27°C | Light rain
Feb 22, 2012
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen yesterday faced accusations he might have breached the bribery law in a private visit to Macau, during which he stayed on a luxury yacht offered by a tycoon friend.
Tsang's office denied that he violated the law, saying he paid a "market price" for the benefits.
Legislators at a special meeting voted down a request by People Power lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip to demand answers from Tsang over his weekend in the gambling enclave.
A spokesman for the chief executive's office said Tsang and his wife, Selina Tsang Pou Siu-mei, who went to Macau for a tomb-sweeping visit from Friday to Sunday, paid for their own ferry trip to Macau. The couple had been "accommodated and ate a light breakfast on his friend's yacht during their trip", the spokesman said, but did not have a luxurious lunch or dinner on the boat as suggested by media reports.
It is not known whether the couple stayed on the boat for one or two nights. The spokesman said Tsang had paid for related expenses before returning to Hong Kong, but refused to disclose the amount of the reimbursement to "his friend".
In a press release issued last night, the spokesman said Tsang had accepted his friend's invitation to return to Hong Kong on the yacht, and Tsang had paid for the voyage "at the market price, which is equivalent to the price of a ticket brought for the ferry".
The ferry ticket from Macau to Hong Kong costs HK$150 to HK$300.
As for the tri-deck luxury yacht on which Tsang stayed, one of them, the Moon Sand, costs about HK$6,000 a day to rent, according to a yacht website.
Barrister Albert Luk Wai-hung said the lack of transparency had created the suspicion that the chief executive may have breached the anti-corruption law.
Lawmaker Audrey Eu Yuet-mee said: "He [Tsang] should make it clear when he made the payment and how much he paid."
Lawmaker Lee Wing-tat said Tsang's visit was inappropriate. "Who knows whether there were benefits transferred between the CE and the tycoons, or whether the CE will work in the business sector after his retirement?"
Oriental Daily reported the couple were accompanied by tycoons Thomas Lau Luen-hung of Lifestyle International Limited and Charles Ho Tsu-kwok, chairman of Sing Tao News.
The latest version of the Prevention of Bribery (Amendment) Ordinance 2008, whose amendment was supervised by Tsang, imposes restrictions on the chief executive in respect to any acts of "solicitation and acceptance of advantage and possession of unexplained property". He also must make known all gifts with an estimated value exceeding HK$400.
The chief executive's office did not reply to a Post question about whether any part of Tsang's Macau trip would be registered on the gift list. The spokesman said there was no needed for principal officials to declare benefits given by friends while they were on leave. "The CE is not subject to the Code for Principal Officials under the Accountability System," he said. "But, still, the CE has always obeyed the code."
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