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Hong Kong Honors First Post-Colonial Leader Tung Chee-hwa with State Funeral
Confirmed
In Short: Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong's first chief executive after the 1997 handover from Britain to China, was honored with a state funeral on Sunday, a rare event in the city's post-colonial history.
The funeral, held at the Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point, was attended by senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials, including Beijing’s top official for Hong Kong and Macau affairs, Xia Baolong, and current chief executive John Lee.
Tung, who died at the age of 89 on September 8, was described by Chinese state media as a 'renowned patriot.' His successor, Donald Tsang, called him 'an easy-going, gentle and refined man with a broad-minded outlook and far-reaching vision.
The funeral committee, chaired by Shi Taifeng, a senior Chinese Communist Party Politburo member, underscored the level of official backing from Beijing. Tung’s coffin, draped in China’s national flag, was carried by pallbearers including Lee and former chief executive Leung Chun-ying.
Tung’s tenure from 1997 to 2005 was marked by significant challenges, including the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2003 SARS outbreak. He also faced mass protests that forced him to shelve proposed national security legislation.
About 200 people were invited to the service, with flower wreaths lining the walls outside the funeral home. Tung’s casket could be seen being brought out after the service in live video streamed online by Hong Kong media.
Shi Taifeng and Xia Baolong left the funeral in a white minibus with Hong Kong’s current leader, John Lee. After stepping down, Tung was elected vice chairman of China's top political advisory body.
Tung’s legacy includes his role in shaping post-handover Hong Kong during a turbulent political era, and his contributions to the one-country, two systems framework that governs Hong Kong and Macao.
Others paid their respects at three venues set up around the city, reflecting the broad impact of Tung’s leadership on Hong Kong’s political and economic landscape.
What's confirmed
- Hong Kong has given a state funeral to Tung Chee-hwa, its first post-colonial leader, only the third time the city has granted such an honour since Britain returned it to Chinese rule in 1997.
- Tung, Hong Kong’s first chief executive, died on September 8 at the age of 89.
- About 200 people were invited to the service, an attendee told Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper.
- The government shelved the plan, and Tung resigned in 2005, citing health reasons.
- HONG KONG (AP) — A state funeral was held Sunday for Hong Kong’s first post-colonial leader, Tung Chee-hwa, who led the city through the initial years of its transition from British rule after it was returned to China in 1997.
- Chinese officials and Hong Kong political leaders attended the service, only the third state funeral in the former British colony since the 1997 handover.
- Tung, a shipping magnate who was the city’s chief executive from 1997 to 2005, died Sept.
- Flower wreaths lined the wall outside the Hong Kong Funeral Home and Tung’s casket, draped in a Chinese flag, could be seen being brought out after the service in live video streamed online by Hong Kong media.
- Shi Taifeng, a member of the Politburo of China’s ruling Communist Party, and Xia Baolong, the director of China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, left the funeral in a white minibus with Hong Kong’s current leader, John Lee.
- After his death, the Chinese government described Tung as a close friend of the Communist Party and an outstanding contributor to the one-country, two systems framework that governs Hong Kong and nearby Macao, a former Portuguese colony returned to China in 1999.
- Not long after Tung took office in 1997, Hong Kong’s economy was battered by a financial crisis that swept across Asia.
- FILE - Hong Kong's Cheif Executive Tung Chee-hwa listens to reporter's question during a news conference at government headquarters in Hong Kong, April 26, 2004.
What's still developing
- A shipping tycoon with little political experience, Tung was selected in 1996 by a Beijing-appointed committee to become Hong Kong’s first leader after the 1997 handover from Britain.
- He grappled with the Asian financial crisis, SARS epidemic and public protests during his nearly eight years in office.
- He was honored in 2019 for his contributions to the country.
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