Arthur Li Dismisses John Tsang as CE

Arthur Li says John Tsang isn't the best person to be the leader of Hong Kong

Arthur Li Kwok-cheung can't help himself from bad mouthing Chief Executive candidate John Tsang Chun-wah.

The professor who is an Executive Council member of Hong Kong and a delegate of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, says Tsang gives the public the impression he is a "gentle and nice guy", but that the city's next leader had to be more than that, adding that Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor fits the bill.

"Carrie is extremely hands on, very dedicated and will tackle problems. She will not shy away from difficulties. John is a very nice person, he will sit back, relax and let you get on with it," explained Li.

Li says Carrie Lam is more diligent at getting the work done

He said having a laid-back management style was the worst thing for Hong Kong, which is facing stiff competition from Singapore, Shenzhen and Shanghai.

"Executive Council members have worked with [Lam and Tsang] for a number of years and have seen how they performed. I do not think a single Exco member is supporting Tsang," said Li in Beijing.

Li cited examples of how issues were handled by Tsang, such as HKTV not getting its free-to-air license, Cable TV is shutting down, and how the recently debuted food trucks in the city aren't working out well. "It's disaster after disaster after disaster," he said.

While Tsang came up with the idea of having food trucks in Hong Kong, it was Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Gregory So Kam-leung who implemented it, but less than a month in, some operators are complaining about the locations and the lack of customers. One operator has already decided to quit even before rolling out his food truck, despite having paid for it.

John Tsang came up with the idea of food trucks in HK

However, Tsang has said in a previous interview that teamwork and mutual trust are important.

"I rely on my people to do things because... the people you appoint are the people you should trust," he said. "If you don't trust them, why appoint them? And if you appoint them, but you still don't trust them, there must be an issue in your judgment."

Interesting that Li is so outspoken and critical of Tsang -- is he a proxy for Leung Chun-ying, whom Li supported in 2012? For his loyalty, Li was rewarded with an appointment to the governing board of the University of Hong Kong, a move that was strongly criticized by academics in the institution.

May we also add he is the younger brother of David Li Kwok-po, chairman of BEA Bank, and they are the grandsons of the bank's co-founder, Li Koon-chun.

There probably aren't many people on the fence who need to be swayed in this three-horse race -- people on the Election Committee pretty much know who they are voting for. Maybe Hong Kong people want an easy-going guy?

Tsang Saga Isn't Over Yet

Kwok Cheuk-kin has filed a judicial review on Bill Wong and David Li

Former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang Kam-yuen is now in Stanley Prison with his cohort Rafael Hui Si-yan. Perhaps Hui is giving Tsang some orientation and tips on how to survive prison life.

Tonight some friends told me Tsang was known to be stingy. Was he so miserly that he didn't want to pay for the renovations on his Shenzhen flat? Or was he greedy? The man was well paid as chief executive of Hong Kong AND has a pension of HK$80,000 a month.

Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen is named in the application

If your housing is already taken care of, surely that pension would be more than enough to spend... it's definitely more than most people's salaries in Hong Kong...

In any event, the saga over the trial is still not over.

A former civil servant who has a penchant for filing legal challenges against the government on behalf of the little guy has done so again today.

Kwok Cheuk-kin has filed a judicial review application, questioning why Wave Media's Bill Wong Cho-bau and BEA bank's David Li Kwok-po were let off lightly. Kwok accuses the Independent Commission Against Corruption and the Department of Justice of maladministration, as they failed to do justice to all relevant parties.

As well as ICAC chief Simon Peh for maladministration

In the application naming Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung and ICAC chief Simon Peh Yun-lu the respondents, Kwok claims the commission and department should take action against Wong and Li, citing equality before the law according to the Basic Law.

We heard during the trial that Li evaded ICAC investigators for years and then gave up, believing he would not cooperate. As for Wong, why wasn't he called to testify?

Will the judicial review go ahead? In the benefit of public interest, it should.

Donald Tsang Found Guilty

Donald Tsang emerges from the courthouse with his family

Today Hong Kong has reached another new low -- its former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has been found guilty of misconduct in public office.

It was the charge of discussing Wave Media's broadcast license but failed to disclose it was a conflict of interest because he was also negotiating a Shenzhen penthouse with one of Wave Media's shareholders, Bill Wong Cho-bau.

Designer Barrie Ho was involved in renovating the flat

However, Tsang, 72, was not found guilty of public office in the charge in Tsang's failure to disclose his relationship with designer Barrie Ho Chow-lai when he nominated him for a civic award. Ho was involved in the HK$3.5 million renovation of the Shenzhen flat.

The defense had said it was not necessary for Tsang to declare the connection, because if he did, it would put pressure on others to approve Ho's nomination.

On the third charge of Tsang receiving free renovation work worth HK$3.5 million on the Shenzhen flat in exchange for approving Wave Media's application, jurors could not agree.

Some of them may have agreed with the defense that the state of the flat was uninhabitable so the renovations would have been done anyway, and in any event Tsang would only live there temporarily.

What about the HK$350K the Tsangs received from David Li?

It's surprising the jurors could not come to an agreement on the third charge listed here -- what about the HK$350,000 that was taken out of BEA chairman David Li Kwok-po and Wave Media shareholder's bank account and then half an hour later Tsang's wife Selina deposited the same amount into her bank account in the same financial institution?

In any event, Tsang will be sentenced on Monday, the maximum sentence could be seven years and a fine.

Finally some closure on this long drawn out trial, not the actual trial itself, but how long it took from him being charged to going to trial.

Prosecutors said he was a two-faced liar, who colluded with wealthy businessmen for personal gain, while the defense said Tsang would never want to sully his 45-year career in the civil service by accepting a bribe.

But it looks like on one count at least the jury believed the prosecution, and Tsang will have to pay for that.

Are there more corrupt government officials we need to know about? It just shows the government's checks and balances aren't enough to keep its officials on the straight and narrow, and that the media needs to do more to make them accountable.