Beijing formally OKs HK leader (from www.cnn.com)

HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- China's cabinet has formally appointed Donald Tsang as leader of Hong Kong nearly one week after he won the leadership race uncontested.

The 60-year-old civil servant will serve for two years, following the resignation in March of Hong Kong's first chief executive under Chinese rule, Tung Chee Hwa.

Last week election officials named the devout Roman Catholic with the British title of "Sir" as the only valid candidate after he won the bulk of nominations from a 796-member group that chooses the Chinese territory's chief executive.

Hong Kong's leaders in Beijing had to approve his appointment, which was announced in a brief report on the official Xinhua news agency on Tuesday.

The former British colony was promised a high level of autonomy for 50 years after it was handed over to China in 1997, but people who live in the city still don't yet choose their leader.

Some commentators have berated Tsang for steamrolling his opponents and giving up the opportunity to debate with them. He claimed the top spot by winning around 700 nominations from the group of mostly pro-Beijing business and industry leaders.

Tsang's nominations ensured potential rivals did not get the 100 votes they needed to contest in the race, which was set for July 10, and has now been cancelled.

"You can call it a farce; it's not an election in the way you know it, but that's Hong Kong, it's very sad," says Emily Lau, a former journalist and pro-democracy lawmaker.

Tsang has said that Hong Kong's situation in 2005 is "transitional."

The bowtie-wearing bureaucrat has vowed to deliver a more open and representative system by the time of the next elections in 2007 and 2008, but he told CNN on Friday that universal suffrage in Hong Kong was still some way off.

"Give us some time. Nobody can pin such a date," he said, noting it had taken the United States several hundred years to reach full democracy.

His predecessor, Tung, said on March 10 he was resigning two years before his term was due to expire because of poor health.

But many at the time thought Tung was pushed out by Beijing for what was widely perceived as mismanagement during his eight-year tenure. That included his handling of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, a proposed anti-succession bill and the deadly SARS epidemic.

While the 60-year-old Tsang worked as No. 2 during Tung's tenure, he has generally escaped criticism, and indeed is very popular among the 6.9 million people who live in this special administrative region on China's southern coast.

Tsang has so far defended his predecessor, telling CNN the former shipping tycoon had done "exceedingly well" in "a very turbulent period."

"People lost their jobs and were unhappy," he said.

Despite some unease in Beijing about his colonial past, the policeman's son who has touted his humble beginnings as a salesman, has the support of 76 percent of Hong Kongers.

"People think he is definitely better than Tung and they at least respect his track record as a long-time civil servant trained by the British," says Willy Lam, a Hong Kong-based China expert.

A key challenge as he takes the helm will be to balance Beijing's need to stop democracy seeping across the border to its 1.3 billion people with Hong Kong's growing calls for political freedom.

While Hong Kongers never had full democracy during 155 years of British rule, they are unhappy they are not seeing the rights they were promised under the "one country, two systems," and have already seen some of them slip away.

Observers have slammed the interpretations Beijing has made on Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, saying the "sloppy" rulings have damaged the law in this bustling entrepot, which is ranked the freest economy in the world.

Discontent with the government during Tung's tenure became so bad that the national holiday for Hong Kong's handover to China, July 1, has become a day of protest.

In 2003 and 2004, as many as half a million residents spilled out into the streets of Causeway Bay and Wan Chai to call for more democracy and demand that Tung quit.

Beijing's leader have so far thrown their weight behind Tsang.

"I believe that Mr. Donald Tsang and Hong Kong's government will definitely be able to lead all of Hong Kong's people in overcoming all difficulties. He'll advance Hong Kong's prosperity and stability," The Associated Press quoted Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao as saying.

-- CNN's Marianne Bray in Hong Kong contributed to this report