The talk took place Sunday night at the University of Hong Kong
Finance Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah is a self-declared patriot. At a dinner at the University of Hong Kong, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah spoke to students about creating a more tolerant city, and of creating solutions which a “good majority of people” would like. But he didn’t say whether or not he would run for the job of chief executive.
“We are facing some issues in Hong Kong,” Tsang told hundreds of students on Sunday night.
“It is important that we try to communicate better ... to be more tolerant of views different from our own, and try to find good solutions acceptable to a good majority of people.”
Anyone interested in running for the top post is expected to announce their candidacy before December 11.
Beijing has made clear that all candidates must be patriots. Tsang said that he thought of himself as one. He talked about his “love of this place” without directly saying if he meant the mainland.
Junior reporter Henry Lui, 17, from Sha Tin College, questioned why Tsang called himself a patriot.
“He is a sell-out who hides from anything controversial if he thinks he’ll lose popularity because of it. He pretends to be disloyal to Beijing to gain support from localists, especially when he said he was proud of the Hong Kong football team in a World Cup qualifier against China last year,” says Henry.
Henry told Young Post that Tsang would not do a good job as chief executive because he only cared about business interests and did not care about the poor.
But another junior reporter, Sebastian Wong, 17, from Po Leung Kuk Vicwood K. T. Chong Sixth Form College, thinks Tsang would be a good chief executive, because he is willing to listen to youngsters.
“I prefer Tsang to Leung Chun-ying because the financial secretary is willing to reach out to young people, but Leung isn’t,” says Wong.