues set up around the city.
Not long after Tung took office in 1997, Hong Kong’s economy was battered by a financial crisis that swept across Asia. In 2003, SARS — severe acute respiratory syndrome — killed nearly 300 people in the city and dealt another blow to the economy.
The same year, an estimated half a million people took to the streets to protest the government’s plan to enact an anti-treason law that was seen as a threat to civil liberties. The government shelved the plan, and Tung resigned in 2005, citing health reasons.
The 2003 protest marked the start of years of pro-democracy protests that came to a head in 2019 and were followed by a crackdown and a Beijing-imposed national security law in 2020.
After stepping down, Tung was elected to the post of vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, China’s top political advisory body. He was among 42 people who received national medals and honors in 2019 for their contributions to the country.
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