Tung Chee-hwa
Tung Chee-hwa GBM (Chinese: 董建華; born 7 July 1937) is a Hong Kong businessman and retired politician who served as the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 1997 and 2005, upon the transfer of sovereignty on 1 July. He served as a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) between 2005 and 2023.
Tung Chee-hwa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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董建華 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tung in 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st Chief Executive of Hong Kong | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 July 1997 – 12 March 2005 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| President | Jiang Zemin Hu Jintao | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Premier | Li Peng Zhu Rongji Wen Jiabao | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Office established Chris Patten (as Governor of Hong Kong) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Donald Tsang | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 13 March 2005 – 10 March 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Jia Qinglin Yu Zhengsheng Wang Yang | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 7 October 1992 – 3 June 1996 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appointed by | Chris Patten | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 7 July 1937 Shanghai, China | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | Alan Tung Lieh-sing (son) Andrew Tung Lieh-cheung (son) Audrey Slighton Tung Lieh-yuan (daughter) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives | Audrey Alice King & Yvette Yao (grandniece) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence(s) | Grenville House, Mid-Levels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Chung Wah Middle School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Liverpool (BS) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation |
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| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 董建華 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 董建华 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born as the eldest son of Chinese shipping magnate Tung Chao Yung, who founded Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), Tung took over the family business after his father's death in 1981. Four years later, OOCL teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, and the business was saved by the People's Republic of China government through Henry Fok in 1986.
He was appointed an unofficial member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong by the last British Governor Chris Patten in 1992 and was tipped as Beijing's favourite as the first Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR. In 1996, he was elected the Chief Executive by a 400-member Selection Committee. His government was embroiled with a series of crises, including the bird flu and the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. In 2002, he was re-elected without competition. In 2003, more than 500,000 protesters demanded Tung to step down in the light of the proposed legislation of the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 and the SARS outbreak. Tung resigned in the middle of his second term on 10 March 2005.
After his resignation, he was appointed vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference by the Beijing government and formed the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) in 2008 to influence public opinion towards China in the United States. In 2014, he founded a think tank Our Hong Kong Foundation consisting of the membership of numerous leading tycoons. He remains influential in Hong Kong politics and is dubbed as "kingmaker".