Image copyright AP Image caption CY Leung said he would step down for family reasons

Hong Kong chief executive CY Leung has said he will not seek re-election in March, citing family reasons for the surprise announcement.

Speaking at a news conference, Mr Leung said: "If I run my family will suffer an intolerable stress."

Mr Leung has often been accused by pro-democracy campaigners of putting China's interests above those of the people of Hong Kong.

He will step down when his term ends in July 2017.

His successor will be elected by a 1,200-member, mostly pro-Beijing, Election Committee, rather than by the wider electorate.

In 2014, two years after Mr Leung took office, massive pro-democracy rallies in Hong Kong failed to win any concessions from him or from China, and he was vilified by protesters who accused him of being too close to Beijing.

He said that he was stepping down out of "responsibility as a father and a husband", and not because of his perceived unpopularity.

He did not want to give further details of his family situation.

According to reports in Hong Kong media, Mr Leung's 25-year-old daughter has been in hospital for more than a month, although the reasons are unclear.

He added that "the central authorities including the top leaders in the country have been very supportive of my work all these years". </s> Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announces that he will not run again for office and will step down at the end of his term in July, citing family reasons (AFP Photo/ANTHONY WALLACE)

Hong Kong's unpopular leader Leung Chun-ying, who has been vilified by critics as a puppet of Beijing, said Friday he would not run again for office after a term marked by anti-China protests and political divisions.

Leung said he would step down at the end of his term in July for family reasons after speculation intensified in recent weeks over who would get the nod from Beijing for leadership elections in March.

Some pro-democracy campaigners predicted there would be public "euphoria" at the news, while analysts said the announcement had come as a surprise, just three months before the election in which Leung was widely expected to run for a second term.

Leung said Beijing had been "very supportive" and said he was not stepping down because of a lack of backing from China.

"The central government has always fully affirmed and had high opinions of my work," he said.

China has accepted Leung's decision, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Leung took office in 2012 as concerns were growing that Beijing was tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city and his opponents have slammed him as a hardline leader overseeing the erosion of Hong Kong's freedoms.

His term has been one of political crises with massive pro-democracy rallies in 2014 bringing tens of thousands onto the streets calling for reform and for Leung to step down.

The failure of the protests to win any concessions left the city starkly divided between pro-establishment and pro-democracy camps and sparked an independence movement calling for the city to break entirely from Beijing.

China has expressed its fury over the movement, which it says is illegal and will damage Hong Kong's prosperity.

Last month two democratically elected lawmakers who support a split from China were barred from taking up their seats after an intervention from Beijing.

A group of more moderate pro-democracy lawmakers are facing a court case Thursday brought by the government which is also seeking to remove them from the legislature.

Pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong, who led the 2014 rallies, said that while some people might celebrate Leung's decision, there were now fears that he would simply be replaced with another hardline leader.

The chief executive is chosen by a 1,200-strong committee of special interest groups weighted towards Beijing.

The mass "Umbrella Movement" rallies of 2014 were calling for that system to be overturned and for the leader to be chosen by the public.

Those protests were triggered after Beijing said Hong Kong could choose its own chief executive, but that candidates would have to be vetted.

"I think CY Leung not getting re-elected is of course a good thing... he has triggered lots of public discontent," Wong told AFP but added there needed to be broader fundamental changes.

"The problem is not about people, but that the system needs to be reformed," he said.

Pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo also warned that campaigners should not be complacent.

"Whoever is chief executive is still going to be hand-picked by Beijing," Mo told AFP.

Analyst Joseph Cheng said that there had been speculation that Beijing had refused to back Leung as it had not signalled support.

"Normally we expect some signals from Beijing by this time," he said.

There are question marks over how much support Leung could rally from the pro-establishment camp after his rocky term. Beijing may want a stronger candidate, said analyst Edmund Cheng.

Leung only secured 689 votes of 1,200 in 2012.

"To assure that Beijing has better control of the current system, they may want to increase the legitimacy of the next chief executive, and they may want someone to get more (votes) than that," said Cheng, professor of government and international studies at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Leung said he was stepping down out of "responsibility as a father and a husband" and that it was not to do with his performance as leader.

Reports in local media have said that Leung's daughter Leung Chai-yan, 25, has been in hospital for more than a month, although the reasons are unclear.

His daughter hit the headlines in 2015 after slapping her mother in public and announced she was leaving home because of explosive rows with her parents.

China's spokesman for Hong Kong and Macao Affairs told Xinhua: "We express our deep regret that Leung has decided not to pursue another term due to family reasons, and we respect his decision."

