Image copyright AP Image caption CY Leung said he would step down for family reasons

Hong Kong chief executive CY Leung has said he will not seek re-election in March, citing family reasons for the surprise announcement.

Speaking at a news conference, Mr Leung said: "If I run my family will suffer an intolerable stress."

Mr Leung has often been accused by pro-democracy campaigners of putting China's interests above those of the people of Hong Kong.

He will step down when his term ends in July 2017.

His successor will be elected by a 1,200-member, mostly pro-Beijing, Election Committee, rather than by the wider electorate.

In 2014, two years after Mr Leung took office, massive pro-democracy rallies in Hong Kong failed to win any concessions from him or from China, and he was vilified by protesters who accused him of being too close to Beijing.

He said that he was stepping down out of "responsibility as a father and a husband", and not because of his perceived unpopularity.

He did not want to give further details of his family situation.

According to reports in Hong Kong media, Mr Leung's 25-year-old daughter has been in hospital for more than a month, although the reasons are unclear.

He added that "the central authorities including the top leaders in the country have been very supportive of my work all these years".</s>HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed leader Leung says he won’t run again after term ends next year for family reasons.</s>Hong Kong's divisive Beijing-backed leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, said Friday he won't run again for the job after his current term ends next year, citing unspecified family reasons.

In a surprise announcement, Leung, who was chosen by a panel of Beijing-friendly tycoons and other Hong Kong elites, said he would step aside after his five-year term ends next June.

"I will not participate in the next chief executive election. The reason is that in the coming period of time I need to attend to my family," Leung told reporters. "In my family, my children only have one father, my wife only has one husband," said Leung, who has three grown children, adding that he didn't want to say more publicly.

He is deeply unpopular in Hong Kong because of the hard-line stance his government has taken against pro-democracy lawmakers, activists and supporters.

Last week he and the justice secretary filed a legal challenge against four pro-democracy lawmakers in an attempt to disqualify them from office because they modified their oaths of office. Last month, the government won a similar challenge against two newly elected separatist lawmakers.

In 2014, Leung refused to negotiate with student pro-democracy activists who led protests occupying the streets of the Asian financial hub for nearly three months.

Leung said he had Beijing's full support and he would give his backing to whomever became Hong Kong's next leader.

He spoke two days before a vote to choose the elite committee that will pick his successor. Members of trade and professional groups representing business sectors such as financial services, catering, real estate and accounting will vote for the panel's 1,200 members.

The panel is scheduled to pick Hong Kong's next leader in March, and most members are expected vote for the person Beijing chooses.</s>Prominent surveyor and former government advisor Leung Chun-ying attends a forum for chief executive candidates in Hong Kong March 12, 2012. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying said on Friday he will not stand for re-election in a 2017 vote for chief executive for family reasons, in a surprise announcement that throws open the race to govern the financial hub.

Leung has been backed by the central government in Beijing which he said had accepted his decision not to contest the March election.

"The central government has highly regarded my work," Leung told a news conference.

"In a family, my children only have one father, my wife only has one husband."

Leung did not elaborate but media has reported that a daughter has been hospitalized.

Speculation on a new leader for Hong Kong is likely to focus on John Tsang, the city's financial secretary, or Regina Ip, a former city security chief.

All candidates have to be approved by a 1,200-strong Election Committee, largely made up of pro-Beijing establishment figures, which will then vote from among them for a new leader.

Hong Kong's next leader faces a host of challenges with concern growing over the influence of Beijing in city affairs as well as a fledging independence movement that has alarmed China's Communist Party leadership.

Beijing's leaders have signaled they want Hong Kong's next chief to forge consensus across a politically and socially divided city, boost incomes and safeguard security in a place that remains significantly more free than the mainland.

Tens of thousands of protesters clogged city streets for weeks in 2014 to demand a one-man-one-vote election for chief executive but they failed to win any concessions from Beijing.

Tensions have risen in recent weeks amid a Beijing-backed legal crackdown against pro-independence and pro-democracy city lawmakers accused of mocking their oaths of office in gestures of protest against Beijing.

Two have been disqualified after court cases and another four are facing legal challenges led by Leung and his justice secretary.

The mainland's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said it "deeply regretted" Leung's personal decision for family reasons but respected it, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Leung had resolutely implemented the one-country, two systems policy, the office said, referring to the formula for Hong Kong's autonomy under which the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Leung had "dependably handled a series of important political issues", it said.

