1996 Hong Kong Chief Executive election: Difference between revisions

Hong Kong Chief Executive election, 1996
All 400 votes of the Selection Committee; 201 votes needed to win
Turnout	99.5%
	Elected Chief Executive ; Tung Chee-hwa; Nonpartisan

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The 1996 Hong Kong Chief Executive election was held on 11 December 1996 to select the first Chief Executive (CE) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) which term started from 1 July 1997 after the Chinese resumption of the sovereignty of Hong Kong from the British rule. It was selected by 400-member Selection Committee installed by the Government of the People's Republic of China. Tung Chee-hwa, a Shanghai-born Hong Kong businessman, was the ultimate winner of the election.

Electoral method

According to the Basic Law of Hong Kong, the mini-constitution of the HKSAR, the first Chief Executive was selected by a 400-member Selection Committee. The Selection Committee was chosen by the Preparatory Committee in Beijing on 2 November 1996. Members of the pro-Beijing party Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong secured 40 places on the Selection Committee, while Leong Che-hung and some other prominent liberals were not elected.^[1]

The Selection Committee was also responsible for the selection to the 60 seats to the Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) on 21 December 1996.

Candidates

The first potential candidate was Lo Tak-shing, Oxford-educated lawyer and son of prominent Eurasian lawyer and politician Man-kam Lo. Once officeholder in the British colonial government, Lo gave up his British citizenship and his title of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for the Chinese citizenship in the early 1990s. When his popularity rating was only around 1%, Lo withdrew on 17 October 1996..^[2]^[3]

Simon Li, former judge and director of the Bank of East Asia and nephew of the prominent businessman and politician Li Tse-fong entered the race in November 1996. Li supported the controversial Beijing-controlled Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) and tightening public security to maintain Hong Kong's stability and prosperity.^[2]

Chief Justice Ti-liang Yang first surfaced as a contender a year before the election. However, his chances were wrecked as a top Chinese official leaked to the press some negative remarks Yang supposedly made on the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, which made him unpopular among the pro-democracy camp.^[4] In September 1996, Yang gave up his British knighthood and resigned as Chief Justice to run in the race. He received support from a veteran pro-Beijing publisher Xu Simin, the pro-Beijing party Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong as well as the local Xinhua News Agency. He was also reportedly backed by Lee Shau-kee, Hong Kong's richest man and real estate developer.^[3]Yang voiced his support for the Beijing government and warned against challenging the Chinese supremacy.^[2]

Peter Woo, son-in-law of late legendary shipping tycoon Y. K. Pao checked with Beijing before announcing his intention to run.^[2] He officially announced his candidacy on 1 October 1996 by issuing a formal platform.^[3] He pledged "to establish the authority and image of an SAR government, uphold the rule of law, defend social justice, speak for the interests of the people of Hong Kong and conduct the affairs of the government with transparency."^[5]

Tung Chee-hwa, a Shanghai-born Hong Kong shipping magnate, was not widely known until the campaign began.^[2] He was supported by influential tycoon Henry Fok whom he had a longtime relationship with.^[6]The election was considered by many pundits as a done deal as the Chinese President and CCP General Secretary Jiang Zemin singled Tung out for an exceptional cordial handshake at a meeting in Beijing long before the election in January 1996. He was endorsed by powerful tycoon Li Ka-shing.^[3]

London's favourite Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan, the most senior civil servant in the colonial government, was a potential candidate which received substantial support in the society. Chan was thought to be too closely linked to Governor Chris Patten to be acceptable to Beijing.^[3] She declined her candidacy on 26 October 1996, but reiterated her willingness to continue to serve the people of Hong Kong "without fear or favour."^[7]

Other candidates included retired High Court judge Arthur Garcia who dropped out later, as well as Au Yuk-lun, Du Sen, Choi Ching-kui and Yu Hon-bui.

Nomination

The nomination session was held on 15 November 1996 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKECC). Only three of the eight candidates received the qualifying minimum of 50 votes from the Selection Committee. Tung Chee-hwa, Ti-liang Yang and Peter Woo all secured more than 50 nominations to enter the race, while Simon Li, to his shock, fell a few votes and was eliminated. Tung became the leading candidate by winning an absolute majority of 206 votes in the Selection Committee.^[4]

Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen who oversaw the ballot casting described the event as "the dawn of genuine democracy in Hong Kong."

