Tung Chee-hwa's friendship with Xi Jinping may aid CY Leung

Reporters must corner their interview subjects with the toughest questions. But whether those questions are answered is entirely up to the one being interviewed.

Thus, it was a shock to those who know him well when the normally meticulously and cautious Tung Chee-hwa answered questions in a live interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour recently.

Smiling and in a relaxed tone, Tung, the former chief executive of Hong Kong and now a vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference openly revealed his thoughts about China's leadership transition, as well as the health of Vice-President Xi Jinping .

Tung had agreed to do the interview during his recent visit to the US, and the South China Morning Post has learned that his aides in Hong Kong did not know of it in advance. That means it was not arranged before he left, which is not quite like the prudent Tung.

During the interview, two important messages concerning the leadership change emerged from Tung, an authoritative person, who is himself a "state leader". One, that without doubt Xi will be the next Chinese leader; and, two, President Hu Jintao may stay on as military head "for some time, based on past practice".

Since Tung stepped down as Hong Kong's chief executive in 2005, he has been very low-key, never touching on any sensitive issues in public. He rarely comments on Sino-US relations, playing his role as China's top "lobbyist" to the US because of his and his family's close connections with American political and business leaders.

But now, Tung seems to be the de facto spokesman for Beijing on top state issues. This clearly shows the trust he has won from Zhongnanhai and its future master, Xi.