Tsang, who is less closely identified with Beijing's Communist Party leadership than Leung, has not ruled out standing but he has declined to say if Beijing has given him any sign about a possible bid.

Tsang has experience in city government dating back to British rule.

"Many people, no matter if they know me or not – or even those on the internet – are very supportive of me joining the election," Tsang in a radio interview last week.

Ip, who is seen as close to the Beijing leadership and is also a former British-trained civil servant, is expected to announce her candidacy next week, according to media.

Commenting on Leung's announcement, Ip said she was "touched and felt sympathetic" about his bid to strike a balance between official duties and family life.

Leung's popularity has recently dipped to 38.5 points from 52.5 at the beginning of his term, according to a public opinion poll by the University of Hong Kong.

But the departure of the unpopular leader would not solve the city's problems, a democracy activist said.

"These problems come from the system itself. Until this moment, we still can't get universal suffrage," said Joshua Wong, 20, a leader of the 2014 protests.</s>Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announces that he will not run again for office and will step down at the end of his term in July, citing family reasons (AFP Photo/ANTHONY WALLACE)

Hong Kong's unpopular leader Leung Chun-ying, who has been vilified by critics as a puppet of Beijing, said Friday he would not run again for office after a term marked by anti-China protests and political divisions.

Leung said he would step down at the end of his term in July for family reasons after speculation intensified in recent weeks over who would get the nod from Beijing for leadership elections in March.

Some pro-democracy campaigners predicted there would be public "euphoria" at the news, while analysts said the announcement had come as a surprise, just three months before the election in which Leung was widely expected to run for a second term.

Leung said Beijing had been "very supportive" and said he was not stepping down because of a lack of backing from China.

"The central government has always fully affirmed and had high opinions of my work," he said.

China has accepted Leung's decision, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Leung took office in 2012 as concerns were growing that Beijing was tightening its grip on the semi-autonomous city and his opponents have slammed him as a hardline leader overseeing the erosion of Hong Kong's freedoms.

His term has been one of political crises with massive pro-democracy rallies in 2014 bringing tens of thousands onto the streets calling for reform and for Leung to step down.

The failure of the protests to win any concessions left the city starkly divided between pro-establishment and pro-democracy camps and sparked an independence movement calling for the city to break entirely from Beijing.

China has expressed its fury over the movement, which it says is illegal and will damage Hong Kong's prosperity.

Last month two democratically elected lawmakers who support a split from China were barred from taking up their seats after an intervention from Beijing.

A group of more moderate pro-democracy lawmakers are facing a court case Thursday brought by the government which is also seeking to remove them from the legislature.

Pro-democracy campaigner Joshua Wong, who led the 2014 rallies, said that while some people might celebrate Leung's decision, there were now fears that he would simply be replaced with another hardline leader.

The chief executive is chosen by a 1,200-strong committee of special interest groups weighted towards Beijing.

The mass "Umbrella Movement" rallies of 2014 were calling for that system to be overturned and for the leader to be chosen by the public.

Those protests were triggered after Beijing said Hong Kong could choose its own chief executive, but that candidates would have to be vetted.

"I think CY Leung not getting re-elected is of course a good thing... he has triggered lots of public discontent," Wong told AFP but added there needed to be broader fundamental changes.

"The problem is not about people, but that the system needs to be reformed," he said.

Pro-democracy lawmaker Claudia Mo also warned that campaigners should not be complacent.

"Whoever is chief executive is still going to be hand-picked by Beijing," Mo told AFP.

Analyst Joseph Cheng said that there had been speculation that Beijing had refused to back Leung as it had not signalled support.

"Normally we expect some signals from Beijing by this time," he said.

There are question marks over how much support Leung could rally from the pro-establishment camp after his rocky term. Beijing may want a stronger candidate, said analyst Edmund Cheng.

Leung only secured 689 votes of 1,200 in 2012.

"To assure that Beijing has better control of the current system, they may want to increase the legitimacy of the next chief executive, and they may want someone to get more (votes) than that," said Cheng, professor of government and international studies at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Leung said he was stepping down out of "responsibility as a father and a husband" and that it was not to do with his performance as leader.

