Word: tung
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This, naturally, has Beijing alarmed. China's leaders have backed Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa because they believed he could keep Hong Kong in its place. And until now, the city's faux Parliament could be counted on to rubber-stamp any legislation put forward by his administration. But Tung has lately mishandled a string of crises--economic, epidemiological (SARS hit the city hard) and now a constitutional one--thereby politicizing Hong Kong and becoming a liability to Beijing...
...Though Tung announced halfhearted concessions to the crowds, including the scrapping of provisions giving police arbitrary powers to enter homes, he has not addressed the underlying crisis of confidence in his government. His concessions failed to go far enough, provoking a sharp public reaction. Even Hong Kong's popular former Chief Secretary Anson Chan broke her usual queenly reticence. "Both the government and the Legislative Council have demonstrated that they were not responsive to community aspirations," she stated. "It almost seems as if they're daring the people to take to the streets...
...Tung's troubles could quickly become Beijing's. "Because the Chinese leadership backed Tung," notes Shi Yinhong, a political scientist at People's University in Beijing, "the standing of the central government itself is on the line." Hong Kong's chief has made his city emblematic of a smoldering Chinese issue: the funereal pace of political reform. --By Liam Fitzpatrick
...many protestors would it take to make you listen?" independent legislator Margaret Ng asked the Chief Executive during a recent debate. The question was rhetorical, for Tung, as is now clear, feels primarily answerable to Beijing. He described "national security" as a "divine duty ... [for] our race...
...Race? If Tung believes that Article 23 is a matter for the greater Chinese race, that bodes poorly for the mere political concept of "one country, two systems." The July 1 march, therefore, may be remembered not as a rally but as a farewell to an idea that never really took hold, and increasingly looks like it never will...