Hong Kong leader John Lee has joined a chorus of senior politicians and local grandees paying tribute to Tung Chee-hwa, the city’s first leader after its 1997 handover to China.

Tung Chee-hwa signing a bill as the chief executive in 1997. File Photo: GovHK.

In a statement published on Wednesday, Lee praised Tung for steering Hong Kong through the 1997 Asian financial crisis and helping the city overcome various other challenges over his almost eight tumultuous years as chief executive from 1997 to 2005.

“With visionary foresight,” Lee said, Tung “instituted mechanisms to promote economic and trade ties and co-ordinated development between Hong Kong and the Mainland, laying a solid foundation for Hong Kong’s enduring competitiveness.”

Lee said Tung “dedicated his life to serving Hong Kong and the country.”

Tung Chee-hwa. Photo: Our Hong Kong Foundation.

Tung’s immediate successor as Hong Kong chief executive, Donald Tsang, paid tribute to Tung’s “approachable, refined manner, as well as his broad mind and visionary outlook.”

In a Chinese-language statement issued on his behalf by the government, Tsang said that Tung was “never discouraged” in the face of challenges such as the financial crisis and the 2003 SARS outbreak, which killed close to 300 people in Hong Kong.

Then-Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (second-left, front row) and his wife Regina sit with former leaders Tung Chee-Hwa (far left) and Donald Tsang (far right) on July 1, 2012. Photo: Richard A. Brooks/AFP.

He said that Tung, whom he served as financial secretary and second-in-command before assuming the top job, would be remembered for his “elegant smile, indomitable perseverance, long-term view of governance, and profound love for the nation and Hong Kong.”

Leung Chun-ying, who took over as chief executive from 2012 to 2017, wrote in a Chinese-language Facebook post that Tung enjoyed a high level of trust from Beijing, and “was benevolent and kind, persuasive through reason, and an exemplar for our generation.”

Then-chief executive Tung Chee-hwa officiates at the groundbreaking ceremony for Hong Kong Disneyland at Penny’s Bay, Lantau Island, in 2003. Photo: GovHK.

Carrie Lam, chief executive from 2017 to 2022 and Tung’s director of social welfare, said in a letter to Tung’s office that her predecessor “led the city on its new journey under One Country, Two Systems.”

‘A caring and far-sighted leader’

Other notable Hongkongers also joined Tung’s fellow chief executives in paying tribute to the shipping scion turned senior statesman.

Then-chief executive Tung Chee-hwa meets with medical staff during the 2003 SARS epidemic. File Photo: GovHK.

Long-serving lawmaker Regina Ip, who served as Tung’s security secretary and spearheaded his administration’s abortive attempt to push through national security legislation in 2003, called her old boss “a caring and far-sighted leader.”

Ip praised Tung’s foresight in introducing the unpopular law, calling him “the first Chief Executive to attempt to implement Hong Kong’s constitutional responsibility to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law to safeguard national security.”

While the 2003 effort led to mass protests and Tung’s stepping down two years later, Article 23 legislation was finally passed in 2024 in the wake of a national security law directly imposed by Beijing in 2020.

Ex-security chief Regina Ip posts a tribute on Instagram to ex-chief executive Tung Chee-hwa on September, 9, 2026. Photo: Regina Ip, via Instagram.

Chief Justice Andrew Cheung, Chief Secretary Eric Chan, Financial Secretary Paul Chan, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam and Legislative Council President Starry Lee all expressed their admiration for Tung and grief over his passing.

China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency hailed Tung as “a renowned patriot” and “close friend of the Communist Party of China.”

In the world of business, billionaire magnate Li Ka-shing noted that Tung “played an instrumental role in the implementation of One Country, Two Systems” and continued serving Hong Kong and the nation long after leaving Government House, serving as a vice chairperson of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference from 2005 until 2023.

Then-chief executive Tung Chee-hwa meets then-US president George Bush in July 2001. Photo: GovHK.

The US Consulate General wrote in a Facebook post that Tung “played a pivotal role in strengthening the relationship between the United States and Hong Kong during a period of profound transition,” concluding that “he will be remembered for his dedication to Hong Kong and its people.”

Fade to black

After 89-year-old Tung passed away on Tuesday evening at Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital, the websites and social media profiles of various government bodies began to turn monochromatic as a digital gesture of mourning.

Website for the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department on September 9, 2026.

Sites belonging to the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Labour and Welfare Bureau, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and many others were stripped of colour on Wednesday – the first time they have done so since the Wang Fuk Court blaze in November last year, which killed 168 in the Tai Po estate.

Some corporate groups such as the MTRC and Swire followed suit across social media.

The same protocol was followed in 2022 following the death of former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin.

Then-chief executive Tung Chee-hwa meets then-Chinese president Jiang Zemin in March 2002 in Beijing. Photo: GovHK.

On Wednesday evening, the government announced the suspension of the Symphony of Lights laser show illuminating Hong Kong’s skyline for tourists.