Former chief Tung Chee-hwa looks to future with launch of his think tank

Former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa launched his think tank yesterday, asserting that its most urgent missions were to win support for the government's 2017 chief executive election plan, boost social mobility for the younger generation and groom future political leaders.

Tung, now a vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, also urged Occupy Central protesters to end their campaign, which he said had had a negative impact on the city's economy and undermined Hong Kong's rule of law.

"The government hopes that the occupation campaign can end peacefully. But it's impossible for social order to be disrupted and laws not observed for a long time," he said.

Tung, who made a similar plea to Occupy activists on October 24, noted that protesters and pan-democrats had paid a heavy price in their fight for democracy. "But other residents have paid an even heavier price. Now it's the time to end the occupation," he said. "Time will not wait for you."

His comments were made just one day after President Xi Jinping told Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in Beijing that the central government would "resolutely support" the Hong Kong government's efforts to safeguard the city's rule of law.

Tung said one of the top priorities of his newly established think tank, Our Hong Kong Foundation, was to create conditions for an early and peaceful end of the Occupy movement, which has paralysed parts of the city for more than six weeks.

The foundation has 88 advisers, including former financial secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung, former Monetary Authority chief executive Joseph Yam Chi-kwong, former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen and former Democrat lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen.