VICTORY FOR DONALD TSANG: LEGCO SUBCOMMITTEE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KONG 002239

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP AND EAP/CM
NSC FOR DENNIS WILDER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/30/2031
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR CH HK
SUBJECT: VICTORY FOR DONALD TSANG: LEGCO SUBCOMMITTEE
APPROVES TAMAR PROJECT

Classified By: E/P Section Chief Simon Schuchat; Reasons 1.4 (b, d)


1. (C) Summary: On May 29, the Legislative Council (Legco)
Public Works Subcommittee voted in favor of the Hong Kong
Government's long-contested HKD 5.1 billion (USD 660 million)
proposal to construct a new Government headquarters complex
at the Tamar waterfront site. If, as expected, the Legco
Finance Committee also approves the plan on June 23, then
construction will begin in 2007 for completion by 2010. With
the May 26 announcement by the Democratic Party that it would
support the plan, the only remaining opponents in Legco are
the six Civic Party members and a few independent democrats,
most notably Kwok Ka-ki. The project's opponents have
objected to the plan's high financial costs, potential impact
on traffic and air quality, and use of prime commercial land
for government offices. They also have claimed that the
entire design and approval process has lacked transparency
and public consultation. At this time, however, the
project's momentum appears irreversible; on May 30, Kwok told
us pessimistically that only "pressure from China or from the
Hong Kong people" could force the Government to reverse
course.


2. (C) Comment: Since his inauguration last year, Chief
Executive Donald Tsang has viewed the Tamar project as one of
three key goals for his abbreviated two-year term. With
Legco's rejection of his constitutional reform proposals and
the indefinite shelving -- in the face of strong, broad-based
opposition -- of his concept for the West Kowloon Cultural
District, Tsang pushed hard to gain Legco's backing for his
Tamar plan, reaching out across the political spectrum to
democrats and pro-Beijing populists. End Summary and Comment.


3. (SBU) On May 29, 16 of the 18 members of the Legco
Public Works Subcommittee voted in favor of the Government's
long-contested HKD 5.1 billion (USD 660 million) proposal to
construct a new Government headquarters complex at the Tamar
waterfront site in Hong Kong's Central district. The
Democratic Party (DP),the Democratic Alliance for the
Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB),the Liberal Party
(LP),the Alliance, and the Federation of Trade Unions
members all voted in favor of the proposal, while two
lawmakers from the Civic Party (CP) voted against. The next
step in the approval process will be a June 23 vote for final
endorsement in the Finance Committee. If that vote succeeds
as expected, then construction would begin in 2007, with
completion by 2010. Although support for the project from
the LP, Alliance, and FTU has been solid for some time, the
DAB and DP are more recent converts. In March, as its
relations with the Tsang improved, the DAB dropped its
insistence on moving the project to the old Kai Tak Airport
site in southeast Kowloon. More recently, on May 26 the DP
announced it would support the project. Party Chairman Lee
Wing-tat told the press that the Government had "reacted
positively" to its requests for conservation of the existing
Central Government buildings and the Government Hill site.



4. (SBU) Opponents of the project have objected to the
plan's high financial costs, potential impact on traffic and
air quality, and use of prime commercial land for government
offices. They also have claimed that the entire design and
approval process has lacked transparency and public
consultation. The recently formed Civic Party, with six
Legco members, has been especially critical of the
government's plan; on May 29, CP Legco member Alan Leong told
the "South China Morning Post" that the government had
overlooked rational debate and meaningful public
participation and deployed a "strong arm" to secure the votes
it needed. Leong also contested Chief Executive Tsang's
claim that 70 percent of the people supported the project
plan; he urged the government to conduct an independent poll
to assess public views.


5. (C) On May 30, independent pro-democracy Legco member
Kwok Ka-ki told poloff that he definitely was not satisfied
with the Government's latest proposal for the Tamar project.
Dr. Kwok said the plan that was released to the media on May
29 was simply "old stuff" with some "new details" regarding
the harbor-front sidewalk and other minor aspects, while all
the "important stuff" has not been well-addressed. As such,
the Government had failed to address his concerns about
additional land reclamation, general over-planning, and the
excessive height and density of construction. In general,
Kwok claimed that "nothing has changed and nothing has been
settled since day one."


6. (C) According to Kwok, only "pressure from China or

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from the Hong Kong people" could force the Government to
reverse course on the Tamar project. He was not optimistic,
however, that either source would generate sufficient
pressure. China had no interest in opposing the project,
while the people of Hong Kong were unlikely to "come out on
the streets" over the Tamar issue. Kwok laughed when asked
why the DP had dropped its opposition to the Tamar project;
he said the DP did not want to be labeled as a "strong
opposition party" and "probably received some gain from this
decision."

Cunningham