Path to 1997
Seated at the head table was guest-of-honour Baroness Thatcher, in Hong Kong to open the Lantau Link. To her right was George Schultz, former United States Secretary of State, while on Governor Patten's left was Hong Kong's Chief Secretary, Mrs Anson Chan.
A former member of the Governor's Executive Council, Tung Chee Hwa was an acquaintance of Patten, with whom he is seen here on the steps of Government House on 5 June 1997. Born in Shanghai, Tung had moved to Hong Kong with his family when he was 10. His father, C.Y. Tung, became a successful entrepreneur in Hong Kong's shipping sector. Tung Chee Hwa graduated from the University of Liverpool and, as elder son, took over his father's business after the latter's death in 1982.
Hong Kong's first ever election for a chief executive was held on 11 December 1996. Tung Chee Hwa emerged the easy winner from a four-cornered contest for leadership of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Other contestants were Peter Wu Kwong- Ching (left) Simon Li Fook Sean (second left) and Chief Justice Yang Ti-liang, seen here with Mr Tung, just weeks before the election, at the annual dinner of the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance on 7 November 1996.