At times, individual SAR officials seem to have taken on the mind-set and mannerisms of Beijing cadres. Tung started the trend of issuing feel-good, consensus-generating statements even before the transition when he asked public figures and the media to changhao (sing the praise of) Hong Kong. Tung, in particular, is given to mounting stock clauses to drum up optimism. One of his favorites is: "If Hong Kong is doing well, it is good for our country"; and "If China is doing well, it is even better for Hong Kong." When asked about the Asian financial woes, his unvarying reply has been: "Hong Kong's fundamentals are very good," When things in the periphery have improved "Hong Kong will be the first area to gain full recovery." When the financial crisis first struck the SAR in October 1997, Financial Secretary Sir Donald Tsang Yamkuen asserted that the regional meltdown would not be more serious than the Mexican crisis and that "everything would be okay by Christmas." After Zhu Rongji had proclaimed in December that the yuan would not devalue "while I am still in office", Tsang followed suit by saying that the Hong Kong dollar's peg to the US dollar would be maintained "as long as I am in office."
Lam's assessment of Tung's performance is colorful: "While his authority has been somewhat dented by the SAR government's maladroit handling of the 'bird flu' crisis and the currency crisis. Tung aspires to have the stature of an East-Asiatic strongman the mode of Deng Xiaoping and Lee Kuan Yew, the two politicians he has said he admires most."
When the Chief Executive addresses the provisional legislature, legislators often clap their hands to show their deference. And the three Chinese-run papers in Hong Kong - Wen Wei Po. Ta Kung Pao and the Commercial Daily--cover Tung along the same lines that mainland media do when 'making propaganda' for CCP leaders.
"Deep-seated changes have already taken place in Hong Kong's cultural and media scene. In theory, the SAR remains a showcase for diversity. Hong Kong cinema houses are exempt from playing the national anthem before screening their products," Lam said. The SAR is still the base of a clutch of "anti-China" journals that have been branded as hostile to Beijing. They include The Nineties, Cheng Ming, Trend and The Frontline. No efforts have been made to prevent "anti-China" foreign media, such as Radio Free Asia, from setting up an office in the SAR.