Only one candidate has declared they are running for the leadership so far -- retired judge Woo Kwok-hing.

"With Mr. Leung not running, I hope society will be less divided," Woo said Friday. </s> HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed leader Leung says he won’t run again after term ends next year for family reasons. </s> Hong Kong's divisive Beijing-backed leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, said Friday he won't run again for the job after his current term ends next year, citing unspecified family reasons.

In a surprise announcement, Leung, who was chosen by a panel of Beijing-friendly tycoons and other Hong Kong elites, said he would step aside after his five-year term ends next June.

"I will not participate in the next chief executive election. The reason is that in the coming period of time I need to attend to my family," Leung told reporters. "In my family, my children only have one father, my wife only has one husband," said Leung, who has three grown children, adding that he didn't want to say more publicly.

He is deeply unpopular in Hong Kong because of the hard-line stance his government has taken against pro-democracy lawmakers, activists and supporters.

Last week he and the justice secretary filed a legal challenge against four pro-democracy lawmakers in an attempt to disqualify them from office because they modified their oaths of office. Last month, the government won a similar challenge against two newly elected separatist lawmakers.

In 2014, Leung refused to negotiate with student pro-democracy activists who led protests occupying the streets of the Asian financial hub for nearly three months.

Leung said he had Beijing's full support and he would give his backing to whomever became Hong Kong's next leader.

He spoke two days before a vote to choose the elite committee that will pick his successor. Members of trade and professional groups representing business sectors such as financial services, catering, real estate and accounting will vote for the panel's 1,200 members.

The panel is scheduled to pick Hong Kong's next leader in March, and most members are expected vote for the person Beijing chooses. </s> Hong Kong (CNN) A cheer went up from the crowd as the bottles of champagne were popped.

Outside Hong Kong's Government House, protesters handed out plastic cups of wine as they chanted slogans celebrating the downfall of the city's top official, a rare moment of celebration for the beleaguered pro-democracy movement.

On Friday, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced he will not seek re-election, citing family reasons.

His removal was a key demand of the 2014 Umbrella Movement mass demonstrations and many protests since, and there was a mood of jubilation Saturday as demonstrators gathered in the city's business district for an anti-government rally.

'CY did not beat us'

Longtime anti-government lawmaker "Longhair" Leung Kwok-hung told CNN on Saturday he was happy to see the back of CY Leung, as the chief executive is known, but said "his legacy will continue," as several of his key allies are being mulled as potential successors.

"It's not a victory, but CY did not beat us," he said.

Unconcerned about his own fate, the lawmaker said if he were removed "young blood will emerge" to take his place.

Lawmaker Lau Siu-lai, who took part in the Umbrella Movement, said Leung's decision not to seek re-election was a vindication of the protests.

"It shows our will, and power to turn the will of Beijing," she said, but voiced concern the pro-democracy movement would find itself with an even less desirable chief executive, Regina Ip.

"We are very worried," Lau said. "She is more dangerous than CY Leung."

Ip, one of the few candidates to have already declared her intentions to run in the March election, is a former security secretary who stepped down in 2003 after mass protests against a proposed anti-sedition law.

But lawmaker Edward Yiu said Saturday there was a rare opportunity next year for the pro-democracy minority on the election committee to play kingmaker in a split vote between two pro-government candidates.

"I am quite optimistic," he said. "We could (then) fight for more universal suffrage in the coming term." </s> Hong Kong's Beijing-backed leader, deeply unpopular because of his hard-line response to massive 2014 pro-democracy protests and an ensuing separatist movement, said Friday he won't seek another term in office, citing family reasons.

In a surprise announcement, Leung Chun-ying said he would step aside after his five-year term ends next June.

"If I run for the next term of the chief executive, I'm afraid my family will come under unbearable pressure in the coming months," he told reporters. "I must protect them."

Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper reported earlier in the day that one of his daughters has been in hospital for a month.

"As a father, as a husband, I have a responsibility," said Leung, who has two other children. "In my family, my children only have one father, my wife only has one husband," he said, adding didn't want to say more publicly.

Leung, who was chosen by a panel of Beijing-friendly tycoons and other Hong Kong elites, is loathed because of the tough stance his government has taken against pro-democracy lawmakers, activists and supporters.

His popularity has steadily dwindled since he took office and his approval rating stood at 23 percent in late November, according to Hong Kong University pollsters carrying out regular phone surveys of about 1,000 people. The poll has an error margin of 4 percentage points.

