Tung was handpicked by former Chinese President Jiang Zemin in 1996 and was openly endorsed by Jiang for a second term in 2002. But he was not popular because the public viewed him as a puppet of China and a crony of big developers, particularly Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest person.
随之而来的，是特首董建华在三月的辞呈。民间普遍认为董是被免职或是在压力下辞职的。董是由前中国国家主席江泽民在1996年钦定，并由江在2002年公开认可得以连任的。但他却不得民心。因为公众将他看作是中国的傀儡并认为他与商业巨子们过从甚密，特别是与香港首富李嘉诚。