Newsline may refer to:

• Newsline, a daily news and current affairs radio programme and podcast produced by Radio Netherlands
• BBC Newsline, a television newscast produced by BBC Northern Ireland
• Newsline (magazine), a monthly newsmagazine published from Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
• The News Line, a Trotskyist daily paper in the United Kingdom
• Newsline, an independent production company in the Channel Islands, producer of Channel Television news bulletins
• Newsline (NHK), a flagship news programme on NHK World TV
• Newsline (PR Newswire), a collection of specific news media which a PR Newswire news release will reach
• Newsline (ACQ-KBN)
• Newsline (Thailand), an English language news program, broadcast live on National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT)

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Chip Tsao (born August 17, 1958), also known by his pen name To Kit and self-claimed First Wit of Hong Kong(香江第一才子), is a multilingual Hong Kong-based columnist, broadcaster, and writer. His writings are mostly in Chinese. He is well known for his sarcasm and wry sense of humour.^[1]

Family and education[link]

Tsao's family traces their roots back to Guangxi province.^[2] His father was the vice chief editor of Ta Kung Pao, a leftwing newspaper in Hong Kong, whilst his mother was also an editor of the same paper. His maternal grandfather was a journalist of the Pearl River Daily. He was raised in Hong Kong's Wanchai district, and began reading early in his life. To attended Pui Kiu Middle School and later Lingnan Secondary School in Hong Kong. During this time, his writing was once published in The New Evening Post. He obtained a Diploma in International Relations from the London School of Economics and in 1980 a BA in English and European Literature from the University of Warwick.^[3] However, he states that he never thought about becoming a writer in his youth, and that his parents discouraged him from this career because they felt it would be dangerous.^[1]

Tsao is married and has two children. He enjoys reading Chinese poetry to his children.^[1] However, Hong Kong media have reported on his alleged infidelity to his wife. The proprietor of an hourly motel in Kowloon Tong claims Tsao is a regular customer there, and in 2004, a reporter for East Week tailed Tsao and an unidentified young woman to said hotel and took pictures of them. Tsao reportedly attempted to flee the scene with his head wrapped in toilet paper to obscure his face while the woman stood in front of the reporter's car to block pursuit.^[4][5]

Career[link]

Tsao began his journalism career in the United Kingdom as a reporter for the BBC and Radio Television Hong Kong.^[2] Then, famous writer Jin Yong (Louis Cha) invited him to write a regular column for Ming Pao about his experiences living abroad. It was at this time that he began to use his pen name To Kit.^[1] The name of his column in Ming Pao, 'The Golden Venture' (黃金冒險號) (a.k.a. 金色冒險號 by the Chinese press), derives from the name of a vessel that took Chinese illegal immigrants to the United States in 1993.^{[citation needed]} His first book, Alongside Thames, was published in 1995.^[1]

Tsao later he joined a team of broadcasters to host a weekly current affairs programme on RTHK named 'Free as Wind' (講東講西). In September 2003, he switched to the Commercial Radio Hong Kong to host a similar daily radio entitled 'Summit' (光明頂, literally 'the Peak of Light').^{[citation needed]}

Tsao currently writes for Apple Daily and HK Magazine.^{[citation needed]}

Tsao is not without his controversies. His status as the premier writer of Hong Kong is often challenged, one example being a piece by Rosetta Lui and Perry Lam in the December 2007 issue of Muse: "Some 15 or 20 years from now, the books of Chip Tsao... if they are talked about at all, will most probably be used as anecdotal evidence to illustrate how dumbed-down our city's culture has become since the 1997 return to Chinese sovereignty. His essays are always funny, sometimes lyrical but almost never ruminative."^[6]

Political viewpoints[link]

Hong Kong politics[link]

Tsao first began writing about Hong Kong public affairs in a column for English-language newspaper Eastern Express. He is often perceived as pro-British, and has been accused of looking down on China.^[1]

Accusations of racism[link]

Tsao has faced various accusations of racism for his English-language writings. In October 2005, an article he wrote for the South China Morning Post entitled "Have Hong Kong girls stopped looking for Mr White?", sparked accusations that he promoted discrimination and was jealous of white men in Hong Kong. Tsao responded that he was merely being sarcastic and provocative, repeating themes which were often discussed in Chinese media, and accused his critics themselves of being racist and lacking the ability to "read between the lines".^[7]

