City Beat | New Hong Kong finance chief faces first major test when he delivers his budget on Wednesday
Paul Chan is expected to give people a sense of ownership and sharing of the public wealth, which may determine whether he gets a job in the new administration
Chan was strongly recommended by Leung to Beijing for the post, expecting him to be more in line with his viewson public spending. That would give Leung’s government greater room for manoeuvring on policy in its remaining months, and hopefully also lay down general directions for Hong Kong’s future economic development.
Whether you like him or not, it is not fair to judge Chan purely from the “Leung fan” perspective. Without doubt he’s supportive of Leung. He is trying his best, in particular, to find the land required to meet Leung’s ambitious housing goal – a difficult mission that is far from accomplished.
To his credit, he has won the understanding and support of many of his Development Bureau colleagues through his hard work and sincerity.
Now comes a daunting new challenge – to not only differentiate himself from his predecessor in terms of public finance philosophy, but also to win the trust of his future boss and Beijing.