Former Hong Kong financial secretary John Tsang unflappable despite underdog label in chief executive race

He sticks to humour to show he is still in the game even though he is not seen as Beijing’s choice

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John Tsang, with his wife Lynn Tsang Wong Lynn-wah, at a press conference to declare his candidacy for the chief executive race. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Published: 11:45pm, 19 Jan 2017Updated: 10:40am, 20 Jan 2017

A serious question was asked but if anyone was expecting an equally serious answer, John Tsang Chun-wah was not about to give it. Instead, he turned to humour to reveal his stance: he was unflappable.

Towards the end of a press conference to declare his candidacy for the chief executive race, a reporter asked: “Do you think you have a high chance of winning if you are able to secure sufficient nominations as some people might defy Beijing’s will and vote for you at last via secret ballots?”

Watch: John Tsang declares bid to lead Hong Kong

“So exciting?” asked the former financial secretary in a mix of mock horror and surprise, sending the crowd into stitches.

Tsang has been regarded as an underdog in the chief executive election because of the inordinately long time it took Beijing to approve his resignation from his post so he could enter the race.

But the question from the reporter struck at the core of the race: will enough pro-establishment voters in the 1,194-member Election Committee dare to vote for Tsang instead of Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, seen as Beijing’s preferred candidate?

The race heated up when Tsang declared he intended to reach out to the pan-democrats, who hold one-third of the votes in the committee. Could he be the dark horse who might give Lam a rude shock come March 26?