Chief executive may face some hard questions on first overseas trip, critics say
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is expected to meet US President George W. Bush later this month during his first overseas tours since taking office in July.
While the trips to the United States, Canada and Britain have been launched to promote Hong Kong's economic development, observers predict the heads of state will question Mr Tsang over constitutional reform if a government report next week fails to show progress on democratisation.
Mr Tsang will start his first trip in Vancouver, where he will lead a high-level delegation of officials and businessmen at the Hong Kong-Guangdong Business Forum on October 24, accompanied by Guangdong governor Huang Huahua .
The spotlight will be on a meeting with Mr Bush. The details of the meeting have yet to be finalised, but it is understood Mr Tsang will also meet senior officials in the US government, including officers from the State Department and other key government and business organisations.
After a brief return to Hong Kong, Mr Tsang will then head off to London, where he is expected to holding meetings with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Following tradition, Mr Tsang will deliver a keynote speech at an annual dinner hosted by the Trade Development Council on November 2, before speaking at a conference on Hong Kong organised by Wilton Park, an executive agency of the British Foreign Office.
