John Tsang wins Hong Kong leadership battle ... at least on Facebook

Less than two weeks before election day, chief executive candidate John Tsang Chun-wah took to his Facebook page to “agree” with his critics.

“An opportunist. Someone who does not have his own views and is unreliable. Someone who always agrees with his boss. That’s John Tsang Chun-wah,” the former financial secretary said in a video posted on March 14.

That post has drawn 24,000 “likes”, more than 1,000 comments and was shared 2,600 times. It was a social media sensation his rival Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor could only dream about.

Tsang was in fact turning the tables on his critics, reading out negative comments made about him on social media, a tactic reminiscent of the popular American show Jimmy Kimmel Live, where celebrities are invited to read mean tweets targeting them.

In response to the comment, left by “Peter”, Tsang said: “Peter, my boss is actually you. The 7.3 million people in Hong Kong are my bosses.”

That post showed how far the election underdog was willing to go to win the hearts of the people. Analysts said Tsang’s campaign team had identified his strength – his popularity – and successfully sold it to the public through social media. By contrast, Lam’s team had failed to identify her edge and give a much-needed theme to her Facebook page.