For a man who tends to avoid the press, Tung Chee-hwa was in relaxed mood when he spoke at the Foreign Correspondents' Club this week.
Reminiscing about his association with the club, he said he was introduced by his father, shipping tycoon C.Y. Tung, a member after his return from the United States in 1969. Mr Tung said he lunched 'almost every day' at the old quarters in Sutherland House. Then came the shipping crisis of 1985 and like most companies trying to stay afloat 'we cut club memberships . . . unfortunately the FCC was a victim'. Mr Tung's appearance followed a luncheon speech there by Martin Lee, who had accused him of not knowing the ABC of politics. Mr Tung told his audience: 'I get advice from people every day. Some say I don't know the ABC of politics . . . Some, including friends of my wife, ask me to dye my hair . . . But I am how I am.' After this spontaneous delivery, he said: 'This is just the hors doeuvre . . .', and pulled from his inside pocket a speech giving the unpalatable news about Hong Kong's economic situation.
Later, chairwoman designate Diane Stormont gave him an honorary FCC card bearing his old membership number.
But his charm offensive didn't beguile everybody. One committee member remarked: 'As long as Mr Tung is speaking in English he's OK, In Chinese it's all cadre-speak.' Information Technology and Broadcasting Secretary Kwong Ki-chi got off to a bad start in his new post with his press conference to announce approval for the ATV takeover. He refused to answer journalists' questions about the identities of the shareholders behind Dragon Viceroy and Rankon, the shelf companies set up by the consortium which has very strong China ties. 'Look it up at the Companies Registry,' he barked.
That proved to be a waste of time as they were all identified on a press release Mr Kwong had been holding back until after the conference. He only instructed his minders to distribute the information after journalists protested. His strategy seemed aimed to frustrate questioning about close links between consortium members and Phoenix Chinese channel chairman Liu Changle.
'That is really a nasty trick,' said Frontier legislator and former journalist Emily Lau.
So much for a free and unhindered media, which should be one of Mr Kwong's aims.
