CY Leung claims columnist used daughter’s health problems for ‘political propaganda’
Chief executive hits out at columnist for using daughter's health in political analogy
Leung Chun-ying on Friday condemned as "political propaganda" a newspaper column that drew an analogy between the chief executive's troubled daughter and his political opponents.
In a letter to the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Leung expressed "extreme regret" that a piece by Joseph Lian Yi-zheng, published on Thursday, showed utter disregard to his daughter Chai-yan's health woes.
The column appeared two days after Leung pleaded with the media and public to leave Chai-yan alone, as he admitted for the first time that she was receiving medical treatment for unspecified health problems.
In his commentary, Lian, a former member of the government's Central Policy Unit think tank, compared Chai-yan to Hongkongers fighting for freedom and said her parents were like a repressive regime.
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"As chief executive, I don't mind people expressing different opinions. But people holding different political views should not use the health or emotional problems of family members of public office holders to serve their purpose of political propaganda," Leung wrote, in a letter published by the paper yesterday.
"Chai-yan's state of illness is not light and she needs space for recovery," he wrote. "Political attacks should never affect one's family. This is the bottom line for any person. I urge Lian and your newspaper to stop doing this."