Jasper Tsang

Despite the events of Gang of Four and the political instability, Tsang remained faithful to the Communist Party of China. Due to his good education background, Tsang became a high-flyer within the leftist camp. He stepped into the politics in 1976 when he was appointed a member of the Guangdong provincial committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). He later became a member of the CPPCC National Committee in 1993.

In the mid 1980s, Tsang was actively involved in the discussion of the drafting of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, the mini-constitution after the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997. He was one of the members of the "Group of 38" proposal consisting of educators with leftist background led by Basic Law Consultative Committee member Cheng Kai-nam which put forward a middle-of-the-ground proposal between the uncompromising rift of the pro-business conservative "Group of 89" and the pro-democracy liberal "Group of 190" proposals.[2]

During the Tiananmen protests of 1989, Tsang called for the support of the teachers and students of the Pui Kiu Middle School to support the Tiananmen students and their cause for a democratic China. After the massacre on 4 June, he told the reporters that he was "shocked and sad".[3] However he and other leftists soon reiterated their position on the event and were recalled under Beijing's command.

After the defeat of the traditional leftist candidates in the first direct election of the Legislative Council by the pro-democracy candidates of the United Democrats of Hong Kong in the wake of the pro-democracy sentiment after the Tiananmen incident in 1991, Tsang and other leftists founded the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong under the call of director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Lu Ping to gear up the "patriotic force" in the territory.[4] Tsang became the first chairman of the party. He was subsequently appointed to the Preparatory Committee for the establishment of Hong Kong.

In the 1995 Legislative Council election, he ran in Kowloon Central but was defeated by the less known candidate Liu Sing-lee from the pro-democracy Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL). He received around 16,000 votes, 43 per cent of the total vote share. He was subsequently elected to the Provisional Legislative Council in 1996 by the Beijing-controlled Selection Committee.

Tsang was first directly elected to the Legislative Council in the first post-handover election in 1998, representing the Kowloon West constituency. In 2002 he was appointed to the Executive Council by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. In 2002 the fifth anniversary of the Special Administrative Region, he was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star (GBS) by the government.

As the ally of the Tung administration, the DAB suffered criticisms with the unpopular government. During the controversy surrounding the enactment of the national security bill in Hong Kong, Tsang drew criticism for his party's support of the government's legislative initiatives. Following the 1 July 2003 protests and disappointing performance of his party in the 2003 District Council election, he resigned from the party's chairmanship in December 2003.

He gave up his Kowloon West seat and ran in the Hong Kong Island in the 2008 Legislative Council election. After the election, he was elected to the presidency of the Legislative Council, replacing the retired Rita Fan. He is widely assumed to be a member of the Chinese Communist Party, in part because, when asked directly, he has stated only that, "Since the foundation of the DAB, I have been asked whether I am a Communist Party member many times. And I can say frankly, I have never answered this question. The reason is, Hong Kong people's attitude to the concept of the Communist Party is very negative."[5][6][7] He resigned from the Executive Council after being elected the President.

Tsang was also criticised for the manner in which he presided over Legislative Council meetings, which led to walkout protests, though he was generally perceived to be fair and accommodating and enjoyed friendly relations with both pro-Beijing and pan-democratic members.[8] He softened his early years' staunch pro-Beijing image during his presidency in the Legislative Council and became increasingly sympathetic with the pro-democracy cause. On the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which he referred to as "suppressing students was surely wrong."[9] In the run-up to the 2012 Chief Executive election, he was noted for his relatively liberal views on issues such as universal suffrage,[10][11] and initially expressed interest in putting himself forward as a candidate, before later backing out.

After the legislative vote of the 2015 Hong Kong electoral reform in which the pro-Beijing legislators undertook a controversial and embarrassing walkout, the Oriental Daily published leaked messages in which Tsang was seen to have discussed voting strategy with a pro-Beijing legislator in a WhatsApp group before the electoral reform package and suggesting the legislators delay their speeches so that the pan-democrats could not control the timing of the vote. The pan-democrats questioned Tsang's neutrality in the chamber, seeing the text messages as "clear evidence" that he was colluding with the rest of the government's allies and planned to mull a no-confidence vote against him. He apologised to the legislators but refused to resign.[12]

In annual polls conducted by the University of Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme, Tsang was voted "Hong Kong’s most popular Legislative Councillor" for each of the last 13 years he was in office, 2004-2016 inclusive. In 2016, his support rating was 63.1 percent, ahead of, in order, Regina Ip with 49.6 percent, Alan Leong with 48.2 percent and Starry Lee with a 45.6 percent.[13] On 1 July 2015, Tsang was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal, the SAR's highest honour, in recognition of his public service, particularly his presidency of the Legislative Council.[14]