Opinion polling

In August 1996, public opinion polls showed Anson Chan had the most popular support, having more than 50% far ahead of Tung Chee-hwa's 5%. After Chan was dropped from the polling, Ti-liang Yang surged into the lead. Tung kept catching up in the polls in the later stage. In an opinion survey published on 2 December, 46% of the respondents said they preferred Tung, compared to 28% for Yang and 5.2% for Peter Woo.

Result

On 11 December 1996, the election was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKECC), where 400-member Selection Committee elected Tung Chee-hwa as the Chief Executive. Tung received 320 votes against 49 votes for Ti-liang Yang and 36 votes for Peter Woo.^[8]

Candidate	Votes	%
Tung Chee-hwa	320	80.4
Yang Ti-liang	42	10.5
Peter Woo	36	9.0
TOTAL	398	100.0

Protest

29 pro-democracy activists including legislators Emily Lau, Lee Cheuk-yan and Andrew Cheng protested against the election outside the HKECC during the election. A "tomb of democracy" was established outside the building shouting "oppose the phony election". Lau and Cheng scuffled with riot police and lied on the street. They were later bodily removed and taken to the Wan Chai Police Station.^[8]

Aftermath

Tung Chee-hwa was appointed first Chief Executive of the HKSAR by Premier Li Peng under State Council Order 207 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 18 December 1996. Tung sworn in at midnight on 1 July 1997 as the HKSAR established. The next few years to follow were compounded with serious social problems including right of abode, Asian financial crisis, bird flu pandemic and a host of other issues.

References

^ Cheng, Joseph Y. S. (1997). The Other Hong Kong Report 1997. Chinese University Press. p. xxiv.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Carroll, John Mark (2007). A Concise History of Hong Kong. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 203–4.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Murphy, Kevin (18 October 1996). "Men Lining Up to Run Hong Kong Won't Rock the Boat". The New York Times.
^ ^a ^b Crowell, Todd; Law, Siu Lan. "Into the New Era". Asiaweek.
^ Cheng, Joseph Y. S. (1997). The Other Hong Kong Report 1997. Chinese University Press. p. xxi.
^ Horlemann, Ralf. [2002] (2002). Hong Kong's Transition to Chinese Rule. Routledge publishing. ISBN 0-415-29681-1.
^ Cheng, Joseph Y. S. (1997). The Other Hong Kong Report 1997. Chinese University Press. p. xxiii.
^ ^a ^b Cheng, Joseph Y. S. (1997). The Other Hong Kong Report 1997. Chinese University Press. p. xxxi.

[1] Cheng, Joseph Y. S. (1997). The Other Hong Kong Report 1997. Chinese University Press. p. xxiv.

[candidate-2] Carroll, John Mark (2007). A Concise History of Hong Kong. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 203–4.

[rock-3] Murphy, Kevin (18 October 1996). "Men Lining Up to Run Hong Kong Won't Rock the Boat". The New York Times.

[new-4] Crowell, Todd; Law, Siu Lan. "Into the New Era". Asiaweek.

[5] Cheng, Joseph Y. S. (1997). The Other Hong Kong Report 1997. Chinese University Press. p. xxi.

[Hor-6] Horlemann, Ralf. [2002] (2002). Hong Kong's Transition to Chinese Rule. Routledge publishing. ISBN 0-415-29681-1.

[7] Cheng, Joseph Y. S. (1997). The Other Hong Kong Report 1997. Chinese University Press. p. xxiii.

[xxxi-8] Cheng, Joseph Y. S. (1997). The Other Hong Kong Report 1997. Chinese University Press. p. xxxi.

