John Tsang formally declares bid to lead Hong Kong and vows to ‘restore hope in time of great uncertainty’

Former finance minister John Tsang Chun-wah on Thursday pitched himself as the man to heal Hong Kong’s social ills and bridge political divisions as he announced his bid to contest the city’s leadership election.

While he vowed to rebuild trust and restore unity with the support of people across the political spectrum, Tsang sidestepped the burning question of whether Beijing had tried to dissuade him from running so that he would not challenge his former colleague, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

He insisted he was confident Beijing would allow a fair contest, but projected himself as a better listener and team leader than the former No 2 official, who is seen as the central government’s preferred choice. And, like her, he remained vague on whether he would restart the political reform process for universal suffrage.

Tsang’s entry has kick-started the four-candidate race in which each will have to seek at least 150 nominations from a pool of 1,194 Election Committee members to qualify, and gain more than 600 votes to win on March 26.