Chief Executive8217;s decision

Tung Chee-hwa, the 60-year-old who became the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region HKSAR in the wee hours of July 1, has a tough task ahead of him as he defends a Capitalist society under a Communist regime.

On the other, he must assuage the security concerns of his Communist masters in Beijing, who would not want Hong Kong to be a territory which could influence8217; the Chinese mainland. Tung, elected as the Chief Executive of the HKSAR on December 11, 1996 by the selection committee for the first government of the HKSAR, is a conservative shipping tycoon with Chinese roots. But has little experience in government outside a four-year stint in Patten8217;s executive council. Some of Tung8217;s critics say he would be just another colonial ruler, one taking his orders from Beijing instead of London. The Western media has often described him as Beijing8217;s puppet8217; considering the way he was elected8217; by a 400-member China-appointed electoral college. Many still, however, believe that Tung will be calling most of the shots.

Son of a multi-millionaire shipowner, Tung was born in Shanghai, China and lived in Hong Kong before going to Britain for his higher education. He enjoys the trust of Chinese authorities, who helped save his family8217;s shipping company from bankruptcy by guaranteeing a timely loan from a China-backed consortium in the 1980s. Tung lived in the US for almost ten years before returning to Hong Kong in 1969. He is married and has three children. Regardless of his convictions, however, the United Nations believes it has no role in monitoring the human or political rights in Hong Kong after the territory8217;s handover from Britain to China at midnight. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the 1984 Joint Declaration between Britain and China governing Hong Kong8217;s handover left no room for UN involvement.