Clarify guidelines for former office holders, Hong Kong government told in wake of John Tsang probe

Lawmakers and analysts see no conflict of interest in Tsang’s unpaid radio and TV roles, and say government could have handled matter with more sensitivity

Reading Time:3 minutes

Former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah accused public broadcaster RTHK of suspending promotion of a television series featuring him as the host. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 1:15pm, 23 Oct 2017Updated: 12:33pm, 24 Oct 2017

Guidelines on the work Hong Kong’s top officials can do after stepping down are unclear, lawmakers and a think-tank head said on Monday, in the wake of a row with former financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah over his role in a television show.

They urged the government to make these regulations clearer after Tsang last week accused public broadcaster RTHK of suspending the promotion of a series hosted by him, because he did not inform a government advisory committee beforehand.

Tsang claimed he did not need to, as he took part in the 10-episode Hong Kong Stories as a form of social service and was neither paid nor employed.

On Sunday, RTHK’s director of broadcasting Leung Ka-wing said the programme hosted by Tsang would air as scheduled in mid-November, with the show promoted one to two weeks before then.

Leung said he was not under any pressure to kill the programme but had received an email from a government official saying Tsang had not declared his involvement in the show.

The saga has exposed the ambiguities in the existing declaration guidelines for former office holders and raised questions on whether the government could have handled the matter with more political sensitivity.