My Take | 'Rich and powerful' have their defender

If there is a public relations practice for Leung Chun-ying that departs significantly from previous administrations, it is the aggressive manner in which the chief executive has allowed himself - and authorised his staff - to take on their critics publicly.

I do not reproach officials for trying to set the record straight when facts are being presented wrongly by the news media or when they themselves are being unfairly criticised. On the other hand, such rebuttals should be carried out with discretion and judiciousness.

While the SAR government has long been accused of being friendly to tycoons, I hardly think it is its PR chief's job to confirm it for the rest of us.

Fung, a former senior member of the Democratic Party, sounds positively indignant.

"Stephen Vines questions 'the loyalty to the Chinese state' of these [rich and powerful] people," writes Fung.