HONG KONG - Not long ago, Henry
Tang Ying-yen was Beijing's golden boy -
handpicked by China's political elite as the
chosen one to be this dynamic city's next leader.
But now Beijing may have to abandon him and pick
up another trustworthy person to run Hong Kong for
next five years.
On top of the required
Mandate from Heaven, Tang, the city's former chief
secretary, enjoyed the added support of Hong
Kong's business elite, creating the perception
that he was a shoo-in to become Hong Kong's third
post-handover chief executive in an election to be
held next month.
Now, however, Tang will
be lucky to make it through the week before being
forced out of the race. As political suicides go,
Tang has staged an astonishingly inept public
exhibition - with revelations of marital
infidelity last October followed last week by
reports of an
"underground palace" that has been illegally
constructed beneath one of his luxurious homes.
At this point, given the extent of Tang's
transgressions, just about everyone except Tang
himself agrees: Politically, he's dead.
Once Tang, 59, resigned last year as chief
secretary in order to launch his campaign for
chief executive, rumors began to fly about his
alleged infidelity to his wife of 27 years, Lisa
Kuo Yu-chin. In an attempt to put the issue behind
him, Tang called a press conference at which Kuo
stood loyally at his side as he vaguely alluded to
and apologized for the swirl of gossip trailing
his candidacy.
"I have had flaws in my
personal life, and I feel deeply remorseful of
that," said Tang. "I am very grateful for my
wife's understanding and forgiveness."
Tang admitted to "straying" from his wife.
For her part, Kuo acknowledged "difficult
times” in their marriage but professed her
continuing love and admiration for her husband,
with whom she has had four children.
The
awkward confession seemed to backfire, however,
when Tang's popularity ratings, never good,
plunged further in a regular survey conducted by
the University of Hong Kong (HKU) . Heading into
last week, Tang was supported by only 26.1% of
those polled.
This latest, still-growing
scandal - dubbed "basement-gate" - has caused that
support to drop to 21.1%, with more than 50% of
the respondents now saying Tang should withdraw
from the race.
And there is probably more
bad news ahead: Analysts predict another dip of as
much as 10% in Tang's ratings as his five-star
basement becomes grist for microbloggers, Facebook
groups and radio and television talk shows.
Meanwhile, Tang's chief rival in the
contest for chief executive, former executive
councilor Leung Chun-ying, was favored by nearly
half of the HKU survey's respondents.
Smelling blood, other potential candidates
- former security chief Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and
Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang
Yok-sing - have signaled that they are now keen to
join the fight.
Even if Tang - son of Tang
Hsiang-chien, who parlayed the millions of dollars
he made in the textile industry into political
connections in Beijing - were to hang on and tough
out the campaign, it is clear that he has lost all
credibility. Not only have the people of Hong Kong
given up on him - that happened long ago - but
members of the political establishment are also
jumping ship.
Even the business-friendly
Liberal Party, of which Tang is a former member,
has announced that it is considering withdrawing
its support.
Chinese leaders simply have
no choice: They must ask their erstwhile golden
boy to step aside; otherwise, Tang's shameful and
unseemly ordeal will only continue, further
tainting the election and Hong Kong's reputation
as a "world city" in Asia.
Tang's
undistinguished political career has been
characterized by repeated verbal gaffes and a
reputation for mediocrity in every portfolio he
has taken up - from secretary for commerce,
industry and technology to financial secretary to
his last post, the second-highest in the city, of
chief secretary.
But his career reached a
new low last week when reports surfaced in the
city's Chinese-language press of an illegal 2,400
square feet (223 square meter) subterranean
extension to one of his opulent homes in Hong
Kong's Kowloon Tong area. Reporters discovered
detailed sketches of the unauthorized addition
that show it houses a wine cellar and tasting
room, cinema, Japanese bath, gym and more.
Tang is known as a lover and collector of
fine wines who no doubt benefited greatly from his
government's removal in 2008 of Hong Kong's 80%
duty on wine.
In overcrowded Hong Kong,
where property prices are sky-high and many of the
city's 7.1 million people live in "shoebox"
apartments, Tang's underground palace has
generated a wave of anger and resentment against a
privileged class that appears to operate by it own
set of rules.
Confronted with the evidence
of the massive extension constructed beneath the
family swimming pool, the chief executive hopeful
blamed his wife, saying she had undertaken the
project as a way of getting through a rough patch
in their marriage. Once again, Kuo stood by his
side - this time fighting back tears and
apologizing for jeopardizing her husband's
political ambitions.
Building illegal
structures in Hong Kong is punishable by a fine of
up to $HK400,000 (US$51,580) and two years in
prison.
"I just wanted to plan a comfy
place for my family," Kuo said of her role in the
scandal. "I greatly regret that I did it without
considering the consequences. I'm very, very
sorry."
Tang has also apologized, but in a
way that many observers found cowardly and
mealy-mouthed:
"My wife proposed to build
this basement. I know this is an illegal
structure, but back at that time we were at a low
tide in our marriage and we had communication
problems. I feel regret and guilty about it."
It's hard to see how things don't get
worse for Tang in the days ahead. This week a
daily media circus has surrounded his home,
demanding a guided tour of the extension - a
demand so far ignored by the family - and
Buildings Department inspectors may very well
order its destruction.
Kuo, it seems,
faces a possible jail sentence.
Despite
his troubles, however, to date Tang has won the
backing for 378 nominations - far more than any
other candidate - on the Beijing-controlled,
1,200-member election committee that will select
the next chief executive on March 25 to replace
Donald Tsang. He has also received endorsements
from Hong Kong tycoons such as Li Kai-shing and
Raymond Kwok Ping-luen.
But all that
high-flying support means nothing now. Tang has
become so deeply unpopular that his candidacy is
no longer tenable.
Ever since it became
clear last year that Tang and Leung would be the
chief contenders for the position, Leung has
outmaneuvered and outpointed his opponent. In
addition, Leung, who also is considered a Beijing
loyalist, has remained largely clear of scandal.
Curiously, the government's Information
Services Department recently released two
statements within minutes of one another, one
accusing Leung of conflict of interest in a
10-year-old case involving a design competition
for the West Kowloon Cultural Center in which he
served as a judge and the other clearing Tang of
any conflict of interest in the lifting of the
wine tax.
Leung has so far been successful
in rebutting the charge against him and, in the
end, the suspicious juxtaposition of the two press
releases only further damaged Tang as it made the
government appear to be taking sides in an effort
to bolster his flagging popularity.
With
Tang now hopelessly mired in another scandal,
government officials are likely to abandon that
effort, clumsy as it was.
As for their
political masters in Beijing, they will see no
advantage in continuing to back such a hapless
candidate, no matter his family pedigree and
business connections.
Kent Ewing
is a Hong Kong-based teacher and writer. He can be
reached at kewing56@gmail.com Follow him on
Twitter: @KentEwing1
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