Does Xi Jinping handshake mean John Tsang will be Hong Kong’s next leader? ‘No’, says current chief CY Leung
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying today dismissed rumours one of his key ministers had got the nod from Beijing to be Hong Kong’s next leader after President Xi Jinping offered an eyebrow-raising handshake to the financial secretary at a key international meeting last month.
Xi did not extend the same gesture to other members of the Chinese delegation.
However, asked about the incident this morning, Leung refused to attach any significance to the handshake other than Xi’s backing for Hong Kong.
“President Xi has all along been very supportive of Hong Kong,” Leung said.
“It is normal for him to offer our representative official a ceremonial handshake at an event that is attended by international figures.”
Leung said such a gesture had been seen on previous occasions.
“We cannot relate Xi’s friendly attitude towards Hong Kong to the … chief executive election,” he said.
Last month, Tsang laughed off speculation that he was tipped to be the city’s next leader. “The president [Xi] also shook hands with a lot of other people, but those moments were not captured by the television cameras,” Tsang replied when asked if he saw any political signal from Xi’s gesture.
But he sidestepped a question about whether he was interested in the top job.
Instead, Tsang asked the reporter who posed the question: “Have you asked other people [the same question]?”
In March, Leung dropped his strongest hint yet that he may seek a second term in 2017.
“I would not rule out any possibility,” Leung said at the time. “Whether to seek a second term is something [to be considered] in later days.”
