Embattled Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa, whose unpopular leadership sparked massive pro-democracy protests which rattled Beijing, resigned on Thursday, ending more than a week of speculation. "An hour ago I tendered my resignation as chief executive ... my health is not as good as it used to be," Tung told a news conference, ending his long silence over news reports of his impending departure.
Tung, Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader after the end of British rule in 1997, said if Beijing accepted his resignation Chief Secretary Donald Tsang would take over as acting chief executive until Beijing names a new leader in six months. Tung, 67, said he had to take painkillers to help him stand through a policy speech in January and that his biggest regret was being unable to serve till his term ends in mid-2007.
Questions over who will replace Tung and any subsequent cabinet shake-up unsettled the stock market last week, but traders said any negative impact would be short-lived.
Many people still believe Tung was fired by Chinese leaders in violation of their promise to give the city a high degree of autonomy after the sovereignty hand-over.
Tung, who was hand-picked by Beijing, denied that. "That is not the case at all," he said, emphasising his health was the only reason he was quitting. Tung's fate was apparently sealed in December when Chinese President Hu Jintao scolded him in public for poor performance in an unprecedented rebuke, analysts said.