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.

Resignation

Main article: Tung Chee Hwa's resignation

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Tung's reputation suffered further damage when he was openly criticised by Hu Jintao in December 2004 for poor governance; though Tung himself insisted that he retained the President's support.(BBC News Online) Nevertheless, in his January 2005 Policy Address, he gave a rather critical verdict on his own performance. He subsequently resigned from his office in March 2005 citing poor health, but many speculated that he was forced to step down by the Chinese central governement. All these seemed groundless. Right after his resignation, he was elected the post of vice-president of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). His resignation has sparkled a constitutional debate of whether his successor should fill his remaining term of two years or start a new term of five years.(BBC News Online)

Related Topics:
Hu Jintao - Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

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