Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office
Tang has a reputation of being lazy and unintelligent; Leung is a surveyor with business acumen but who seems to appear cold and brutal. Hence, the Chief Executive election was dubbed as a contest between "the wolf" (referring to Leung) and "the pig" (referring to Tang). Tang's status as the front-runner among those that mattered stems from the fact Tang's father, who originates from Jiangsu, not Guangdong province, is closely connected to a faction close to Jiang Zemin. In early 2012, it emerged that support for Tang may have been played up by people close to Liao Hui, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office from 1997 to 2000, to the detriment of Leung, who is an equally acceptable candidate to top leaders. Leung's patriotism and his contributions to Hong Kong – including his involvement in the drafting Hong Kong's Basic Law – are noted, although he remains distrusted by business magnates. Albert Ho, leader of the Democratic Party, is not expected to receive support of any members of the Election Committee apart from those who were popularly elected, and is thus a token candidate in the "small-circle election". Tsang Yok-sing's exit from the forefront on 27 February reaffirmed the two-horse race that Beijing had endorsed.