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The lives of Tung and Lee will continue to intersect as both seek to ensure that Hong Kong survives its historic transition intact. "Martin is so stubborn," Tung says of his rival. Tung prefers a get-along and go-along strategy that will build up trust in Beijing. "It's only in that way that they will keep hands off," says a friend and political ally. Lee thinks that will not work with communists. "C.H. is a good man who may be forced to do evil," he says. So Lee intends to keep confronting China in the law courts. In fact, Hong Kong needs them both--and each knows it.
It is, of course, easier to be the Emperor's conscience than to be the Emperor himself. Lee's challenge after the hand-over is to retain his moral authority yet not use it to provoke the very crackdown he decries. The challenge facing Tung is far tougher. He has the unenviable task of ruling with the mandate of a mistrusted regime and without the popular mandate of the people. He must ensure that Hong Kong will enjoy the "high degree of autonomy" China promised. And he must prove to Beijing that Hong Kong will not become a dangerous base for subversion. Lee is not the only man who thinks his friend Tung will be hard pressed to do both.
For a special report on Hong Kong, see our Website at time.com/hongkong