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[2]

[3]

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@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 | after_party = Nonpartisan
 }}
-The '''First Hong Kong Chief Executive Election''' was held on 11 December 1996 to select the first Chief Executive for the post-colonial Hong Kong, a [[Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China]]. Since [[Hong Kong]] was then a [[British Dependent Territory]], the election was held by the [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]] authorities in Hong Kong.
+The '''1996 Hong Kong Chief Executive election''' was held on 11 December 1996 to select the first [[Chief Executive of Hong Kong|Chief Executive]] (CE) of the [[Hong Kong Special Administrative Region]] (HKSAR) which term started from 1 July 1997 after the [[transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong|Chinese resumption of the sovereignty of Hong Kong]] from the British rule. It was selected by 400-member [[Selection Committee]] installed by the [[Government of the People's Republic of China]]. [[Tung Chee-hwa]], a Shanghai-born Hong Kong businessman, was the ultimate winner of the election.
+==Electoral method==
-==History==
+According to the [[Basic Law of Hong Kong]], the mini-constitution of the HKSAR, the first Chief Executive was selected by a 400-member [[Selection Committee]]. The Selection Committee was chosen by the [[HKSAR Preparatory Committee|Preparatory Committee]] in Beijing on 2 November 1996. Members of the pro-Beijing party [[Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong]] secured 40 places on the Selection Committee, while [[Leong Che-hung]] and some other prominent liberals were not elected.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Other Hong Kong Report 1997|first=Joseph Y. S.|last=Cheng|publisher=Chinese University Press|year=1997|page=xxiv}}</ref>
-By January 1996 most observers expected [[Tung Chee-hwa]] to be the front-runner of the election with a great deal of support from influential business tycoon [[Henry Fok]].<ref name="Hor">Horlemann, Ralf. [2002] (2002). Hong Kong's Transition to Chinese Rule. Routledge publishing. ISBN 0-415-29681-1.</ref>
+The Selection Committee was also responsible for the [[Hong Kong provisional legislative election, 1996|selection to the 60 seats]] to the [[Provisional Legislative Council]] (PLC) on 21 December 1996.
-On December 11, 1996 a 400-member [[Selection Committee]] (推選委員會) was voting for a [[Chief Executive of Hong Kong|Chief Executive]] to rule Hong Kong after the [[Transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong|1997 handover]].<ref name="Chan">Chan, Ming K. [1997] (1997). The Challenge of Hong Kong's Reintegration With China. Hong Kong University Press. Hong Kong (China). ISBN 962-209-441-4.</ref> [[Pro-democracy]] activists including [[Emily Lau]], [[Andrew Cheng]], [[Lee Cheuk-yan]] scuffled with riot police outside the [[Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre]]. A "[[Tomb]] of democracy" was established outside the building shouting "oppose the phony election". The activists were detained and dragged away by the police for four hours.<ref name="Chan" />
+==Candidates==
-The election was conducted by the [[Election Committee|electoral college]] of a massive 400-member committee with all the positions rubber-stamped by the [[Government of the People's Republic of China|Chinese Government]]. However, Hong Kong has never had a leader elected by [[universal suffrage]] before. All of Tung's British predecessors were all appointed by the British Crown, without recourse to any false pretense of democracy as in the present system.
+The first potential candidate was [[Lo Tak-shing]], Oxford-educated lawyer and son of prominent Eurasian lawyer and politician [[Man-kam Lo]]. Once officeholder in the British colonial government, Lo gave up his British citizenship and his title of the [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) for the Chinese citizenship in the early 1990s. When his popularity rating was only around 1%, Lo withdrew on 17 October 1996..<ref name="candidate">{{cite book|pages=203–4|title=A Concise History of Hong Kong|first=John Mark|last=Carroll|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2007}}</ref><ref name="rock">{{cite news|title=Men Lining Up to Run Hong Kong Won't Rock the Boat|first=Kevin|last=Murphy|newspaper=The New York Times|date=18 October 1996|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/18/news/18iht-hong.t_1.html}}</ref>