Reports in local media have said that Leung's daughter Leung Chai-yan, 25, has been in hospital for more than a month, although the reasons are unclear.

His daughter hit the headlines in 2015 after slapping her mother in public and announced she was leaving home because of explosive rows with her parents.

China's spokesman for Hong Kong and Macao Affairs told Xinhua: "We express our deep regret that Leung has decided not to pursue another term due to family reasons, and we respect his decision."

Only one candidate has declared they are running for the leadership so far -- retired judge Woo Kwok-hing.

"With Mr. Leung not running, I hope society will be less divided," Woo said Friday.</s>Hong Kong's Beijing-backed leader, deeply unpopular because of his hard-line response to massive 2014 pro-democracy protests and an ensuing separatist movement, said Friday he won't seek another term in office, citing family reasons.

In a surprise announcement, Leung Chun-ying said he would step aside after his five-year term ends next June.

"If I run for the next term of the chief executive, I'm afraid my family will come under unbearable pressure in the coming months," he told reporters. "I must protect them."

Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper reported earlier in the day that one of his daughters has been in hospital for a month.

"As a father, as a husband, I have a responsibility," said Leung, who has two other children. "In my family, my children only have one father, my wife only has one husband," he said, adding didn't want to say more publicly.

Leung, who was chosen by a panel of Beijing-friendly tycoons and other Hong Kong elites, is loathed because of the tough stance his government has taken against pro-democracy lawmakers, activists and supporters.

His popularity has steadily dwindled since he took office and his approval rating stood at 23 percent in late November, according to Hong Kong University pollsters carrying out regular phone surveys of about 1,000 people. The poll has an error margin of 4 percentage points.

His government has filed legal challenges against six recently elected pro-democracy lawmakers in an attempt to disqualify them after they altered their oaths of office in apparent protests against China. Last month, two of those lawmakers, who advocate separatism for the specially administered Chinese region, lost their cases.

In 2014, Leung refused to negotiate with student pro-democracy activists who led protests occupying the streets of the Asian financial hub for nearly three months. The protesters demanded changes to the system that put Leung in office, but authorities did not back down. Police fired dozens of tear gas canisters in an attempt to disperse them, in a move that drew world headlines.

Leung said he had Beijing's full support and he would give his backing to whoever became Hong Kong's next leader.

In Beijing, the Cabinet's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office issued a statement saying it felt "deep regret" at the news but respected Leung's decision.

As chief executive, Leung had "deftly managed a series of major political and legal issues, and made vast contributions to the safeguarding of national sovereignty, security and development interests, as well as to Hong Kong's social and political stability," the statement said, quoting an unidentified spokesperson.

Leung' announcement came two days before a vote to choose the elite committee that will pick his successor. Members of the financial services, catering, real estate and accounting and other industry groups will vote for its 1,200 members.

The panel is scheduled to pick the next leader in March, with most members expected vote for the person Beijing chooses.</s>Leung Chun-ying is the first chief executive to refrain from seeking re-election since Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

HONG KONG — Leung Chun-ying, the unpopular Beijing-backed leader of Hong Kong whose government has tried to block or remove elected opposition politicians from office, said Friday that he would not seek a second term.

“I must make a responsible choice between fulfilling my responsibilities to society and to my family,” he said at a news conference, adding that a campaign would impose “unbearable stress” on his family.

Leung has occupied the post of chief executive, the city’s highest office, since 2012. He is the first chief executive to refrain from seeking re-election since Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

Critics of Leung have viewed whether he would run as a sign of the Chinese government’s endorsement of his hard-line policies in Hong Kong, a semiautonomous territory. In the past few years, under Leung’s leadership, concerns have grown in the city over an erosion in civil liberties and, more recently, a crackdown on political opposition.

“Everyone in Hong Kong can see that the central authorities, including the top leaders in the country, have been very supportive of my work over all these years,” he said, a denial that he was dropping out because of Beijing’s disapproval.

In a statement, the Chinese government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said it was “regretful” of Leung’s decision not to run and praised his contribution in upholding national sovereignty and stability in Hong Kong.

Leung will stay in office for six months until the inauguration of his successor, who will be selected in March.

Leung was accused last week of waging a “coup” as he tried to unseat four elected pro-democracy legislators with a legal challenge over the way they took their oaths of office. An earlier judicial review that he initiated disqualified two separatists from taking places in the legislature, but his move to challenge the four seated lawmakers, who do not advocate Hong Kong’s independence from China, was seen as a broader crackdown on opposition.

