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Strategies & Market Trends : HONG KONG -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom who wrote (2624)	1/5/1999 11:46:00 PM
From: Tom	Respond to of 2951

Tsang to replace Anson Chan? By Loh Hui Yin in Hongkong Even as speculation intensified on the future of Anson Chan, the No 2 in the Hongkong government, her boss Tung Chee-hwa said he had not discussed it with her. Mrs Chan, whose official title is Chief Secretary and who is in charge of the civil service, is due to retire on Jan 17 next year when she reaches 60, unless Chief Executive Mr Tung extends her term. Although her retirement is a year away, Mrs Chan has accumulated leave. Also, government employees have to clear their pre-retirement arrangements a year beforehand. That means Mrs Chan should confirm her plans by Jan 17 when she turns 59. With her 59th birthday drawing close, speculation in the local media has intensified over Mrs Chan's fate, with some reports suggesting that Financial Secretary Donald Tsang, No 3 in the government hierarchy, would move up to succeed her. Pro-Beijing legislator Tsang Yok-sing hinted last week that if Mr. Tsang, 54, is able to muster public support for his March budget, his chances of getting the job would be greater. The three top government officials were at a bank reception on Monday evening but they declined to comment on the matter. Mr. Tung's office later issued a statement saying: "The chief executive has not discussed with Mrs Chan her future. Mr Tung will not make any public comment on this. He will make a decision at an appropriate time, followed by public announcement." The statement also reiterated that the two have a "cordial working relationship", in an apparent response to media reports that they do not get along. (Tung reportedly complained in Beijing that Ms. Chan's popularity was undermining his authority. - ty) Mrs Chan herself warned earlier in the day that too much speculation about her retirement would destabilise the civil service, and that it could put "unnecessary pressure on various sides." Mrs Chan, who has spent 37 years in the civil service, is said to be eyeing Mr Tung's job when he retires in the year 2002. Analysts reason that Mr Tung would view her as a threat and is therefore unlikely to want to extend her term. They also noted that she was the right-hand woman of former British governor Chris Patten, a fact that does not do much for her esteem with Beijing. However, another school of thought has argued that for the sake of continuity, it is too soon after the handover for her to retire, particularly when Hongkong is facing its worst-ever economic crisis. Political commentator Andy Ho, writing in the South China Morning Post yesterday, said Mrs Chan had been put on the defensive in the last few months over the airport opening fiasco. "Now that the commission (on the airport opening) is poised to submit its findings to the chief executive, the imminent conclusion of the Chek Lap Kok inquiry might offer a convenient opportunity for Mrs. Chan to bow out of the government bureaucracy," he said. - SingBT