Henry Tang Ying-yen (; born 6 September 1952) is a Hong Kong politician who served as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong between 2007 and 2011. He held the position of Financial Secretary from 2003 to 2007. In 2012, he lost the Hong Kong Chief Executive Election to Leung Chun-ying.

Background and education

Tang was born 6 September 1952 at early morning at Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital in Happy Valley, Wan Chai in British Hong Kong, His family operated in the textile industry and came from Wuxi, Jiangsu to Hong Kong in 1949 to escape the communists who were taking over the Chinese mainland. Henry Tang himself was born in what was then British Hong Kong in 1952.

Henry Tang is commonly believed to have attended Graduate School at Yale University and to have obtained a master's degree in sociology. These were credentials submitted to then Hong Kong governor David Wilson in 1991–1992. So far there is no evidence that he did obtain that degree.

Career

Tang was named Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in 1993 and won the Young Industrialist of Hong Kong award in 1989.

Tang was a member of the Executive Council from the transfer of sovereignty in 1997 to 2011. He served as a member of the Legislative Council for seven years from 1991 to 1998 However, during a Working Group meeting on 31 October 2003 and during an independent inquiry in May 2004, Tang allegedly said Rowse had not acted improperly and that there had been no irregularity in the implementation of the event. Tang had also said that all parties had underestimated the complexity of the event and may have been too ambitious in organising it in such a short timespan. He later withdrew the remark: just before a government inquiry opened in November 2004, Tang requested the ERWG minutes be deleted.

Chief Secretary for Administration

thumb|Chief Secretary Tang in 2008

On 23 June 2007, it was announced that Tang would succeed Rafael Hui as the new Chief Secretary for Administration of Hong Kong effective 1 July 2007. A protester said that the topics discussed in the summit are not those that any young person would be interested in.

2011 car crash comment and protest

On 15 January 2011, Tang gave a speech at the Roundtable Institute that included controversial comments about the Hong Kong post-80s generation. He said the young generations need to take responsibilities, and he cautioned them for slamming others because of opposing views. Then he stressed the need to compromise and simplify complicated issues. He further said young people should not close the door and act like emperors. That he doesn't want to see politics lead to a bloodshed, leading to a road of no return and end up like a fatal car crash. On 30 January 2011 eight youth groups including Hong Kong Federation of Students marched to New World Development, Li Ka Shing's Cheung Kong Holdings in Central and accused the government of colluding with businesses in maximising profits while squeezing the poor. The students criticised Tang and the government for policies that benefit the upper class only like no real estate tax duty, reduction of wine and profit tax. The students said the whole HK is at the mercy of real estate developers. The admission followed several denials and provoked widespread criticism: "He has lost almost all his credibility, he lied every day," said Ma Ngok, a political sciences professor at the University of Hong Kong to AFP.

The scandal prompted some of Tang's potential supporters in the 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive election to review their position. One former supporter said that it was 'unbearable' for Tang to throw the blame onto his wife.

No charges were brought against Tang though his wife was convicted of a criminal offence and fined HK$110,000, the illegal basement having been filled in.

2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive election

On 28 September 2011, in a widely trailed move, Tang resigned from his post, and then in late November announced his candidacy for chief executive. He was widely believed to be preferred by Beijing, and hence quickly received support from many financial heavyweights, including Former Monetary Authority chief Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, HSBC Asia-Pacific chief executive Peter Wong Tung-shun, and 'Father of Lan Kwai Fong', Allan Zeman. However, in an unprecedented turn of events, including a series of scandals and dramatically reduced levels of public support, the final vote by the Election Committee saw him lose to Leung Chun-ying.

Possible replacement as Chief Executive

The Financial Times reported, on 23 October 2019, that Tang was being considered as a replacement for Carrie Lam as Chief Executive of Hong Kong. However, the Chinese government denied such deliberations.

West Kowloon Cultural District Authority

Tang serves as the chairperson of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, which oversees the M+ museum of contemporary art. In March 2021, Tang said that the Authority would "definitely uphold the law and comply with the Basic Law, local laws and the national security law" in regards to art made by Ai Weiwei. and received the Grand Bauhinia Medal in 2009.

Family and personal life

Tang is married to Lisa Kuo Yu-chin and the couple have four children: three daughters and a son.

Tang's father Tang Hsiang Chien was a standing committee member of the CPPCC.

His brother, Tom Tang Chung-yen, is a member of the Trade Development Council, whose reappointment to the post by CY Leung, after he vanquished Tang to become chief executive in 2012, was seen as part of a reconciliation between the two camps. Apple Daily found in October 2020 that Tom Tang may have illegally violated land lease terms of an industrial site in Tai Po.

His niece (by marriage), Stefani Kuo, a playwright and actress, spoke out against the Hong Kong government during the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, views that Tang explicitly rejected.

In February 2021, Tang said that he has a high tendency for allergic reactions to influenza vaccinations, and thus would not take a mainland Chinese COVID-19 vaccine.

Extra-marital affairs

On 4 October 2011, in the midst of rumours about his extra-marital affair with Shirley Yuen, his administrative assistant when he was finance secretary of Hong Kong, Henry Tang issued a statement, in which he admitted that he had made a mistake in his romantic life in the past and he deeply regretted it. He said that his wife had forgiven him. His wife said in the statement that there had been difficult times in their relationship and that he has faults, but that she also appreciated his strengths. She acknowledged him as her 'best partner'. National People's Congress Standing Committee member Rita Fan said on 7 October 2011 that she didn't know about Tang's now widely publicised infidelity when she offered her support and she refused to rule herself out of standing in the following year's chief executive election, though she did not in fact stand.

In February 2012, several Chinese newspapers reported Henry Tang might have had a relationship with Esther Lam, the daughter of Heung Yee Kuk vice-chairman Daniel Lam Wai-keung. Emails supposedly exchanged by the two of them and a picture showing them shoulder against shoulder have been published. Tang denied the reports claiming "we are only casual acquaintances".

See also

  • Antony Leung
  • Politics of Hong Kong
  • Executive Council of Hong Kong

References

  • Official website