City Beat | Kingmaker or not, this is an old problem

Tung Chee-hwa wants to win support for Beijing's political reform plan, nurture future leaders, and do something about the housing and social issues that have created a huge divide in the city.

That's what the 77-year-old former chief executive says his new think tank, Our Hong Kong Foundation, is all about.

But is this crowd of Tung's allies and former aides simply aimed at readying candidates - such as Antony Leung Kam-chung - for the 2017 chief executive poll? Or is it to be a training ground for young political talent, as it claims? Tung is adamant that he is no kingmaker, and says the plan is to groom future leaders.

And he has apparently made clear to the think tank's 88 advisers that there is no hidden agenda, and no one should join with a personal agenda. Familiar heavyweights overshadowed the younger members in a line-up that only Tung, vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, could have assembled.

He has also managed to bring together members from opposite sides of the pro-establishment camp: those who were part of the rift during the 2012 poll, siding with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying or his rival, Henry Tang Ying-yen. The advisory board is filled with people like Leung's ex-campaign director, Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun, and other Leung supporters such as Professor Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, alongside Tang and his backers, including former Monetary Authority chief Joseph Yam Chi-kwong.

Also on board is Tik Chi-yuen of the Democratic Party - a sign, perhaps, that Tung is willing to talk to the pan-democrats.