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Former police commissioner Andy Tsang. Photo: David Wong

Former Hong Kong police chief seeks permission to take HK$1m job for pro-Beijing entrepreneur

After saying he was looking for charity jobs ‘that pay me HK$1 a year’, Andy Tsang is lined up for consultancy role at manufacturing company set up by father of pro-Beijing lawmaker

Former police chief Andy Tsang Wai-hung is seeking the government’s permission to take up a HK$1 million consultancy role for a pro-Beijing entrepreneur.

A top government source close to the matter told the South China Morning Post that Tsang’s new job would not pose any conflict of interest with the administration or police force.

The revelation came after pro-establishment lawmaker Ann Chiang Lai-wan confirmed to the Post that the Chen Hsong Group – which was established by her industrialist father, Chiang Chen, and is one of the largest injection moulding machinery manufacturers in the world – had recruited Tsang as strategic planning consultant.

It is understood that Tsang, who retired last May and pledged not to join any public or commercial sectors, is seeking approval from the Civil Service Bureau as his one-year minimum sanitisation period expires this month.

The source said an initial review of Tsang's application showed his new job would not clash with his previous role as the city’s top policeman or embarrass the government.

“The worldwide business of Chen Hsong has been clean over the past decades without any bad record. We do not see any conflict of interest or other impropriety if Tsang works as a consultant for the manufacturer,” the source said. “We do not take the political stance of the company into consideration.”

Tsang confirmed he had submitted an application to the bureau but refused to comment on which company he was to join.

Tsang was criticised by pan-democratic lawmakers and activists for being “high-handed” in dealing with protesters when he led the force, especially during the Occupy protests in 2014.

Ann Chiang, formerly vice-chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, was one of the most outspoken supporters of the police force. She dismissed suggestions that the appointment would jeopardise the police’s political neutrality.

“It won’t be a problem because it was my party which supports the police force ... and I was not involved in the appointment at all.”

Tsang’s predecessor, Tang King-shing, was appointed a local delegate to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, China’s top political advisory body, in 2013

Another former commissioner, Tsang Yam-pui, is now chief executive of New World Development on HK$10 million a year, while his successor, Dick Lee Ming-kwai, sits on several government advisory boards.

Ann Chiang said her younger sister Chiang Lai-yuen, Chen Hsong’s chief executive, had headhunted Tsang for his managerial experience. She added Tsang had signed a contract and was expected to start work next month.

“It is not a full-time job. I understood that he will be mainly responsible for training Chen Hsong’s staff and reviewing the company’s management system and structure,” she said, adding that Chen Hsong was not involved in security or political matters.

Veteran Democratic Party lawmaker James To Kun-sun did not see a conflict of interest in the post but said some police officers might be concerned whether it would be too lowly for Tsang to serve a small company after retirement.

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