Tung's empty promises

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa raised some hope for genuine reform when he made the unexpected pledge during his policy address to remain 'resolutely against collusion between business and the government' by strictly enforcing the 'monitoring systems to eliminate any transfer of benefits'. The pledge came after President Hu Jintao urged Mr Tung and his senior aides to identify the inadequacies of their governance.

That undertaking soon turned into an empty assurance. In answering questions from legislators the following day, Mr Tung emphatically denied that there had been any collusion between the government and business, and insisted that there had been no 'transfer of benefits'. Instead, he encouraged the public to report any irregularities to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Despite his image as an 'honest old man', Mr Tung deliberately sought to confuse the public. The ICAC handles corruption on a case-by-case basis. This is different to the uneven playing field he has created. Since he took up office, Hong Kong's major policies have all been biased towards the business sector.

After the 1997 handover, the Tung administration changed the rules of the game. The legislature and the 400 or so consultative bodies have been eviscerated and often bypassed. The Executive Council is no longer a high-powered decision-making centre. The chief executive is supposed to be held accountable to Beijing. In reality, there is no effective mechanism to restrain him, making possible the lopsided housing policy; the reclamation of Victoria Harbour; the Hunghom Peninsula fiasco; the Link Reit listing saga; and the granting of Cyberport - and possibly the West Kowloon cultural district project - to a single consortium.

The crux of the matter is that this government has paid less and less respect to the established rules and procedures. Major decisions are based on Mr Tung's whims. There has been a lack of transparency, with officials refusing to hand over crucial documents in order for the legislature and the media to play their role as watchdogs.

The policy speech was obviously just meant to pay lip service to Beijing's demands. The chief executive did not appear to have one iota of sincerity when he preached about eliminating 'transfer of benefits'.