His government has filed legal challenges against six recently elected pro-democracy lawmakers in an attempt to disqualify them after they altered their oaths of office in apparent protests against China. Last month, two of those lawmakers, who advocate separatism for the specially administered Chinese region, lost their cases.

In 2014, Leung refused to negotiate with student pro-democracy activists who led protests occupying the streets of the Asian financial hub for nearly three months. The protesters demanded changes to the system that put Leung in office, but authorities did not back down. Police fired dozens of tear gas canisters in an attempt to disperse them, in a move that drew world headlines.

Leung said he had Beijing's full support and he would give his backing to whoever became Hong Kong's next leader.

In Beijing, the Cabinet's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office issued a statement saying it felt "deep regret" at the news but respected Leung's decision.

As chief executive, Leung had "deftly managed a series of major political and legal issues, and made vast contributions to the safeguarding of national sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as to Hong Kong's social and political stability," the statement said, quoting an unidentified spokesperson.

Leung' announcement came two days before a vote to choose the elite committee that will pick his successor. Members of the financial services, catering, real estate and accounting and other industry groups will vote for its 1,200 members.

The panel is scheduled to pick the next leader in March, with most members expected vote for the person Beijing chooses. </s> HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s next leader will be chosen Sunday by an election committee stacked with pro-Beijing elites who heed the wishes of China’s communist leaders rather than the semiautonomous region’s voters.

The candidates are front-runner Carrie Lam, a career civil servant who is widely seen as Beijing’s favorite, chief rival John Tsang and retired judge Woo Kwok-hing. A closer look at each potential replacement to unpopular incumbent Leung Chun-ying, whose term ends in June:

THE FRONTRUNNER — A lifelong civil servant who rose to Hong Kong’s second-highest office, former Chief Secretary Carrie Lam is Beijing’s preference. She’s seen as loyal to China’s Communist leaders yet without the polarizing persona of her former boss Leung, whose initials inspired Lam’s nickname of C.Y. 2.0. During the 2014 pro-democracy protests, Lam led the government debaters who faced off on television against the movement’s student-activist leaders.

Lam, 59 and a devout Catholic, was once one of Hong Kong’s most popular government officials but her attempts to connect with ordinary people have reduced her support in opinion polls. She was the last candidate to set up an official Facebook page, which then drew a flood of angry emojis. She burnished her pro-Beijing credentials with one of her final acts as chief secretary in December, when she suddenly announced that Hong Kong’s new arts hub would include a branch of Beijing’s palace museum, a decision that lacked public input.

THE PEOPLES’ CHOICE — John Tsang, 65, has been dubbed “Mr. Pringles” or “Uncle Chips” in Cantonese because his signature moustache lends him a resemblance to the snack food mascot. In turn, his fans call themselves “small potatoes.” He was Hong Kong’s financial secretary before quitting in December to campaign for the leadership, but Beijing didn’t approve his resignation for weeks, a sign taken by observers that he wasn’t in favor. Lam’s resignation, in contrast, was approved in days.

Tsang, a fencing and martial arts enthusiast, moved to the U.S. when he was 13 and earned degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard before returning to Hong Kong. He’s one of Hong Kong’s most popular officials, thanks to his easygoing persona; a few years ago he was hit on the head by an egg thrown by a protester aiming for Leung but merely shrugged it off, joking that he wasn’t wearing a good suit. His detractors have criticized him for vastly underestimating Hong Kong’s budget surplus for most of the nine years he was budget secretary as well as failing to use the Asian financial hub’s massive stash of capital reserves effectively.

THE THIRD OPTION — Woo Kwok-hing is a retired High Court judge who was unknown to most Hong Kongers until he declared his candidacy. Woo, 71, has little experience in politics and public administration aside from 13 years as chairman of the Hong Kong commission overseeing election affairs. He’s not seen as having Beijing’s support because he has spoken about his plan to revamp Hong Kong’s election system to give every resident the chance to vote for its leader. </s> Prominent surveyor and former government advisor Leung Chun-ying attends a forum for chief executive candidates in Hong Kong March 12, 2012. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying said on Friday he will not stand for re-election in a 2017 vote for chief executive for family reasons, in a surprise announcement that throws open the race to govern the financial hub.

Leung has been backed by the central government in Beijing which he said had accepted his decision not to contest the March election.

"The central government has highly regarded my work," Leung told a news conference.

"In a family, my children only have one father, my wife only has one husband."

Leung did not elaborate but media has reported that a daughter has been hospitalized.

