Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong's first chief executive, dies at 89

Tung Chee-hwa, who served as Hong Kong’s first chief executive and oversaw the 1997 return of the city to Chinese rule, has died.

The former vice-chairman of China’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), died on Tuesday at the age of 89, according to a statement from his office issued in the early hours on Wednesday.

He was last seen in public in July 2021 when he attended the premiere of a film to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

It was believed that Tung was hand-picked by Beijing to be the special administrative region’s first leader, especially after his famous handshake with then-president Jiang Zemin at the Great Hall of the People in January 1996.

He was appointed chief executive in December that year after he won votes from 320 of the 400 members of the Selection Committee, beating his rivals, including the late Sir Yang Ti-liang, a former chief justice, and businessman Peter Woo Kwong-ching.