A leadership vacuum left by a hesitant executive. As expected, the provisional legislature was not a pretty sight, leaving even at the last moment an indelible black mark on 8 April by meekly passing the government proposed Adaptation of Laws Ordinance which seeks to exempt state bodies, such as Xinhua, from some local laws. Hong Kong people worry about whether there might now be one prosecution standard for those with the right connections and another for ordinary folks. It was unexpected that the chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, should choose to target the property market as his first policy mission. While he is to be applauded for wanting to ease ridiculously high property prices, he did not seem to appreciate till very recently that his timing was awful.
Many people think so.
Now is the winter of our discontent. The richest folks do not like government policy. Businesses are having to suffer high interest rates and are unclear just exactly what policy the government is pursuing. The middle class blame government policy for substantial deflated private assets. Lower income groups worry about jobs and demand greater social justice.