Jasper Tsang

The Honourable Jasper Tsang Yok-sing GBS, JP 曾鈺成
President of the Legislative Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 October 2008
Preceded by	Rita Fan
Member of the Legislative Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2008
Preceded by	Choy So-yuk
In office 21 December 1996 – 30 June 1998
Preceded by	New parliament
Succeeded by	Parliament abolished
Chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong
In office 10 July 1992 – 9 December 2003
Preceded by	New party
Succeeded by	Ma Lik
Non-official Member of the Executive Council
In office 1 July 2002 – 15 October 2008
Appointed by	Tung Chee-hwa Donald Tsang
Preceded by	Tam Yiu-chung
Succeeded by	Lau Kong-wah
Personal details
Born	(1947-05-17) 17 May 1947 Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Nationality	Chinese
Political party	Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong
Spouse(s)	Young Sun-yee (divorced) Ng Kar-man (m. 2009)
Alma mater	St Paul's College University of Hong Kong (B.A., Cert.Ed., M.Ed.)

Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, GBS, JP (born 17 May 1947) is the 2nd and current President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and represents the Hong Kong Island constituency. He is a founding member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, one of the largest political parties in Hong Kong, and served as its Chairman from 1992 to 2003. He was elected as President of Legislative Council following the legislative elections in 2008. In February 2012, he announced he was considering standing in the chief executive election.

Early life and career

Tsang was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. He is the elder brother of Tsang Tak-sing, who is currently the Secretary for Home Affairs of Hong Kong. Tsang received his primary and secondary education at St. Paul's College. He studied for a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics at the University of Hong Kong and graduated with first class honours. He later trained as a teacher, obtaining a Graduate Diploma of Education in 1981 and a Master of Education at the University of Hong Kong in 1983. He began his teaching career at the Pui Kiu Middle School, going on to become the principal of the school in 1986. In 1998, he left his position at the school to become a full-time politician.

Politics

Tsang's involvement in politics began in 1976, when he was appointed a member of the Guangdong provincial committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He became a member of the Conference's national committee in 1993. He took an active part in the consultative activities when the Hong Kong Basic Law was drafted in the late 1980s and was subsequently appointed to the committee responsible for the preparatory work for the establishment of Hong Kong. ^{[citation needed]}

He was a Council Member of the Open University of Hong Kong, a non-executive director of the Securities and Futures Commission, and the Supervisor of Pui Kiu Middle School, where he formerly served as the principal. He was also the supervisor of a newly established direct-subsidised school, the Pui Kiu College.

He ran unsuccessfully for the Legislative Council in 1995 but was elected to the Provisional Legislative Council in 1997.

Tsang was previously elected into the Legislative Council, representing the Kowloon West constituency from 2004-2008. Following the DAB's setback in the District Council elections in November 2003, he resigned the DAB chairmanship.

In 2008 Tsang was elected to be President of the Legislative Council by the newly elected legislators from the 2008 election.^[1]

In 2010, he was called on to resign from the post of president of Legco for speaking in support of the government's constitutional reform bill.^[2]

Around the time of the 2012 HK chief executive election, he has been noted for his relatively liberal views on issues such as universal suffrage,^[3][4] the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, which he referred to as "suppressing students was surely wrong."^[5]

During the controversy surrounding the enactment of the national security bill in Hong Kong, Tsang drew criticism for his party's support of the government's legislative initiatives. Following the 1 July 2003 protests and disappointing performance of his party in the 2003 District Council election, he resigned from the party's chairmanship in December 2003.

When running for the presidency of the Legislative Council in 2008, Tsang was asked about his membership in the Chinese Communist Party. He stated that "Since the foundation of the DAB, I have been asked whether I am a Communist Party member many times. And I can say frankly, I have never answered this question. The reason is, Hong Kong people's attitude to the concept of the Communist Party is very negative." This was generally regarded by the press as an admission to membership.^[6][7][8]

Tsang has also been criticized for the manner in which he presides over Legislative Council meetings, which has led to walkout protests, though he is perceived generally as fair and accommodating and enjoys friendly relations with both pro-establishment and pan-democratic members.^[9]

See also

• Politics of Hong Kong
• Tsang Tak-sing
• List of graduates of University of Hong Kong

References

External links

• Jasper Tsang's official web site