High-profile Hong Kong figures hit out at judge in Donald Tsang bribery trial
Former justice secretary Wong Yan-lung and former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah say they were not part of a public relations stunt
An unexpected court row raged on Tuesday as prominent figures hit back at a judge who had denounced the appearance of high-profile personalities at the trial of former Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang Yam-kuen as an “undesirable” public relations stunt.
Tsang himself broke his silence to express gratitude to his supporters, counting among them former ministers and bureaucrats.
One of them, Wong Yan-lung, issued a statement challenging Mr Justice Andrew Chan Hing-wai’s observation as being “factually incorrect”. Wong was secretary for justice during Tsang’s term as chief executive between 2005 and 2012.
A day after Donald Tsang was also ordered to pay a third of the government’s HK$13.7 million (US$1.76 million) legal cost for his bribery trial, his spokesman said: “Amid the difficulties over the past few years, Donald Tsang would like to thank members of the public and friends who have expressed heartfelt care and support.”
In his judgment, Chan criticised what he deemed to be the public relations tactics used during Tsang’s trial in November last year.