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Tycoon Ronnie Chan first public figure to openly endorse CY Leung in Hong Kong chief executive race
Hang Lung Group chairman praises current administration for handling of city’s land shortage issues in letter to shareholders
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Next March’s chief executive race is heating up, with property tycoon Ronnie Chan Chi-chung becoming the first prominent public figure to openly endorse incumbent Leung Chun-ying for a second term.
The remarks by the Hang Lung Group chairman came amid a widening rift between the chief executive and Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah, Leung’s potential rival in the coming race, over the controversial Wang Chau development plan.
In a rare gesture, Chan, a staunch supporter of Leung’s election bid in 2012, openly supported the current administration in his group’s interim report.
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Hong Kong had suffered from a shortage of land supply since the Asian financial crisis of 1997-99, he said, because the “incredibly foolish and irresponsible” government then had refused to sell the land it had monopolised.
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“The situation only began to change for the better when the present administration under Mr C.Y. Leung took office in 2012. The first step it undertook was to administratively control demand,” Chan wrote in the chairman’s letter to shareholders, referring to the introduction of double stamp duty, buyer stamp duty and other special measures which were “accomplished in less than two years”.
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