On March 27, 2009, an article of Tsao's entitled "The War at Home" was published in the free HK Magazine.^[8] In it, he wrote that the Philippines was unworthy of claiming the Spratly Islands from China because "as a nation of servants, you don't flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter."^[9] Many Filipinos decried his article as racist, discriminatory, and demeaning, and the Philippine government declared him an "undesirable alien" as a result.^[10] His writings provoked negative reactions from various Philippine legislators; Senator Pia Cayetano stated that "instead of contributing to intelligent discussions on ways to resolve the Spratlys dispute, Tsao only succeeded in eliciting hatred and sowing more confusion not only among Filipinos but maybe even among his fellow Chinese who are not aware of the intricacies of the issue", while Parañaque Congressman Roilo Golez refused to accept Tsao's apology for his article, and challenged him to a boxing match.^[11][12] On March 30, 2009, HK Magazine issued an apology for the offense Tsao's article had caused.^[13] The following day, Tsao subsequently admitted his wrongdoing and apologized to the Philippine government and its people in an interview aired over Hong Kong’s ATV. He said, "I realized that I had crossed the line. I now offer my public apology." He has also indicated, however, that the article was meant as satire, and that it "was never intended to be insulting to the Filipino domestic workers."^[14]

Works[link]

Tsao's work, both on radio and in his columns, concentrates on the following subjects:

• Changes in governance of Hong Kong prior to and following the transfer of sovereignty to China
• The essence of classical Chinese and Western civilization
• Difference between Chinese and Westerners (particular in terms of politics and lifestyle)
• The 'peasant mentality' of the Chinese
• Films
• Prominent women (he wrote a column on the achievements of well-known Chinese women in Ming Pao Monthly between 1998 and 2003)

Publications[link]

Major works by Chip Tsao:

References[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Chip Tsao

The Honourable Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee 葉劉淑儀 GBS, JP
Regina Ip at Victoria Park New Year Fair 2009
Member of the Legislative Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 September 2008
Preceded by	Anson Chan
Constituency	Hong Kong Island
Majority	16.67%
Chairman of the Savantas Policy Institute
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 July 2006 (&100000000000000050000005 years, &10000000000000344000000344 days)
Chairman of the New People's Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 January 2011 (&100000000000000010000001 year, &10000000000000169000000169 days)
Secretary for Security
In office 31 August 1998 – 25 July 2003
Preceded by	Peter Lai
Succeeded by	Ambrose Lee
Director of Immigration
In office 1996-1998
Preceded by	Laurence Leung
Succeeded by	Ambrose Lee
Candidate of the Hong Kong Island by-election
Majority	42.89%
Personal details
Born	(1950-08-24) 24 August 1950 (age 61)  Hong Kong
Nationality	Chinese
Political party	Savantas Policy Institute/New People's Party
Spouse(s)	Sammy Ip Man-ho (deceased)
Alma mater	St. Stephen's Girls' College University of Hong Kong University of Glasgow Stanford University

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, GBS JP (born 24 August 1950 in Hong Kong) is a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), as well as the co-founder and current chairwoman of the New People's Party and Savantas Policy Institute.

She was formerly a prominent government official of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). She was the first woman to be appointed as Secretary for Security to head the disciplinary service.

Ip became a controversial figure for her role advocating the passage of legislation to implement Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23, and after this legislation was withdrawn, she became the first principal official to resign from the administration of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. She took a sabbatical to study for a Master's degree. She contested the Hong Kong Island by-election, 2007 for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong but was defeated by Anson Chan in the two-horse race. She ran again in the 2008 LegCo election and won, gaining a seating in the Hong Kong Island constituency.

Biography[link]

Ip was born in Hong Kong in 1950; her father was a trader, and mother was an actress.^[1] She attended St. Stephen's Girls' College,^[2] after which she read literature at the University of Hong Kong, graduating with first-class honours; she later obtained a Master of Letters degree from the University of Glasgow,^[1] where she studied Elizabethan poet Sir Philip Sidney.^[3]

HK Government career[link]

In the 1970s Ip joined the Hong Kong Government as an Administrative Officer.^[1] In 1986, Ip, accompanied by her husband, went to Stanford Graduate School of Business to study for an MS in Management under the Sloan Programme.^[3][4] She took various bureaucratic positions before she was appointed Director of Industry Department in September 1995.

Ministerial career[link]

In August 1996, Yip was appointed Director of Immigration – a post usually filled by officials from within the Immigration Department. She was the first woman to hold the post, and continued until after the 1997 handover. While she held that post, the UK government decided to grant full British citizenship for 50,000 Hong Kong families, and was also head of immigration during the right of abode saga, when the Hong Kong government requested the National People's Congress in Beijing to intervene after the courts ruled against the government, essentially granting the Hong Kong government the ability to simply ignore the court's ruling after it granted right of abode to the children of Hong Kong residents who held right of abode whether or not those children were born in Hong Kong. ^[1]

In July 1998, Ip was appointed to the post of Secretary for Security^[5] – again, the first woman to hold that post^[1] – and became one of the so-called 14 principal officials and a member of the Executive Council during Tung Chee-hwa's second term in government on 1 July 2002. As security minister, she promoted the adoption of the controversial Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law. After massive public protests and the government's withdrawal of the proposed legislation, Ip resigned from office on 25 June 2003, citing personal reasons.

