His name was later cleared when the Court of Final Appeal unanimously quashed his conviction and sentence in June 2019, on the ground that the trial judge had misdirected the jury.

He spent his childhood living in the Hollywood Road Police Married Quarters in Central, Hong Kong.

[11] Tsang joined the Civil Service as an Executive Officer in January 1967 and held many positions dealing with local administration, finance, trade and policies relating to the return of Hong Kong to China.

Tsang was responsible for implementing the Sino-British Joint Declaration, signed in 1984 to decide the Hong Kong's sovereignty to be transferred to China in 1997, and the promotion of the British Nationality Selection Scheme as Deputy Secretary of the General Duties Branch between 1985 and 1989.

In May 1993, he was promoted to Secretary for the Treasury, responsible for the overall resource allocation, the taxation systems and the cost effectiveness of the Hong Kong government.

[citation needed] In 2001, Tsang succeeded Anson Chan who retired citing personal reasons to be the Chief Secretary for Administration, the second-ranking position in the government.

[16] As he was generally regarded as being sidelined by Tung, Tsang was untainted by major policy blunders, such as the controversy over the legislation of the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 which led to a historic massive demonstration on 1 July 2003.

However, the term of the Chief Executive was disputed, which led to the interpretation of the Basic Law by the National People's Congress Standing Committee on 27 April to clarify that Tsang would only serve out the remaining two years of Tung Chee-hwa's term, rather than the full five years as some legal professionals argued.

Tsang also appointed some members from the pan-democracy camp to the government positions, including Lau Sai-leung to the Central Policy Unit which drew the criticism from the traditional Beijing-loyalists.

[18] In mid-2006 Tsang launched the "Action Blue Sky Campaign" and outlined a comprehensive plan to tackle air pollution in Hong Kong and in collaboration with the neighbouring Guangdong.

Ten large-scale infrastructure projects were also proposed within his term of office to boost economic activities to improve the living environment in Hong Kong: (1) MTR Southern District Extension; (2) MTR Sha Tin to Central Link; (3) Tuen Mun Western Bypass and Tuen Mun–Chek Lap Kok Link; (4) Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link; (5) Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge; (6) Hong Kong-Shenzhen Airport Co-operation; (7) Hong Kong-Shenzhen Joint Development of the Lok Ma Chau Loop; (8) West Kowloon Cultural District; (9) Kai Tak Development Plan; and (10) New Development Areas at Kwu Tung North, Fanling North, Ping Che and Ta Kwu Ling and Hung Shui Kiu.

For instance, to reduce the development density of the Central Ferry Piers site and open up the public space along the waterfront for entertainment, recreational and cultural uses; to remove the Central Market from the Application List and hand it over to the Urban Renewal Authority for conservation and revitalisation; and to convert the Murray Building into a hotel through open tender etc.

[22] After Great Recession led to a steep rise in unemployment especially among the banking and finance industries, Tsang announced on 8 December 2008 to create 60,000 jobs in 2009 by speeding up infrastructure projects and a ten-fold increase in its loan guarantee scheme for small and medium-sized enterprises.

After a year of negative record of GDP growth rate, the Hong Kong economy recovered quickly from 2010, despite the poverty population keep growing under Tsang tenure.

On the weekend of 29/30 May, Tsang and his ministers toured Hong Kong on an unpublicised itinerary to deliver flyers and meet the public.

[28] Tsang described as "myths" which surrounded the proposals – that it is regressive, it makes little difference whether it is passed or not, and that ordinary people are not concerned by political developments.

[29] Tsang also invited Audrey Eu of the Civic Party, the spokesperson of the "Five Constituencies Referendum" to a one-hour televised debate on 17 June.

[30] The central government made a U-turn on the moderate democrats' modified proposal tabled by the Democratic Party on 19 June, after South China Morning Post (SCMP) revealed that Donald Tsang had written a letter the previous week to Xi Jinping, vice-president in charge of Hong Kong affairs.

[31] With the moderate democrats' support, the proposals were approved by the Legislative Council, making it the first and only electoral reform to be passed in the SAR history.

This unprecedented revelations and move to impeach him launched by a pro-Beijing legislator Paul Tse shook the confidence in integrity of the city's officials.

[35] Tsang also set up an Independent Review Committee for the Prevention and Handling of Potential Conflicts of Interests chaired by former Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal Andrew Li on 26 February 2012 to review the existing frameworks and procedures for preventing and handling of potential conflicts of interests concerning the Chief Executive and other top officials.

In the last month of his office, Tsang fought back tears as he offered "sincere apologies" on 1 June, when he said: "I know that my mishandling of the various events has undermined the community's confidence in the integrity of the system and has disappointed my colleagues in the civil service.

On 5 October 2015, Tsang was charged with two counts of misconduct in public office after failing to disclose plans to rent a luxury penthouse for his retirement from Bill Wong Cho-bau applying for a broadcasting licence for the Digital Broadcasting Corporation (then Wave Media) by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), as well as failing to declare renowned interior designer Barrie Ho Chow-lai's engagement for decorating the penthouse when he recommended to the relevant government committee that Ho should receive an honour.

[38][39] An extra count of accepting an advantage from an agent for violating the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance over the Shenzhen penthouse was added on 11 October 2016.

[44] When he announced Tsang's sentence, Mr Justice Andrew Chan Hing-wai said "never in my judicial career have I seen a man fallen from so high.

[52] On 26 June 2019, the Court of Final Appeal unanimously quashed his conviction and sentence, after finding that the trial judge had failed to direct his jurors properly.

[53] Since Tsang was not convicted for bribery, the elements of "wilfulness" and "seriousness" in the misconduct in public office charge became especially important, and an adequate explanation was not given to the jury.

[55] Retired Hong Kong civil servants could lose all or part of their pension if they were convicted of an offence related to their office, subject to the chief executive's approval.

According to a television interview, this preference started somewhere between 1988 and 1993, when Tsang's office was adjacent to Deputy Political Adviser Stephen Bradley, who himself wore bow-ties.

Tsang felt comfortable with a bow-tie Bradley gave him, saying that its design brings fewer hurdles to its wearer than a necktie.