The six politicians targeted by Leung were among more than 10 who inserted political statements into their oaths of office in October. Two of them, the pro-independence Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching, added an alternative name for China that many see as derogatory, and pledged allegiance to the Hong Kong “nation,” prompting a rare legal intervention from the Chinese government.

“The timing of this is an attempt to relieve pressure in society against the government’s suppression of legislators,” said Nathan Law, who is among the four legislators whose qualification for office is being challenged. “There may be a stick following the carrot. We must not let our guards down.”

In the four years since Leung took office, Hong Kong has had large street protests demanding greater democracy amid wide-ranging economic grievances, including housing in a property market regularly ranked as one of the world’s least affordable.

In the Friday news conference, Leung did not provide details about his family issues, although the local media reported this week that he had visited a hospital where his daughter was said to be receiving treatment.

“My daughter has only one father, and my wife has only one husband,” he said Friday.

In a widely reported episode in 2015, Leung said his older daughter, Leung Chai-yan, had health problems after she accused him and her mother of abuse.

Leung has two daughters and a son.

His move to open the office to other candidates is unlikely to lead to drastic changes in terms of Hong Kong’s relationship with China. The chief executive is selected by an elite committee dominated by Beijing loyalists. On Sunday, members of professional and special-interest groups from dozens of sectors such as agriculture, banking and education will vote fewer than 1,200 people onto the committee. The chief executive may at most serve two consecutive, five-year terms.</s>Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, said on Friday he will not run again for office and will stand down when his first term ends, citing family reasons.

He told reporters that the Chinese central government has accepted his decision not to run in the March 2017 election and were “very supportive” of his decision.

There has been widespread speculation in the past few weeks about who will get Beijing’s backing to run for the chief executive position, with financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah and lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee among those tipped.

Only 1,200 Hong Kong people are allowed to vote in the chief executive elections and the panel is made up almost entirely of pro-Beijing and pro-business candidates.

Mr Leung’s decision not to stand comes as Chinese Communist Party leaders have expressed anger at growing support for parties calling for independence and self-determination in the former British colony.

Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula, allowing it wide-ranging freedoms and a separate legal system for 50 years.

In recent weeks Mr Leung has fought a legal battle against politicians from the independence movement to disqualify them from taking their seats in the legislative council after they pledged allegiance to the “Hong Kong nation” and displayed a banner declaring “Hong Kong is not China” during their swearing-in ceremony in October.

There were reports in the Chinese-language Apple Daily that Mr Leung’s daughter Chai-yan has been in hospital for more than a month.

In recent years she has made a number of controversial posts on Facebook, including accusations that her mother had attacked her and a photograph in 2014 that appeared to show a slashed wrist and blood in a bathtub.

Mr Leung said he did not wish to go into his personal life too deeply but said: “As a husband and father I have a responsibility . . . My daughter has only one father and my wife has only one husband,” according to the South China Morning Post.

An opinion poll released earlier by Mr Leung’s rivals, the Democratic Party, showed that almost 70 per cent of Hong Kong people opposed his re-election as chief executive.

Mr Leung has rarely proven popular during his tenure, especially during the “Occupy Central” protests in 2014 when he was demonised by the student protesters as a pawn of Beijing.

Mr Leung became the territory’s fourth chief executive in 2012, succeeding Donald Tsang. – (Additional reporting: Reuters)</s>David Mulroney is president of the University of St. Michael's College and a former ambassador to China

These are not good days for democracy in Hong Kong, an unhappy fact that was recently reconfirmed by no less of an authority than Chris Patten, the city’s last British governor. In a recent speech, Mr. Patten lamented the slow pace of democratic development since the city’s 1997 handover to China. Back then, it was widely hoped that China’s acceptance of the one country, two systems formula would allow for the steady evolution of democratic institutions in Hong Kong. The idea was that the city would continue to serve as a separate and self-contained test bed of reforms, some of which could be applied, carefully and selectively, by China itself.

But what happened instead was that ruling elites in Hong Kong began second-guessing their own authority, and routinely turned to Beijing for decisions that should have been trusted to Hong Kong institutions. An increasingly powerful China needed little encouragement. It systematically reduced Hong Kong’s autonomy, without much comment from the city’s supposed international friends such as Britain and Canada.

