Tung Chee Hwa

Tung Chee Hwa (Traditional Chinese: 董建華; Simplified Chinese: 董建华; Cantonese {{IPA2|təʊŋ35 kɪn33 wɑ11}}; Jyutping: dung2 gin3 waa4; Mandarin Pinyin: Dǒng Jiànhuá) (born July 7, 1937, or the 29th day of the 5th month in the Chinese calendar in Shanghai, China) was the first elected Chief Executive (July 1,1997–March 12,2005) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). He took office on July 1, 1997 after the handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China and was elected again to a second five-year term in 2002.

Related Topics:
Traditional Chinese - Simplified Chinese - Cantonese - Jyutping - Mandarin - Pinyin - July 7 - 1937 - Chinese calendar - Shanghai - China - Chief Executive - July 1 - 1997 - March 12 - 2005 - Hong Kong - Special Administrative Region - People's Republic of China - Handover - United Kingdom - 2002

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His first term was hampered by the Asian financial crisis and criticism of his style of governance. As a result he was frequently subject to attack and ridicule by pro-democracy activists and legislators, the media and academics. Foreign news outlets such as Time Magazine, The Economist and wired news services portrayed him as being (deeply) unpopular, singularly ineffective and of being a loser eager to please his mainland masters. Dissatisfaction among the public towards Tung grew consistently throughout his tenure and culminated in huge protests in 2003 after the outbreak of SARS and the Article 23 controversies, when sloganeers demanded that Tung step down. As a result of this increasing criticism within Hong Kong and, almost certainly because he had lost the confidence of the Central Government, Tung announced his resignation due to "health reasons" on March 10 2005, just three years into his second term as Chief Executive.

Related Topics:
Asian financial crisis - Time Magazine - The Economist - 2003 - SARS - Article 23 - March 10 - 2005

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Before the handover Tung was known as a conservative businessman with traditional Chinese values and strong connections to the People's Republic of China.

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