Tung Chee-hwa, influential shipping magnate who became the first chief executive of Hong Kong after the historic handover of the former British colony to China in 1997, has died this Tuesday at the age of 89.
According to a statement released by his office, Tung Chee-hwa, "a man of integrity and incorruptible, devoted to his country and his people," passed away surrounded by his closest family members. "His noble character and integrity will endure forever," the note added, as reported by the public broadcaster RTHK.
Born in Shanghai in 1937, Tung Chee-hwa was the son of Tung Chao-Yung, founder of the shipping company Orient Overseas Container Line. After his father's death in 1981, he took control of the family group. Four years later, the company was on the brink of bankruptcy, but managed to survive thanks to the intervention of the Chinese government in 1986.
The leader, who was also a former vice chairman of China's top political advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), took office as chief executive on July 1, 1997, and adhered to the principle of "one country, two systems," which allowed the territory's reintegration into China while maintaining a degree of autonomy.
His time at the helm of the Hong Kong government was marked by various crises, including an economic recession, the management of the SARS outbreak in 2002, and his plans to pass a national security law that threatened certain freedoms and triggered mass protests in 2003.
Tung resigned in 2005, during his second term, citing health reasons. That same year he was appointed vice chairman of the CPPCC, the main advisory body of China, a position of mainly symbolic nature and without real executive power.