Henry Tang faces an uphill battle to win public support for GST, warns Patten

Former governor Chris Patten said yesterday the finance chief had an uphill battle to win public support for his proposed goods and services tax.

A day after his spat with Henry Tang Ying-yen about fiscal policy before the handover, Lord Patten said: 'If [Mr Tang] could convince people in the next few months that there is a case for a sales tax, good luck to him. My impression is that it may be an uphill struggle.'

On Saturday, Mr Tang said Lord Patten 'patted his butt and left' in 1997, leaving the city ill-prepared for the Asian financial crisis that followed. Lord Patten responded by pointing out that Hong Kong's finances during his governorship were largely managed by Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who is now Mr Tang's boss.

'I don't want to have an argument with him [Henry Tang]. I barely know him. I'm far too old to get into this sort of face-slapping politics,' Mr Patten told Cable TV.

Lord Patten praised Mr Tsang for his courage in fending off currency speculators during the Asian financial crisis, saying he would not have been bold enough to take such action during his rule.

These remarks were made during interviews with local television stations.