State funeral honours Hong Kong’s first post-colonial leader Tung Chee-hwa

Selected by Beijing in 1996, Tung Chee-hwa’s tenure shaped post-handover Hong Kong during a turbulent political era.

Mourners arrive to pay respects to Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong's first leader after the city's return to Chinese rule, at the Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point, Hong Kong, on September 19, 2026 [Peter Parks/AFP]

Hong Kong has given a state funeral to Tung Chee-hwa, its first post-colonial leader, only the third time the city has granted such an honour since Britain returned it to Chinese rule in 1997.

Senior Chinese and Hong Kong officials bid farewell to Tung at the Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point on Sunday, a day after a public vigil that drew dozens of political and business figures.

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Tung, Hong Kong’s first chief executive, died on September 8 at the age of 89.

Members of the public could pay their respects by signing condolence books at three community halls until Sunday noon.

The funeral committee, made up of 87 members, was chaired by Shi Taifeng, a senior Chinese Communist Party Politburo member and vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body, underlining the level of official backing from Beijing.

Shi attended the funeral alongside Xia Baolong, Beijing’s top official for Hong Kong and Macau affairs; current chief executive John Lee; former chief executives Leung Chun-ying, Carrie Lam and Donald Tsang; and other political and business figures, reported government-funded Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK).

Lee and Leung were among the pallbearers who carried Tung’s coffin, draped in China’s national flag, from the hall to a hearse, which headed to Cape Collinson Crematorium.

A shipping tycoon with little political experience, Tung was selected in 1996 by a Beijing-appointed committee to become Hong Kong’s first leader after the 1997 handover from Britain.

Tung led the city through the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2003 SARS outbreak, and mass protests that year forced him to shelve proposed national security legislation.

He was re-elected unopposed in 2002 but resigned in 2005, midway through his second term, citing poor health, in a move widely seen as driven by Beijing’s loss of confidence in him.

He went on to serve as a vice chairman of the CPPCC until 2023.

Two business leaders, industrialist Ann Tse-kai and tycoon Henry Fok, who both served as vice chairs of the CPPCC, were given state funerals in 2000 and 2006, respectively.

Chinese state media described Tung as a “renowned patriot”, while his successor, Tsang, called him “an easy-going, gentle and refined man with a broad-minded outlook and far-reaching vision”.

Critics recalled his tenure as marked by governance struggles and public discontent that never fully recovered after the financial crisis.

董建华于1996年被北京选中，在他的任期内，香港在动荡的政治时期经历了回归后的变革。

2026年9月19日，哀悼者来到香港北角香港殡仪馆，悼念香港回归中国后的首任特首董建华。[Peter Parks/AFP]

香港为后殖民时代的首位领导人董建华举行了国葬，这是自1997年英国将香港归还中国以来，香港第三次给予如此殊荣。

周日，中国内地和香港高级官员在北角香港殡仪馆向董建华告别。此前一天，数十位政商界人士参加了公众守灵仪式。

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香港首任行政长官董建华于9月8日逝世，享年89岁。

公众可在周日中午之前前往三个社区礼堂，在吊唁簿上签名，以表达哀悼之情。

葬礼委员会由 87 名成员组成，主席是中共中央政治局高级委员、中国人民政治协商会议副主席石太峰，这凸显了北京方面的官方支持力度。

据香港电台（RTHK）报道，史志强与北京负责港澳事务的最高官员夏宝龙、现任行政长官李显龙、前行政长官梁振英、林郑月娥和曾荫权以及其他政商界人士一同出席了葬礼。

李和梁是抬棺人之一，他们将董的棺材（覆盖着中国国旗）从大厅抬到灵车上，然后灵车前往科林森角火葬场。

董建华是一位航运业大亨，政治经验不多。1996年，北京任命的委员会选他为香港在1997年从英国回归后的首任特首。

董建华带领香港度过了 1997 年亚洲金融危机和 2003 年 SARS 疫情，当年的大规模抗议迫使他搁置了拟议的国家安全立法。

他在 2002 年再次当选，但在第二任期中期，即 2005 年，他以健康状况不佳为由辞职。这一举动被广泛认为是由于北京对他失去信心所致。

他随后担任全国政协副主席至2023年。

两位商界领袖，实业家谢佳琪和商业巨头霍亨利，都曾担任全国政协副主席，分别于2000年和2006年获得国葬。

中国官方媒体称董建华为“著名爱国者”，而他的继任者曾俊华则称他为“一位随和、温和、有教养、胸襟开阔、目光远大的人”。

批评人士回顾他的任期时指出，政府治理困难重重，公众不满情绪在金融危机后也从未完全恢复。