Donald Tsang : Ask Biography

Personal data

Date of birth

7 October 1944(age 72)

Place of birth

Japanese Hong Kong

Nationality

Chinese (Hong Kong)

Spouse

Selina, Lady Tsang ( )

Residence

Government House

Alma mater

John F. Kennedy School of Government (MPA)

Profession

politician, civil servant

Religion

Roman Catholic

2nd Chief Executive of Hong Kong

Assumed office

25 June 2005

Majority

Unopposed (2005)
84.07% (2007)

Preceded by

Henry Tang (acting)

In office

13 March 2005 - 24 May 2005 (acting)

Succeeded by

Henry Tang (acting)

Preceded by

Tung Chee-Hwa

Chief Secretary for Administration

Assumed office

1 May 2001 � 25 May 2005

Succeeded by

Michael Suen (acting)

Preceded by

Anson Chan

Financial Secretary of Hong Kong

Assumed office

1 September 1995 � 30 June 1997

Governor

Chris Patten

Preceded by

Hamish Macleod

Assumed office

1 July 1997 � 30 April 2001

Succeeded by

Anthony Leung

Home | Office Holder | Donald Tsang

Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, GBM, KBE (born 7 October 1944) is the current Chief Executive and President of the Executive Council of the Government of Hong Kong.

Tsang began his civil service career in 1967, occupying various positions in finance and trade in the Hong Kong Civil Service, and was appointed Financial Secretary of Hong Kong in 1995, becoming the first ethnic Chinese to hold the position under British administration. He remained in that position after the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong before being appointed Chief Secretary for Administration after the resignation of Anson Chan. Tsang has won praise for his handling of the Hong Kong economy both as Chief Executive in the mid-2000s and as Financial Secretary in the late 1990s.

He assumed the office of Chief Executive of Hong Kong in 2005. Since his appointment, he has been criticised for the government's mishandling of a number of incidents, most notably the demolition of Queen's Pier, Political Appointments System, the Leung Chin-man appointment controversy, and the Employee Retraining Levy waiver controversy. Tsang's popularity rating was 51.6% in January 2009, with 16.2% of those surveyed being satisfied with the government's performance, while 34.4 percent believed it was below par.