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FM AMCONSUL HONG KONG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9582
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KONG 000233 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM; ALSO FOR DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2020 
TAGS: PGOV PINR HK
SUBJECT: JASPER TSANG ON EXECUTIVE-LEGISLATIVE RELATIONS 
(AND THE NEXT CE) 
 
REF: (A) HONG KONG 101 (B) 09 HONG KONG 2252 (C) 08 
     HONG KONG 2213 
 
Classified By: Acting Consul General Christopher Marut for reasons 1.4( 
b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Legislative Council (LegCo) President Jasper 
Tsang Yok-sing used a luncheon address organized by the Hong 
Kong Democratic Foundation to de-bunk a widely-held belief 
that relations between Hong Kong's executive and legislative 
branches were dysfunctional.  That many government 
initiatives slowed or even died in the initial consultation 
with LegCo was healthy, Tsang contended, because it meant 
legislators were reflecting the concerns of their 
constituents to the (unelected) executive.  Tsang saw the 
critical divide as cultural, with politicians serving in 
LegCo and civil servants dominating the executive.  While he 
did not criticize Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (no relation), he 
believed only a politician could succeed as Chief Executive. 
End summary. 
 
¶2. (C) Legislative Council (LegCo) President Jasper Tsang 
Yok-sing addressed a luncheon held by the Hong Kong 
Democratic Foundation (HKDF) on executive-legislative 
relations February 5.  Tsang, the founder and former chairman 
of Hong Kong's Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and 
Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), effectively removed himself from 
party politics when he became LegCo president, and has won 
plaudits for continuing former President Rita Fan Hsu 
Lai-tai's traditions of neutrality (Tsang, like Fan, does not 
vote) and defending LegCo as an institution.  Still 
influential within DAB, Tsang is nonetheless something of an 
outsider, supporting a more progressive democratic line than 
his more traditional, pro-Beijing colleagues led by current 
DAB chair Tam Yiu-chung.  Unusually for HKDF events, the 
luncheon was open to the press, which makes Tsang's candor 
all the more striking. 
 
---------------------- 
The Story of the Clash 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Tsang challenged the commonly-held notion that 
executive-legislative relations were dysfunctional.  Even the 
so-called opposition parties, he noted, supported the 
government's legislative program ninety-five percent of the 
time.  He admitted that a fair number of initiatives never 
became formal proposals because of opposition from LegCo 
parties during preliminary consultations.  He regarded this 
as a positive development.  "If controversial policies are 
slowed and unpopular policies are halted," Tsang argued, it 
meant legislators were reflecting the will of their 
constituents. 
 
¶4. (C) Where there was clash, Tsang suggested, it often 
reflected the cultural divide between LegCo, which is all 
politicians, and the executive, which is dominated by the 
civil service.  When voting to support a government proposal, 
Tsang explained, the most important consideration even for 
pro-government parties such as the DAB was whether it would 
harm them in the next general election. 
 
¶5. (C) Furthermore, Tsang seemed unimpressed with the 
Principal Officers' Accountability System (POAS), by which 
all cabinet positions were made political appointments (ref 
B).  He recalled former Chief Executive C.H. Tung's 
explanation that POAS would see cabinet secretaries out 
stumping at the grass roots, "competing" with elected 
legislators to build support for policies.  Policy 
secretaries have failed to take up this task, Tsang said 
bluntly, "including my brother."  (Note:  Tsang's brother 
Tsang Tak-sing, a former editor of Ta Kung Pao once jailed by 
the British for leftist political agitation, serves as Home 
Affairs Secretary for CE Tsang.  End note.) 
 
¶6. (C) Tsang noted with grim amusement the political bind in 
which so-called "pro-government" parties found themselves. 
If the government passed a popular measure, while parties on 
all sides could claim they pushed for the legislation, the 
government got all the credit.  When the government passed 
something unpopular (or pushed and failed to win), however, 
the political fallout landed on their allies in LegCo. 
 
¶7. (C) While he spoke well of incumbent Donald Tsang 
Yam-kuen, Tsang was clear that the next Chief Executive 
should not be either a business person, a civil servant or, 
for that matter, an academic without public service 
experience.  Hong Kong needed a politician, Tsang declared. 
(Note: As reported ref C, Rita Fan made exactly the same 
argument to former CG Donovan in 2008.  End note.) 
 
HONG KONG 00000233  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
---------------- 
No Train in Vain 
---------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Tsang pointed the audience toward what he saw as the 
silver lining in the recent debate over the proposed express 
link to the PRC national high-speed rail network (ref A). 
Even the bill's opponents, Tsang contended, were not against 
the rail link per se.  The problem that provoked the protest, 
Tsang said, was that the sales pitch from the government 
focused on the convenience of being able "to have breakfast 
at home, then be in Shanghai in time for an executive meeting 
before dinner."  Indirectly rebuking the administration, 
Tsang allowed that most ordinary citizens, including those 
about to lose their homes to clear a path for the rail line, 
might not find that argument sufficiently compelling to spend 
HK$60 billion (around USD 7.7 billion) in public money to 
construct the line. 
 
¶9. (C) Tsang saw two additional positive outcomes to the 
passage of the bill.  First, it focused popular attention on 
some deficiencies in the policy process, which he felt the 
government needed to address.  Second, he noted 
Transportation Secretary Eva Cheng Yu-wah (whom Tsang 
otherwise felt had done an excellent job) would now be 
reaching out further to young activists and the villagers 
affected by the rail route. 
MARUT