+[[Simon Li]], former judge and director of the [[Bank of East Asia]] and nephew of the prominent businessman and politician [[Li Tse-fong]] entered the race in November 1996. Li supported the controversial Beijing-controlled [[Provisional Legislative Council]] (PLC) and tightening public security to maintain Hong Kong's stability and prosperity.<ref name="candidate"/>
-To contradict, leading Chinese politicians always claimed that the Chief Executive would not be chosen by Beijing and that he or she must be acceptable to the people of Hong Kong.<ref name="Hor" />
+[[Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong|Chief Justice]] [[Ti-liang Yang]] first surfaced as a contender a year before the election. However, his chances were wrecked as a top Chinese official leaked to the press some negative remarks Yang supposedly made on the [[Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance]], which made him unpopular among the [[pro-democracy camp]].<ref name="new">{{cite news|title=Into the New Era|url=http://edition.cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek/96/1220/cs3.html|work=Asiaweek|first1=Todd|last1=Crowell|first2=Siu Lan|last2=Law}}</ref> In September 1996, Yang gave up his British knighthood and resigned as Chief Justice to run in the race. He received support from a veteran pro-Beijing publisher [[Xu Simin]], the pro-Beijing party [[Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong]] as well as the local [[Xinhua News Agency]]. He was also reportedly backed by [[Lee Shau-kee]], Hong Kong's richest man and real estate developer.<ref name="rock"/>Yang voiced his support for the Beijing government and warned against challenging the Chinese supremacy.<ref name="candidate"/>
-==Candidates==
-===The 4 major candidates ===
-* [[Simon Li Fook-sean]] (李福善) - former judge
-* [[Tung Chee-hwa]] (董建華) - business man
-* [[Yang Ti-liang]] (楊鐵樑) - Chief Justice of Hong Kong from 1988 to 1996
-* [[Peter Woo|Peter Woo Kwong-ching]] (吳光正) - business man
+[[Peter Woo]], son-in-law of late legendary shipping tycoon [[Y. K. Pao]] checked with Beijing before announcing his intention to run.<ref name="candidate"/> He officially announced his candidacy on 1 October 1996 by issuing a formal platform.<ref name="rock"/> He pledged "to establish the authority and image of an SAR government, uphold the rule of law, defend social justice, speak for the interests of the people of Hong Kong and conduct the affairs of the government with transparency."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Other Hong Kong Report 1997|first=Joseph Y. S.|last=Cheng|publisher=Chinese University Press|year=1997|page=xxi}}</ref>
-===Others===
-* [[Au Yuk-lun]] (區玉麟)
+[[Tung Chee-hwa]], a Shanghai-born Hong Kong shipping magnate, was not widely known until the campaign began.<ref name="candidate"/> He was supported by influential tycoon [[Henry Fok]] whom he had a longtime relationship with.<ref name="Hor">Horlemann, Ralf. [2002] (2002). Hong Kong's Transition to Chinese Rule. Routledge publishing. ISBN 0-415-29681-1.</ref>The election was considered by many pundits as a done deal as the [[PRC President|Chinese President]] and [[CCP General Secretary]] [[Jiang Zemin]] singled Tung out for an exceptional cordial handshake at a meeting in Beijing long before the election in January 1996. He was endorsed by powerful tycoon [[Li Ka-shing]].<ref name="rock"/>
-* [[Du Sen]] (杜森)
-* [[Choi Ching-kui]] (蔡正矩)
+London's favourite [[Chief Secretary for Administration]] [[Anson Chan]], the most senior civil servant in the colonial government, was a potential candidate which received substantial support in the society. Chan was thought to be too closely linked to [[Governor of Hong Kong|Governor]] [[Chris Patten]] to be acceptable to Beijing.<ref name="rock"/> She declined her candidacy on 26 October 1996, but reiterated her willingness to continue to serve the people of Hong Kong "without fear or favour."<ref>{{cite book|title=The Other Hong Kong Report 1997|first=Joseph Y. S.|last=Cheng|publisher=Chinese University Press|year=1997|page=xxiii}}</ref>
-* [[Yu Hon-bui]] (余漢彪)
+Other candidates included retired High Court judge Arthur Garcia who dropped out later, as well as Au Yuk-lun, Du Sen, Choi Ching-kui and Yu Hon-bui.
+==Nomination==
