Tung Chee-hwa to resign as Chief Executive of HK

[skylee]

董 建 華 辭 職

傳 中 央 已 批 准 辭 職 董 建 華 下 台 成 定 局

董建華辭職 中央力挽

Hong Kong head Tung to step down early

[Quest]

边个会接任？

[Ian_Lee]

Hmmm......if the rumor is confirmed, does that mean Beijing is vulnerable to pressure from the public, i.e. slogans shouted during mass demonstration?

[Quest]

I heard he got a promotion into the higher ranks of the CCP?

[Ian_Lee]

Tung will be promoted to be a "political vase".

[Quest]

Here's a typical "Western" POV story...

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=616286

[skylee]

IMHO it is a very decent way for him to step down (很體面的下台階).

[pazu]

THe night when I checked a news website, I was so happy and excited that I gave the internet owner 1000 dong more, just the same price of Mr Tung.

[Ian_Lee]

Whether 建華之亂 is history or not is still a pending question.

Both Beijing and HK governments remain ambiguous on this issue (when did HK government become so non-transparent?). The resignation may be a hot balloon sent out by Beijing to test the response from HK and international community.

But if Hu Jintao really favors devout Catholic, bowtie Sir Donald as the successor, does that mean all the guys Beijing nurtured in the territory for decades are impotent?

[Dav-X]

it's politically impossible to keep this as rumors now. It must be true as the expectation has been deeply rooted for the resignation of the hugely unpopular leader.

[bhchao]

The resignation may be a hot balloon sent out by Beijing to test the response from HK and international community

You may be right Ian. Here is an article from Asia Times saying that Tung's resignation was engineered by Beijing. Even with Tung's resignation, his successor will still be appointed by a pro-Beijing 800-member committee.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/GC04Ad01.html

Beijing's tightening its control over Hong Kong shows how important Taiwan's position is. If Beijing is doing that to Hong Kong right now, that means it can also do the same to Taiwan if the island ever falls under its grip.