The Wrong Man for the Job

It is often the fate of unpopular political leaders to discover that news of their departure is more compelling than anything they did while in office. Tung Chee-hwa is discovering this to be so, as Hong Kong brims with reports of his pending resignation.

Although Tung is widely perceived as both incompetent and out of touch, his departureif it indeed takes placeis unlikely to be greeted with enthusiasm. On the contrary, many in Hong Kong will see it as an ominous sign of China's tightened grip on the political system, flying in the face of previous assurances that...