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Donald Tsang leaves Eastern Court in Sai Wan Ho yesterday facing two charges of misconduct in a public office. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Overseas trips taken by former Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang did not breach law, says Justice Department

Donald Tsang

The cheaper-than-normal overseas trips that former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen allegedly went on, as reported by the media earlier, did not appear on his charge sheets yesterday.

In a statement, the Department of Justice said there was a lack of evidence and there was no breach of relevant laws.

Three years ago, after the media reports appeared, Tsang admitted he had taken two yacht trips, one to Macau, and two private-jet trips to Phuket and Japan, all arranged by friends during his years in office, but denied any conflict of interest. He said he had reimbursed the flights on the private jets by paying the friends the price of either business- or economy-class tickets, depending on the distance travelled.

The chief executive's office at that time also said Tsang paid the price of a Macau ferry ticket for the yacht ride in question.

The DOJ did not spell out in detail these previous media reports other than to refer to them in general terms and mentioning "matters relating to certain trips made by Mr Tsang to places outside the HKSAR".

It said it would not comment further on these other reports given the pending trial, except to say the following: "Having carefully considered the available evidence, the applicable law and the relevant provisions in the Prosecution Code as well as having obtained independent legal advice from overseas Queen's Counsel, the DOJ is satisfied that there is no sufficient evidence to justify the commencement of criminal prosecution in respect of those other matters reported by the media."

Under Section 3 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, any civil servant who solicits or accepts any advantage without the permission of the chief executive is guilty of an offence. The provision, therefore, does not cover the chief executive himself.

Under Section 4, if the chief executive solicits or accepts any advantage "as an inducement to or reward of" performing or abstaining from performing certain acts, or assisting or favouring anyone, he will be guilty of an offence. But the charge sheet relies on none of the provisions, and bases the accusations on the common law.

The maximum penalty for each of the two counts is seven years' imprisonment.

Stephen Char Shik-ngor, a barrister and former chief investigator at the Independent Commission Against Corruption, said it was appropriate for the Department of Justice to rely on the common law, because Section 3 has not yet been extended to cover the chief executive.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Overseas trips did not break law, says DOJ
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