In 2003, more than 500,000 protesters demanded Tung to step down in the light of the proposed legislation of the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 and the SARS outbreak.

Tung Chao Yung was the founder of the Orient Overseas Container Line, a shipping company which was closely associated with the government of the Republic of China.

His father remained close to Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang government on Taiwan, in which the logo OCCL has been plum blossom, the national flower of the Republic of China.

[17] Before the election, he received a warm handshake from Jiang Zemin who crossed a crowded room to single out Tung, which was seen as a sign of him being regarded as Beijing's choice for the Chief Executive.

On 11 December 1996, he was elected by a 400-member Selection Committee, receiving 320 votes and beating former judge Yang Ti-liang and tycoon Peter Woo, all three candidates were of Shanghainese descent.

[18] In early 1997, Tung saw his victory in the first Chief Executive election,[19] in the voting conducted by 400 committees of electoral college whose members are appointed by the Chinese Government.

The Asian financial crisis that hit Hong Kong in months after Tung took office made this objective almost immediately redundant and, in fact, it was a collapse in property prices that became a far more pressing problem in the years between 1998 and 2002.

Job losses and plummeting values in the stock and property markets, combined with controversial economic policies (which were called crony capitalism at the time), the people of Hong Kong started to question Tung and the HKSAR government.

[21][22] The way in which[23] the Walt Disney Company's land grant for its theme park on a 50-year lease apparently disrupted the market, and for studying the possibility of setting up a casino in Hong Kong.

His administration was seen as troubled, particularly during the confusion of the first days of the new airport, the mis-handling of the avian influenza epidemic, declining standards due to education reforms (specifically teaching in the Cantonese "mother tongue" and mandatory English examination for teachers), the right of abode issue,[24] and his disagreement of political views[25] with the popular then Chief Secretary, Anson Chan.

The system was portrayed as the key to solve previous administrative problems, notably the cooperation of high-ranking civil servants with the Chief Executive.

The first major move of Tung in his second term was to push for the national security legislation to implement Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law in September 2002.

The sentiment, together with other factors such as the SARS epidemic in early 2003, when the government was criticised for its slow response, strained hospital services and the unexpected death toll, resulted in the largest mass demonstration since the establishment of HKSAR, with an estimated 500,000 people (out of the population of 6,800,000) marching on 1 July 2003.

[34] During the debate over Hong Kong's constitutional development, Tung was criticised as not reflecting effectively the views of the general population to push for 2007/08 universal suffrage to the People's Republic of China government.

[35] Although the primary target of popular opposition was the PRC government, Tung's lack of support for the pro-democratic camp resulted in his low approval ratings.

[36] In late 2003, in an attempt to bring back visitors to Hong Kong, Government agency InvestHK was mandated to sponsor the Harbour Fest music festival in October, organised by the American Chamber of Commerce.

The result was a series of poorly attended concerts, HK$100m bill for the taxpayers, with the Government, InvestHK and the American Chamber of Commerce blaming each other for the flop,[37] EOC chairman to be added.

Official sources specifically cited the poor handling of the Link REIT listing, the West Kowloon cultural project, the Hung Hom flats episode.

[45] Prior to Tung's resignation, in mid-February Stanley Ho, a tycoon with close ties with Beijing, had already commented on the possible candidates for the next Chief Executive and personally endorsed Donald Tsang.

All the local newspapers, except for the three controlled by the PRC government, namely Ta Kung Pao, Wen Wei Po and Hong Kong Commercial Daily, went to the presses preemptively on the morning of 2 March with the headline "Tung Resigns".

Cruz also noted Tung's CPPCC vice chairmanship is "an organization which works closely with the United Front, the structure the CCP utilizes to manage foreign influence operations.

The foundation has about 80 advisors which consists some of the most well known tycoons and public figures, drawn from the business, education, social welfare, legal and religious sectors, including former Financial Secretary Antony Leung, former Monetary Authority Chief Executive Joseph Yam, and Jack Ma, the chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.