TURBULENT TENURE
Known for his distinctive grey crew cut and support for Liverpool football club, Tung was born in Shanghai on May 29, 1937, into one of China’s richest shipping dynasties.
His family moved to Hong Kong in 1947, according to his biography on a government website.
He graduated from the University of Liverpool with a degree in marine engineering in 1960 and worked in the United States before returning to Hong Kong to join the family business in 1969.
In 1985, Tung joined a committee to aid in the writing of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution that has governed the former British colony since it was handed over to China in 1997.
As a public servant, Tung quietly worked his way through the political machines on both sides of the border, sitting on Beijing’s political advisory body and Hong Kong’s cabinet.
Widely believed to have been thrown reluctantly into the lion’s den of leadership because of his close links to Beijing, Tung had a tumultuous eight-year tenure as the city’s leader, blighted by policy blunders and unease over China’s interference.
The first years of his leadership coincided with the Asian financial crisis, record unemployment and a crash in the city’s property market which hit many ordinary citizens hard.
His leadership was also beset by his government’s handling of a 1997 avian flu outbreak, and the deadly 2003 SARS outbreak.
A major hurdle for his administration came in July 2003 when 500,000 people protested against restrictive anti-subversion laws proposed by China.
The government was forced to shelve the bill but the Jul 1 marches to mark the handover anniversary became an annual fixture until 2020.
Protests again swelled in 2004 as residents rallied for democracy.
His tenure reached its nadir in December 2004 when he and his cabinet were given a public dressing-down by China’s then-president Hu Jintao for poor performance.
