Tsang Tak-sing

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Tsang.
The Honourable
Tsang Tak-sing
GBS, JP
曾德成
Secretary for Home Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 July 2007
chief executive Sir Donald Tsang
Chief Secretary Henry Tang
Undersecretary Florence Hui
Permanent Secretary Raymond Young
Political Assistant Casper Tsui
Preceded by Patrick Ho
Personal details
Born 1949 (age 6566)
Canton, Republic of China
Nationality Hong Kong Chinese
Alma mater St Paul's College

Tsang Tak Sing GBS JP (Chinese: 曾德成; pinyin: Zēng Déchéng; born 1949, Canton, China) is the Secretary for Home Affairs of Hong Kong. Formerly an adviser to the Central Policy Unit, he assumed office on 1 July 2007, replacing Patrick Ho. He is the younger brother of Jasper Tsang, who was the legislative councillor and former chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong. Tsang is regarded as pro-Beijing with a long history of supporting the Communist Party of China.

1967 riot participant

Tsang is a leftist who participated in the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots,[1] when he was a Form Six student at St Paul's College.[2]

Arrest

He was arrested on 28 September 1967 after distributing anti-government and Communism promotion leaflets, which condemned "the education system aiming at enslavement", "The Colonial Government prohibits us from becoming patriotic, by quelling with fascist forces", around the entrance of his school. He was reported by the schoolmaster R. G. Wells, arrested, tried and convicted for two years for distributing inflammatory leaflets that promoted public order crime,[1] thus depriving him of his chance of a university education due to his past criminal record.[2]

Career

A younger brother of Jasper Tsang, he joined the New Evening Post after his release from Stanley Prison in 1969. He became chief editor of Ta Kung Pao in 1988. He has been a Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress since the same year and was appointed an adviser to the Central Policy Unit in 1998.

In December 2007 just days after Anson Chan's pro-democratic party victory in the 2007 Hong Kong island by-election, he accused her of being a "sudden democrat" who "suddenly cares about people's livelihood".[1] He further commented "Our new legislator today is a former official ... [U]nless she believes that colonial rule was democracy, I don't know whether she has worked for people's livelihood or officials' livelihood."[1]

On 30 March 2009 Tsang made a historic visit to Taipei. This is the first visit to the island by a senior Hong Kong official since the 1997 transfer of sovereignty.[3]

Sources

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Chan 'flabbergasted' by attack" South China Morning Post, Thursday, 6 December 2006
  2. 2.0 2.1 Fu, Hualing; Petersen, Carole; & Young, Simon N.M. National Security and Fundamental Freedoms: Hong Kong's Article 23 Under Scrutiny (2005), Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 962-209-732-4.
  3. Asiaone. "Asiaone.com." HK official sees improved Taiwan ties during rare visit. Retrieved on 3 May 2009.

See also

Political offices
Preceded by
Patrick Ho
Secretary for Home Affairs
2007–present
Incumbent
Order of precedence
Previous:
Anthony Cheung
Secretary for Transport and Housing
Hong Kong order of precedence
Secretary for Home Affairs
Succeeded by
Matthew Cheung
Secretary for Labour and Welfare