Reports: HK leader 'to step down'
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Speculation is rife that Hong Kong's unpopular leader Tung Chee Hwa has resigned, or is preparing to do so imminently.
Local media in the former British colony reported on Wednesday that the region's chief executive is expected to cite poor health as the reason for leaving the top post.
The billionaire shipping tycoon has been deeply unpopular since he took the reins following Hong Kong's handover to China in 1997.
The city of 6.8 million people entered a funk following the Asian financial crisis in 1997, which was only compounded by government moves to introduce an anti-subversion bill and then its handling of a deadly SARS epidemic in 2003.
Many residents were also dismayed at the progress Hong Kong was making in moving towards democracy, and saw Tung as kowtowing to Beijing rather than stand up for the autonomy the territory was promised after 1997.
Many thought Beijing's man in Hong Kong mishandled both the legal moves and SARS, which killed around 300 people in the city.
They showed their unhappiness by taking to the streets in massive popular demonstrations on Hong Kong's national holiday on the only part of Chinese soil that allows protests.
The protests were so big that the government shelved controversial anti-subversion legislation.
But displeasure with the aloof Tung extended beyond Hong Kong soil.
Handpicked in 1997 by then Chinese leader Jiang Zemin as the right mix of East and West to preserve Hong Kong's freedoms while ensuring a smooth transition to Chinese sovereignty, at the end of last year he got a public dressing down from Beijing.
On a visit to Hong Kong and neighboring Macau last December, Chinese President Hu Jintao gave Hong Kong's leaders a rare public rap on the knuckles.
"Officials must improve their capabilities and abilities to govern. The officials must turn back and look over the past seven years and find out what has gone wrong," Hu said at the time.
Hong Kong has suffered two economic downturns during his leadership, and last December officials announced they would suspend a $3 billion dollar property privatization.
There has also been a number of resignations involving top officials.
"(Tung) is blamed for a lot of the things that have gone wrong," CNN's Senior Asia Correspondent Mike Chinoy said.
The reports Tung might quit comes hard on the heels of his recent nomination to China's leading political advisory body.
Tung will announce his departure immediately after his nomination as vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is approved on March 12, Hong Kong newspaper The Standard reported, citing unnamed sources in Beijing.
Tung handed in his resignation before the Lunar New Year (February 9), and it was approved following an emergency meeting of Chinese Communist Party's politburo, The Standard said.
Several newspapers citing unnamed sources point to Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen as a possible successor for Tung, who could leave the post as early as this month.
Government officials tipped off local media about the upcoming resignation on Tuesday night, a source told CNN.
There was a slight possibility Beijing could persuade Tung to change his mind, but the resignation seemed "quite certain," the source said.
There has been no official response to the reports on Tung, with a Hong Kong government spokesman telling CNN: "We do not comment on speculative reports."
The press officer added that he expected that Beijing would make any announcement, not Hong Kong.
Tung, who was appointed a CPPCC member on Monday, flies to Beijing
Wednesday to attend the conference's annual session.
There are differing interpretations of Hong Kong's so-called "mini-constitution", referred to as the Basic Law, as to how an early departure by Tung would need to be handled.
Although Tsang could step in as a temporary leader, there was uncertainty as to how a permanent replacement would be decided, said Chinoy.
"The hot issue here is how would the next chief executive be chosen," Chinoy said, adding that the popularity of a successor would matter less than the process by which that person was appointed.
Beijing has previously ruled out universal suffrage.
"It leaves questions open about the mechanics of choosing a long-term successor," Chinoy said.
CNN's Marianne Bray and Mike Chinoy contributed to this report
