Tang should quit election race, HK poll shows

HONG KONG: The fraying election hopes of China’s reported favourite to become the next leader of Hong Kong were dealt another blow with a poll showing most citizens think he should quit the race.

The University of Hong Kong survey heaped more pressure on Henry Tang, whose campaign was thrown into disarray last week by the discovery of an illegal underground leisure space in a house belonging to his wife.

Tang, whom any believe is Beijing’s preferred candidate to become Hong Kong’s next chief executive, admitted that he knew about the unauthorised structure, but blamed his wife for coming up with the idea.

The poll, which was carried out on Thursday and Friday, found 51.3% of the 516 people surveyed thought Tang should abandon his campaign.

“All figures show that Tang’s scandal has taken a big toll on his credibility, it may be unwise for him to stay in the race,” poll director Robert Chung told the Sunday Morning Post, which commissioned the survey.

“There is no doubt that public anger is on the rise. I personally do not find any effective damage control taken by Tang, so I still think the worst is yet to come.”

The University of Hong Kong pollsters said the survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.