Questions asked by the Ming Pao newspaper the previous October met with Tang's denial that he had a basement wine cellar at this residence.
According to Tang, an underground garage on his family's adjacent property (7 York Road) existed at the time of purchase, and had since been excavated "for storage" but not as a wine cellar.
[6] On 15 February, having acknowledged the existence of the basement, Tang rejected demands by media organisations to inspect it on grounds of privacy, saying "It doesn't matter what the facilities inside are.
[12] Pundits said Tang, with his privileged background and his tycoon backers, embodied Hong Kong’s political and economic elite which the general public felt was out of touch with the rest of the population.
[13] A poll conducted by the University of Hong Kong showed a sharply declining level of support for Tang to stay in the race over the two days of the breaking scandal.
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said it would "carefully consider the saga and Tang's personal integrity to determine whether they will nominate and support him in the chief executive election."
[19] Gregory Wong, former president of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, described the work as relatively simple and could be completed within two weeks at a cost of about HK$300,000 (US$38,500).
[20] Then Secretary for Development Carrie Lam said that the Buildings Department investigation into Tang's illegal construction would be a drawn-out process.
She warned of criminal proceedings against Tang and his wife if there was evidence that drawings submitted to the Buildings Department in 2007 had "knowingly" been misrepresented.
[19] Property owners found guilty of knowingly undertaking construction work without government approval may face two years in jail and a fine of up to HK$400,000; owners misrepresenting any drawings submitted to the Buildings Department are liable to a fine of HK$1 million and three years in prison.
[21] Commentators observed that Henry Tang had embarrassed Beijing and made it lose control of the election process.