bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Gary Cheung

Chief executive hopeful Henry Tang Ying-yen attempted to deflect a  rising tide of speculation yesterday by admitting he had been unfaithful to his wife - something that has long been rumoured in political circles.
Three days after describing the rumours as 'very entertaining', Tang admitted he had 'strayed'.
In a Chinese-language statement issued jointly with his wife, Kwok Yu-chin, Tang, 59, admitted  having been unfaithful. A public relations firm which issued the statement later said part of it should be read in English as: 'I have strayed in my love life and I feel deeply remorseful and guilty.'
The former chief secretary also said Kwok had forgiven him, for which he was 'very thankful'.
Tang's statement was issued after weeks of gossip that he had had an affair with Shirley Yuen,  his former administrative assistant and now CEO of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.
Tang's statement did not name anyone and  Yuen strongly denied she had been involved. She expressed 'deep anger' at  the rumours and insisted she had nothing to do with Tang's  love life.
Tang's statement came after Kwok, his wife of 27 years, responded to the gossip for the first time. In a  report published yesterday in the Chinese-language magazine Eastweek, she said there had been 'difficult times' which were now over.
Less than two hours after Tang issued  his statement  the couple emerged hand in hand from their home on The Peak to meet reporters, but said they had nothing  to add.
The terse confession left some issues hanging in the air, including whether Tang admitted having more than one affair. The PR firm refused to provide  a full English  translation of Tang's statement.   After the South China Morning Post sought clarification on whether Tang  was admitting to 'a mistake' or 'mistakes',  it said only that he had 'strayed'.
Elizabeth Chan, who worked  as Tang's personal assistant when he was a lawmaker, also strongly denied having an affair with him. 'I and the other assistants had heard nothing about him having any extramarital affairs back then,' said Chan, who now works in the PR industry.
Analysts felt the episode would not affect Tang's chances of  becoming chief executive, but some said his handling of the matter was not satisfactory. Chinese University political scientist Ivan Choy Chi-keung said the issue could dominate the media's agenda. 'Whenever Tang shows up  at any event, reporters will keep on asking [about his love life],' he said. 
While Tang's  confession is unlikely to affect Beijing's perception of him, the fact that he has gone public could be  inconvenient.  
The Communist Party  in August  banned the promotion of officials with a record of immoral behaviour, in an attempt to assuage   public anger over  corruption and unethical conduct among cadres. The rule applies only to mainland officials, but having a chief executive in Hong Kong with a tarnished reputation could  be embarrassing to Beijing.




'Unfaithful' Tang comes clean