Political career[link]

In 2003, Ip returned to Stanford University to pursue a Master Degree of Arts, with Larry Diamond as her supervisor. Her thesis, Hong Kong: Case Study in Democratic Development in Transitional Society, expresses admiration for a bicameral system, and suggests that political parties in Hong Kong be strengthened and be more inclusive.^[6] She returned to Hong Kong in 2006. She set up a policy think tank – the Savantas Policy Institute, giving rise to media speculation that she was planning to run for the office of Chief Executive sometime in the future.

In September 2007, she declared her intention to run for the Legislative Council in the Hong Kong Island by-election. She apologised for her handling of the Article 23 situation, hoped to put it behind her. However, she received 43% of the vote, and was defeated by Anson Chan.^[7]

Ip ran in the Hong Kong legislative election, 2008 in the Hong Kong Island geographical constituency, forming a ticket including dermatologist Louis Shih and two elected District Councillors, Albert Wong and Ronald Chan. Her ticket won a total of 61,073 votes, the second highest on Hong Kong Island and the fourth highest Hong Kong wide.^[8] She was sworn in as Legislative Councillor on 8 October 2008.

Following a number of scandals surrounding Henry Tang, Ip has announced her intention to run for the office of Chief Executive in 2012.^[9]

Controversies[link]

Ip has taken controversial stances during her career including advocating for the Public Order Ordinance and defending government policy denying right of abode to the children of Hong Kong people born in mainland China since the 1997 handover.

Article 23[link]

Protest march against Article 23

According to Ku, Ip had turned herself into a provocative political figure due to her departure from the 'institutionalised bureaucratic ritual' adopted by civil servants in the past.^[10] Ip spearheaded the Government's attempt to codify Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23, and pushed hard for it to be legislated by July 2003.^[11] Between September 2002 and July 2003 her popularity plunged. In October 2002, she made a remark about Adolf Hitler under electorial democracy at the City University.^[12]

Ip down-played any opposition to the bill, predicting only 30,000 people would show up at the planned demonstration(s).^[13] Ip blamed political and religious leaders for creating a "herd mentality".^[13] Her popularity plummeted when one remark after another contradicted popular opinion, most notably in regard to her commitment to push the bill despite the commotion and chaos of the SARS outbreak in 2003. ^[14]

Concerned by the government's determination to force through the bill, up to 500,000 people marched to protest on 1 July 2003.

Ip became a reviled figure. Detractors also took shots at her bushy hairstyle, nicknaming her "Broomhead" (掃把頭). This included a comic book which caricatured her in police uniform and signature bushy hairstyle. She openly admitted that although she disliked the nickname, she would not change her hairstyle just to please her critics.^[15] She had knowingly put on a performance which would harm her popularity, and said "I think I would like to be remembered as somebody who was not afraid to speak out, even if that might affect my popularity."^[1]

Ip later said "I made a mistake in promoting the bill" and apologized for remarks she had made while pushing for Article 23.^[16]

Views on democracy[link]

Ip has been criticised for her inconsistent stance toward democracy. Following her return from the United States, she shifted her public position during her campaign for a seat in the legislative assembly in 2007 by saying "the only way forward for Hong Kong is complete democratization", in contrast to her position before. Todd Cromwell of the Asia Times referred to her as a "born-again democrat".^[6] Anson Chan, her main rival in the Hong Kong Island by-election, 2007, labelled her a "fake democrat" because of this.^[17]

Views on press freedom[link]

In July 2008, Ip was once again embroiled in controversy for her comments about police tactics used against reporters covering the heated scenes in queues for Olympics tickets. In commenting about the man-handling of Hong Kong reporters by Beijing Police, she had said that "neck-shoving [techniques]... were most effective in stopping trouble-makers". The following day, she stated that she supported freedom of the press and apologised for the "slip of the tongue", clarifying that she was neither implying that journalists were troublemakers, nor endorsing the actions of the police. Democratic lawmaker Yeung Sum said this Freudian slip showed up her true colours.^[18]

Family[link]

Regina Ip was married to Sammy Ip Man-ho from 1981 until his death from cancer in 1997 at the age of 62. They have one daughter, Cynthia.

