Tributes pour in as Hong Kong mourns death of Tung Chee-hwa, first chief executive
Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong’s first chief executive who oversaw the city’s 1997 return to Chinese rule, has died. According to a statement from his office issued in the early hours on Wednesday, he died on Tuesday at the age of 89, surrounded by his loved ones. It is understood that he died at the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital. Tung was also a vice-chairman of China’s top political advisory body,…
Tributes are pouring in as Hong Kong mourns the passing of its first Chief Executive, Tung Chee-hwa. Born in 1942, Tung moved to the United States at 23 to work for General Electric in Massachusetts. He later joined his family's shipping business in New York before returning to Hong Kong in 1969. His time in the US laid the foundation for the personal connections and international networks that characterized his tenure as Hong Kong's leader.
After stepping down in 2005, Tung continued to play a prominent role in fostering ties between China and the United States, attending events related to Chinese President Xi Jinping's US visits in 2012 and 2015. In 2019, he founded the annual US-China Hong Kong Forum, a platform for dialogue between the world's two largest economies.
However, as tensions between Beijing and Washington have escalated, CUSEF, the organization founded by Tung, has faced increased scrutiny in the US, with a 2018 report labeling it a "registered foreign agent".
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post - Hong Kong's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
