Beijing backs second term for HK head

Tung is the first Chinese to run Hong Kong after it was returned to China

HONG KONG, China -- The top mainland Chinese official in Hong Kong says he thinks Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa should keep his job.

This is the strongest signal yet that Beijing wants Hong Kong's leader to continue for a second term.

Director of the Chinese government's liaison office in Hong Kong, Jiang Enzhu, added his voice to a number of prominent Hong Kong tycoons who have endorsed Tung.

"In my view, Mr. Tung has done his job very well," Jiang told The Associated Press.

"Recently, I noticed many local dignitaries supported Mr. Tung taking on the election."

But his voice is not heard among all Hong Kong citizens.

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Tung is a former shipping tycoon chosen as the first Chinese to run Hong Kong after it was returned to China by Britain on July 1, 1997.

'Puppet of Beijing'

Many people view Tung as a puppet of Beijing who has done little to combat two severe economic downturns since the handover.

Pro-democracy figures and human rights activists say Tung has also failed to defend the Western-style liberties -- such as free speech and the rule of law -- in place for at least 50 years, following Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty.

But Jiang said: "It is of great significance to maintain the stability and continuity of the chief executive."

Within days, Tung is expected to announce that he wants to remain at his post for another term.

Some analysts believe he could be the only candidate in an electoral process that critics say keeps Beijing's favorites in control.

The chief executive post will be filled in a vote by an 800-member election committee.

Businessmen and representatives of special interest groups seen as beholden to big business or Beijing comprise the majority in the committee.

'Want an alternative'

To get on the ballot, any candidate needs public endorsements from at least 100 electors -- and it's unclear whether that many of them would publicly go against Beijing's wishes.

"Most Hong Kong people desperately want an alternative," Michael DeGolyer, a political scientist at the Hong Kong Baptist University, told AP.

At most, one in four people here have supported a second term for Tung, he said.

Others suspect the well-publicized push for Tung -- at least among business elites and pro-Beijing politicians -- is being carefully orchestrated to drown out public discontent.

"In the past, we had the right to remain silent, but now the business figures are compelled to say 'yes,"' Law Yuk-kai, director of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, told AP.