Mr. Patten was particularly scathing in his commentary about independence advocates, whose campaign, he said, “dilutes support for democracy.” This was interpreted as criticism of two lawmakers, supporters of independence, who have been forced to vacate their seats. The duo had refused to take the official oath of office, substituting wording that could be considered offensive to China. Their actions sparked legal intervention by China’s government even before Hong Kong’s own courts could consider the issue.

It’s hard to argue with Mr. Patten’s assessment. Pushing for Hong Kong’s independence is wildly unrealistic and, given China’s sensitivity and volatility, irresponsible. But it is also an understandable expression of local frustrations given how little effort has been devoted to exploring more moderate options for democratic governance. If Hong Kong’s leaders, and friends such as Britain and Canada, had remained true to the vision of one country, two systems, the city’s residents would today have at least some say in charting their future. Instead, they are condemned to a form of governance in which they are asked to take up the responsibilities of citizenship without the corresponding rights.

The reverse is true for that fortunate minority among Hong Kong’s seven million residents who also happen to be Canadian citizens. The recently-introduced Bill C-33, which amends the Canada Elections Act, would offer the right to vote to all Canadians residing overseas, as long as they have lived in Canada at some point. It eliminates a previous provision that restricted voting rights to expatriates who had been absent for fewer than five years. The bill is big news in Hong Kong, where a Canadian community of roughly 300,000 includes emigrants to Canada who have since returned, and Canadian-born expats lured by Hong Kong’s low-tax, business-friendly environment.

Passage of the bill will encourage much chest-thumping about Canada’s support for democracy, but it is hard not to see in this something slightly different. Ottawa is offering up one of the most important rights of citizenship, the right to vote in elections back home, without reference to any corresponding responsibilities. This is politically astute, but not particularly courageous. Real support for democracy requires more ambition and more honesty.

Britain, Canada and other democracies have not lived up to their 1997 commitments, failing to follow up with the training programs, institutional exchanges and official encouragement that could have assisted the gradual emergence of healthy democratic institutions in Hong Kong. And they neglected to hold China accountable for its own commitments.

Our links to Hong Kong are real and enduring. In 1941, 290 Canadians gave their lives in defence of the city. Another 300 later died as prisoners of war. Since then, the steady influx of people and money from Hong Kong has enriched Canadian society. Shouldn’t our support for democratic rights in Hong Kong extend beyond the privileged minority of its residents who happen to be Canadian citizens?</s>Hong Kong (CNN) A cheer went up from the crowd as the bottles of champagne were popped.

Outside Hong Kong's Government House, protesters handed out plastic cups of wine as they chanted slogans celebrating the downfall of the city's top official, a rare moment of celebration for the beleaguered pro-democracy movement.

On Friday, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying announced he will not seek re-election, citing family reasons.

His removal was a key demand of the 2014 Umbrella Movement mass demonstrations and many protests since, and there was a mood of jubilation Saturday as demonstrators gathered in the city's business district for an anti-government rally.

'CY did not beat us'

Longtime anti-government lawmaker "Longhair" Leung Kwok-hung told CNN on Saturday he was happy to see the back of CY Leung, as the chief executive is known, but said "his legacy will continue," as several of his key allies are being mulled as potential successors.

"It's not a victory, but CY did not beat us," he said.

Unconcerned about his own fate, the lawmaker said if he were removed "young blood will emerge" to take his place.

Lawmaker Lau Siu-lai, who took part in the Umbrella Movement, said Leung's decision not to seek re-election was a vindication of the protests.

"It shows our will, and power to turn the will of Beijing," she said, but voiced concern the pro-democracy movement would find itself with an even less desirable chief executive, Regina Ip.

"We are very worried," Lau said. "She is more dangerous than CY Leung."

Ip, one of the few candidates to have already declared her intentions to run in the March election, is a former security secretary who stepped down in 2003 after mass protests against a proposed anti-sedition law.

But lawmaker Edward Yiu said Saturday there was a rare opportunity next year for the pro-democracy minority on the election committee to play kingmaker in a split vote between two pro-government candidates.

"I am quite optimistic," he said. "We could (then) fight for more universal suffrage in the coming term."
Pro-Beijing Hong Kong leader CY Leung says he will quit after his term ends.