+The nomination session was held on 15 November 1996 at the [[Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre]] (HKECC). Only three of the eight candidates received the qualifying minimum of 50 votes from the Selection Committee. Tung Chee-hwa, Ti-liang Yang and Peter Woo all secured more than 50 nominations to enter the race, while Simon Li, to his shock, fell a few votes and was eliminated. Tung became the leading candidate by winning an absolute majority of 206 votes in the Selection Committee.<ref name="new"/>
+[[PRC Foreign Minister|Chinese Foreign Minister]] [[Qian Qichen]] who oversaw the ballot casting described the event as "the dawn of genuine democracy in Hong Kong."
+==Opinion polling==
+In August 1996, public opinion polls showed Anson Chan had the most popular support, having more than 50% far ahead of Tung Chee-hwa's 5%. After Chan was dropped from the polling, Ti-liang Yang surged into the lead. Tung kept catching up in the polls in the later stage. In an opinion survey published on 2 December, 46% of the respondents said they preferred Tung, compared to 28% for Yang and 5.2% for Peter Woo.
 ==Result==
+On 11 December 1996, the election was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKECC), where 400-member Selection Committee elected Tung Chee-hwa as the Chief Executive. Tung received 320 votes against 49 votes for Ti-liang Yang and 36 votes for Peter Woo.<ref name="xxxi">{{cite book|title=The Other Hong Kong Report 1997|first=Joseph Y. S.|last=Cheng|publisher=Chinese University Press|year=1997|page=xxxi}}</ref>
-In early 1997 [[Tung Chee-hwa]] was elected with 320 votes out of 398 valid votes. Tung won a landslide victory<ref>{{cite web | last = Xavier | first = Gerry | coauthors = | title = Decision day brings a 10-minute replay of Tung's landslide | publisher = Hong Kong Standard | date = 24 January 1997 | url = http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=45529&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19970124&sear_year=1997 | accessdate = 2007-01-11}}</ref> over three other major candidates in the election for the post of Hong Kong's first Chief Executive. The Chief Executive was selected by the 400-member Selection Committee.
-{|class="wikitable"
+{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
 |-
-! English Name !! Chinese Name !! Votes
+! Candidate !! Votes !! %
 |-
-| [[Tung Chee-hwa]] || 董建華 || '''320'''
+| align=left| '''[[Tung Chee-hwa]]''' || '''320''' || '''80.4'''
 |-
-| [[Yang Ti-liang]] || 楊鐵樑 || 42
+| align=left| [[Yang Ti-liang]] || 42 || 10.5
 |-
-| [[Peter Woo]] || 吳光正 || 36
+| align=left| [[Peter Woo]] || 36 || 9.0
+|-
+| '''TOTAL''' || '''398''' || '''100.0'''
 |}
+==Protest==
+pro-democracy activists including legislators [[Emily Lau]], [[Lee Cheuk-yan]] and [[Andrew Cheng]] protested against the election outside the HKECC during the election. A "tomb of democracy" was established outside the building shouting "oppose the phony election". Lau and Cheng scuffled with riot police and lied on the street. They were later bodily removed and taken to the [[Wan Chai Police Station]].<ref name="xxxi"/>
 ==Aftermath==
-Tung was mostly chosen by the PRC due to his business background as well as owing Beijing for saving him from bankruptcy with a [[United States dollar|US$]]100 million loan.<ref name="Hor"/> Tung was installed as the Chief Executive, but the next few years to follow were compounded with serious social problems including [[Right of abode issue, Hong Kong|right of abode]], [[Asian financial crisis]], [[Avian influenza|bird flu pandemic]] and a host of other issues.
+Tung Chee-hwa was appointed first Chief Executive of the HKSAR by [[PRC Premier|Premier]] [[Li Peng]] under State Council Order 207 at the [[Great Hall of the People]] in Beijing on 18 December 1996. Tung sworn in at midnight on 1 July 1997 as the HKSAR established. The next few years to follow were compounded with serious social problems including [[Right of abode issue, Hong Kong|right of abode]], [[Asian financial crisis]], [[Avian influenza|bird flu pandemic]] and a host of other issues.
-==References==
-{{Reflist}}
 ==See also==
 * [[1990s in Hong Kong]]
+* [[Handover of Hong Kong]]
+* [[Hong Kong provisional legislative election, 1996]]
+==References==
+{{Reflist}}
 {{Hong Kong elections}}

v t e Elections and referendums in Hong Kong
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Plebiscite	1896
Electoral Affairs Commission Registration and Electoral Office List of Hong Kong by-elections