Tsang Tak Sing (; born 1949, Canton, China) is the former

Secretary for Home Affairs The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs is the head of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong, which is responsible for local issues, and the provision of community and youth services. List of office holders Regist ...

of Hong Kong. Formerly an adviser to the

Central Policy Unit Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, he assumed office on 1 July 2007, replacing

Patrick Ho Patrick Ho Chi-ping (born 24 July 1949 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong ophthalmologist turned politician. He joined the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the Preparatory Committee of Hong Kong SAR. When the Principal Offic ...

. He is the younger brother of Jasper Tsang, who was the legislative councillor and former chairman of the

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) is a pro-Beijing political party registered since 1992 in Hong Kong. Chaired by Gary Chan and holding 19 Legislative Council seats, it is currently the largest party ...

. Tsang is regarded as pro-Beijing with a long history of supporting the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

1967 riot participant

Tsang is a leftist who participated in the

Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots The 1967 Hong Kong riots were large-scale anti-government riots that occurred in Hong Kong during British colonial rule. Beginning as a minor labour dispute, the demonstrations eventually escalated into protests against the colonial governmen ...

,"Chan 'flabbergasted' by attack"
''South China Morning Post'', Thursday, 6 December 2006 when he was an Upper Form Six science student at St Paul's College.Fu, Hualing; Petersen, Carole; & Young, Simon N.M. ''National Security and Fundamental Freedoms: Hong Kong's Article 23 Under Scrutiny'' (2005), Hong Kong University Press. . An elite student in a prestigious school, Tsang had no ties with the leftist camp, but he was disgusted by the colonial government's oppression and viewed current society as decadent. He also branded the instruction at his school as simplistic, with many teachers not meeting the English level required for teaching. He drew up plans with a few classmates to support the leftist movement, and they distributed 375 leaflets in classrooms during lunchtime. However, Tsang, a school prefect at that time, was the only participant identified.

Arrest

He was arrested on 28 September 1967 after distributing anti-government and Communism promotion leaflets, which condemned "the education system aiming at enslavement", "The Colonial Government prohibits us from becoming patriotic, by quelling with fascist forces", around the entrance of his school. He was reported by the

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

R. G. Wells, arrested, tried and convicted on 9 October for two years for distributing inflammatory leaflets that promoted

public order crime In criminology, public-order crime is defined by Siegel (2004) as "crime which involves acts that interfere with the operations of society and the ability of people to function efficiently", i.e., it is behaviour that has been labelled criminal ...

, thus depriving him of his chance of a university education due to his past

criminal record A criminal record (not to be confused with a police record or arrest record) is a record of a person's criminal Conviction, convictions history. The information included in a criminal record, and the existence of a criminal record, varies betwe ...

. Tsang denied the charge and told the court that what he said in the leaflets was true and did not constitute

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

. Tsang was interviewed by Andrew Li Kwok-nang while serving his term. Li was a student at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, working as a summer intern at a magazine while doing a project on the worldwide student movements. Li was deeply impressed by Tsang, describing him as having "exceptional intellectual qualities" and remarking that he arrived at his conclusions through independent analysis, unlike most Hong Kong students.

Career

A younger brother of Jasper Tsang, he joined the ''

New Evening Post ''The New Evening Post'' ( Chinese: 新晚報) was a Hong Kong newspaper. It was the evening edition of ''Ta Kung Pao''. It started printing on October 15, 1950 and stopped printing on July 27, 1997. The famous novelist Jin Yong was an edito ...

'' after his release from

Stanley Prison Stanley Prison (c. January 1937, previously known as Hong Kong Prison at Stanley) is one of the six maximum security facilities in Hong Kong. History Built in 1937, Stanley Prison is currently the oldest institution still in service (the old ...

in 1969. He became chief editor of ''

Ta Kung Pao ''Ta Kung Pao'' (; formerly ''L'Impartial'' in Latin-based languages) is a Hong Kong-based, state-owned Chinese-language newspaper. Founded in Tianjin in 1902, the paper is controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government i ...

'' in 1988. He has been a Hong Kong deputy to the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...

since the same year and was appointed an adviser to the Central Policy Unit in 1998. He obtained from the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

two master degrees: Master of International and Public Affairs and Master of Arts in Comparative Literature. He was a

Nieman fellow The Nieman Fellowship is a fellowship from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. It awards multiple types of fellowships. Nieman Fellowships for journalists The Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

from 1994 to 1995. In December 2007 just days after

Anson Chan Anson Maria Elizabeth Chan Fang On-sang, (; ''née'' Fang; born 17 January 1940) is a retired Hong Kong politician and civil servant who was the first ethnic Chinese and woman to serve as Chief Secretary, the second-highest position in both ...

's pro-democratic party victory in the 2007 Hong Kong island by-election, he accused her of being a "sudden democrat" who "suddenly cares about people's livelihood". He further commented "Our new legislator today is a former official ... less she believes that

colonial rule Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an imperialist project, colonialism can also take ...

was democracy, I don't know whether she has worked for people's livelihood or officials' livelihood." On 30 March 2009 Tsang made a historic visit to

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

. This is the first visit to the island by a senior Hong Kong official since the 1997 transfer of sovereignty.

Sources

*"From jail to cabinet contender", ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...

'', 19 June 2007.

1967 riot participant

Arrest

Career

Sources

References

See also