Speculation on a new leader for Hong Kong is likely to focus on John Tsang, the city's financial secretary, or Regina Ip, a former city security chief.

All candidates have to be approved by a 1,200-strong Election Committee, largely made up of pro-Beijing establishment figures, which will then vote from among them for a new leader.

Hong Kong's next leader faces a host of challenges with concern growing over the influence of Beijing in city affairs as well as a fledging independence movement that has alarmed China's Communist Party leadership.

Beijing's leaders have signaled they want Hong Kong's next chief to forge consensus across a politically and socially divided city, boost incomes and safeguard security in a place that remains significantly more free than the mainland.

Tens of thousands of protesters clogged city streets for weeks in 2014 to demand a one-man-one-vote election for chief executive but they failed to win any concessions from Beijing.

Tensions have risen in recent weeks amid a Beijing-backed legal crackdown against pro-independence and pro-democracy city lawmakers accused of mocking their oaths of office in gestures of protest against Beijing.

Two have been disqualified after court cases and another four are facing legal challenges led by Leung and his justice secretary.

The mainland's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said it "deeply regretted" Leung's personal decision for family reasons but respected it, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Leung had resolutely implemented the one-country, two systems policy, the office said, referring to the formula for Hong Kong's autonomy under which the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Leung had "dependably handled a series of important political issues", it said.

Tsang, who is less closely identified with Beijing's Communist Party leadership than Leung, has not ruled out standing but he has declined to say if Beijing has given him any sign about a possible bid.

Tsang has experience in city government dating back to British rule.

"Many people, no matter if they know me or not – or even those on the internet – are very supportive of me joining the election," Tsang in a radio interview last week.

Ip, who is seen as close to the Beijing leadership and is also a former British-trained civil servant, is expected to announce her candidacy next week, according to media.

Commenting on Leung's announcement, Ip said she was "touched and felt sympathetic" about his bid to strike a balance between official duties and family life.

Leung's popularity has recently dipped to 38.5 points from 52.5 at the beginning of his term, according to a public opinion poll by the University of Hong Kong.

But the departure of the unpopular leader would not solve the city's problems, a democracy activist said.

"These problems come from the system itself. Until this moment, we still can't get universal suffrage," said Joshua Wong, 20, a leader of the 2014 protests. </s> Hong Kong's former leader Donald Tsang, who ended his term in disgrace after accepting favours from tycoons, pleaded not guilty to bribery charges Tuesday at his high-profile corruption trial.

Tsang, 72, held the leadership post of chief executive for seven years from 2005 and is the highest-ranking Hong Kong official to face a corruption trial.

The case is set to send shockwaves through a city that has earned a reputation as one of the world's most open and transparent markets.

Wearing his customary suit and bow-tie, a somber-looking Tsang arrived hand-in-hand with his wife at the city's High Court over an hour before the hearing was scheduled to begin Tuesday morning.

He pleaded 'not guilty' to three charges of misconduct and bribery. Each charge carries a maximum jail sentence of seven years.

The charges pertain to the period when Tsang was chief executive.

He is accused of failing to disclose his plans to lease a luxury penthouse in the neighbouring city of Shenzhen from a major investor in a broadcaster - which at the time was seeking a licence from the Hong Kong government.

Tsang allegedly approved the company's application for the licence, and also failed to declare that an architect he proposed for a government award had been employed as an interior designer on the flat.

The hearing is expected to last 20 days.

He has previously said that he had 'every confidence' he would be exonerated.

In 2012 he apologised for separate allegations that he accepted inappropriate gifts from business friends in the form of trips on luxury yachts and private jets.

The trial comes at a time when residents are losing faith in Hong Kong's leaders, as a string of high-profile corruption cases fuel public suspicions over cosy links between authorities and business leaders.

Critics blame the city's method of electing its leader - who is selected by a 1,200-strong electoral committee made up of representatives of special interest groups weighted towards Beijing.

Pro-democracy politician Lam Chuek-ting said: 'I strongly believe that the chief executive has to (maintain) close relations with special interest groups and tycoons.

'It is very dangerous and very difficult to remain independent from those... groups,' said Lam, a former investigator for the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the city's anti-graft agency.

'Tsang's case is just the tip of the iceberg,' he added.

In 2014, Tsang's deputy Rafael Hui was jailed for seven-and-a-half years after being found guilty of taking bribes from Hong Kong property tycoon Thomas Kwok.
Pro-Beijing Hong Kong leader CY Leung says he will quit after his term ends.