Even Li Peng met Tiananmen protesters, says Shanghai Tang founder in attack on Hong Kong chief executive

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s refusal to meet the Occupy protesters had set him apart from Li Peng, who as China’s premier held a televised meeting with students in the lead-up to the Tiananmen Square crackdown, a high-profile Hong Kong businessman said on Thursday.

In a rare speech on “Hong Kong’s future” at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, David Tang, founder of fashion brand Shanghai Tang and the China Club, said the city’s prospects would rest better on a leader more representative of Hongkongers.

With half of his speech questioning Leung’s suitability for the top job, Tang said a leader who was not strong enough would turn himself into “a puppet on a string dancing obsequiously to the tunes and echoes of Zhongnanhai”.

The solution for the problems facing the city would require Hongkongers to stand up for the freedoms they have been enjoying and make their voices heard, Tang said.

He added the government also needed to tackle not just social and economic disparity, but also political polarisation.

“It is only when the stinging palpitations of our political polarisation are defused that we can once again return to a marvellous and civilised legislature that had served Hong Kong well,” he said.