See also[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Regina Ip

• PRC United Front strategy
• Politics of Hong Kong
• List of graduates of University of Hong Kong

Video Links[link]

• Regina Ip outlines her LegCo agenda

Notes[link]

The Honourable Leung Chun-ying 梁振英 GBM, GBS, JP
Chief Executive-elect of Hong Kong
Taking office 1 July 2012
Succeeding	Donald Tsang
Majority	57.4% (2012)
Convenor of the Executive Council
In office 1 July 1999 – 3 October 2011
Appointed by	Tung Chee-hwa Sir Donald Tsang
Preceded by	Chung Sze-yuen
Succeeded by	Ronald Arculli
Member of the CPPCC
In office 10th CPPCC 11th CPPCC
Incumbent
Assumed office 2003
Personal details
Born	(1954-08-12) 12 August 1954 (age 57)
Nationality	Chinese
Spouse(s)	Regina Tong Ching-yi
Children	Leung Chuen-yan Leung Chai-yan Leung Chung-yan
Alma mater	King's College Hong Kong Polytechnic University Bristol Polytechnic
Occupation	Chartered Surveyor
Honorary Degree	DBA (PolyU) PhD in Business Administration (UWE)

Leung Chun-ying GBM, GBS, JP (born 12 August 1954), commonly known as CY Leung, is the Chief Executive-elect of Hong Kong, following his victory in the 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive election. He will assume office on 1 July 2012^[1][2].

A member of the pro-establishment bloc of Hong Kong politics, Leung was the Convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong until his resignation in September 2011.^[3][4]

Education[link]

Leung attended secondary school at King's College. In 1974, he graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic (now the Hong Kong Polytechnic University) with a higher diploma in building surveying. In 1977, he studied valuation and estate management at Bristol Polytechnic (now the University of the West of England) in the United Kingdom.^[5]

Career[link]

Real estate[link]

In 1977 Leung returned to HK from the UK and joined the real estate firm Jones Lang Wootton for 5 years.^[6] By the age of 30 he was already the chairman of the JLW branch in HK.^[6] Making a salary of HK$10 million a year, he was given the nickname "Emperor of the working class" (打工皇帝) early in his career.^[6] In 1993 he opened his own surveyor company. By 2000 this company would merge along with Singapore's Dai Yuk-coeng company (戴玉祥) into DTZ Debenham Tie Leung Limited.^[7][8] From 1995 to 1996 Leung was the president of Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors. He was the past chairman of Hong Kong branch's Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.^[3] He then became an honorary advisor of Shenzhen, Tianjian and Shanghai government on Land Reform.^[3] He is also the International Economic advisor for the People's government of Hebei province.^[3]

Politics[link]

From 1999 to 2008 he was a council chairman at Lingnan University.^[9] He was also chairman and member of the Council of the City University of Hong Kong.^[5] In 1985, he was elected member of the Basic Law Consultative Committee, and was later elected the Secretary General of the Committee.

In 1999 Leung was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star.^[6] He is a member of the National Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.^[5] He is also the chairman, board of directors for the One Country Two Systems Research Institute.^[5]

In July 2009 he fanned speculation that he might stand as a candidate for Chief Executive of Hong Kong, saying that he would "talk later" about the matter.^[10] On 28 November 2011, he officially announced his candidacy for the post.^[11]

In 2011, there were confrontations between police and demonstrators after the annual 1 July march amid public opposition to the government's draft legislation to eliminate by elections for vacated Legco seats. Leung responded by saying that such rowdy rallies should be "sanctioned and restrained".^[12]

On 25 March 2012, after a controversy-ridden election campaign, Leung was declared Hong Kong's new leader in the 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive election,^[1] after securing 689 votes from the 1,200-member election committee of largely business leaders and other influential citizens, mostly loyal to the Government of the People's Republic of China. His key opponent, former finance chief Henry Tang, had 285 and a third candidate, opposition member Albert Ho 76 votes. In total, 1,132 valid votes were received. His term of office begins on 1 July 2012^[2].

Personal[link]

Leung is married to Regina Leung Tong Ching-yee and has two daughters and a son. His father was originally a Hong Kong police officer.^[6][13]

Controversy[link]

85,000 policy[link]

After the 1997 Hong Kong handover to China, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa proposed the so called "85,000 plan" (八萬五建屋計劃/八萬五計劃) during his policy address.^[14] Under this plan 70% of the citizens can finally have an affordable home within 10 years in Hong Kong's turbulent real estate market.^[14][15] But on 29 June 2000, Tung said he had not used the word "85,000" since 1998.^[14] Questions exist as to whether this plan ever existed at all.^[14] In 2003 the Hong Kong government even terminated the Home Ownership Scheme.^[16]