• Journal Name: China Law
• Author: Guo Jian’an
• Institution: General Manager of China Legal Service (H.K.) Ltd.
• Year: 2019
• Issue: 3
• Page: 146

There were originally no prisons in Hong Kong, but only a few thatched huts built on the hillsides of Central District in the early years to temporarily detain prisoners. The first prison was built after Britain seized Hong Kong. During the more than 170 years (1841-2015), the prison has left many colonial traces full of humiliation and tears, while witnessing the gestation and development of Hong Kong correctional services.

Celebrities in Victoria and Beyond

Victoria Prison has been in operation for more than 150 years from 1841 until the end of 2005. Over the past 150 years or so, Victoria Prison has held various people, many of whom are well-known. In addition, many dignitaries have come from the police dormitories and primary schools for police children around Victoria Prison.

I. Ho Chi Minh, Father of Vietnam, was twice imprisoned in Victoria Prison

In the 19th century, Victoria Prison was mainly used to imprison thieves, criminals, anti-British people, anti-Qing revolutionaries, and even Chinese people who went out at night without ID cards. In the 20th century, after the “Canton-Hong Kong Strike and Boycott” in 1925, the Hong Kong British government held the striking workers in Victoria Prison and was alert to the organization ability of the CPC. In 1930, they set up the “Anti-communist Group” in the police force and renamed it “Political Department” in 1933, paying close attention to the activities of the communists in Hong Kong. On June 6,1931, the police arrested Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the Vietnamese Communist Party and later the Father of Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh.formerly known as Nguyen Tat Thanh (1890-1969) and the alias - Ai Quoc, was born in a traditional family. His father Nguyen Thanh Sen was a patriotic gentleman. Influenced by his father, Ho Chi Minh cherished the ambition of resisting French colonial rule and saving the country and the people as a child. Vietnam was once a vassal state of China, but was later confirmed as a French colony in the Sino-French New Testament after France invaded and defeated China in 1882. After the success of the 1911 Revolution, with the assistance of Sun Yat-sen and the Chinese Alliance, Chinese and Vietnamese revolutionaries set up a revolutionary group named “Association for China Rejuvenation and Asia Revitalization” in Guangzhou in August 1912 with the aim of aiding Vietnam and resisting France. At that time, many young Vietnamese were greatly encouraged to go abroad in search of ways to save the nation. Ho Chi Minh was one of them. He came to France in 1919 and actively participated in political activities. In the following year, he joined the French Socialist Party to fight for the Communist International. In June 1923, Ho Chi Minh participated in the International Conference of Farmers held in Moscow as a representative of farmers from various colonial countries and was elected as a member of the Executive Committee. He also got enrolled in the Oriental University. In November 1924, he was sent to Guangzhou by the Communist International as an interpreter for Borodin under the pseudonym of “Ly Thuy”. He secretly set up a revolutionary organization. However, the Government of Colony of French Republic, Indochina found out from intelligence agencies that “Ly Thuy” was Nguyen Ai Quoc. With the assistance of the CPC, Ho Chi Minh organized and established the “Association of Vietnamese Revolutionary Young Comrades” in Vietnam in June 1925. He also set up three branches in Tonkinchina, Annam and Cochinchina to carry out the anti-French independence movement. In February 1931, with the assistance of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPC, Ho Chi Minh came to Hong Kong under the pseudonym Song Wenchu to convene a meeting as a representative of the Communist International to discuss the unification of the Vietnamese Communist Party. The attendees finally decided to establish a unified Vietnamese Communist Party and drafted its platform, strategy and constitution. The establishment of the Vietnamese Communist Party reinforced the unity and strength of Vietnam's anti-France struggle for national independence, but naturally it also led to more brutal repression by the French colonists. In April 1931, Joseph Dukelos, a messenger from the Far East Bureau of the Communist International and a member of the French Communist Party, was arrested when carrying out activities in Singapore. The Singapore police searched out his contact book and some undestroyed correspondence with Ho Chi Minh's address in Hong Kong, and transferred the relevant information to the French. The French then requested the Hong Kong British government to assist in the arrest of Ho Chi Minh and his extradition to Vietnam for trial. As the French colonial government had tried Ho Chi Minh in absentia for organizing several uprisings to overthrow the colonial rule and sentenced him to death as early as 1929, the police offered a reward for arresting him in 1931. After two days of surveillance on Ho Chi Minh, the Hong Kong police arrested Ho in his residence - No.186 Tam Kung Road, Kowloon — on June 6,1931. The arrest was not announced until June 11, and Ho was transferred to Victoria Prison the following day.

Since Ho Chi Minh was a political prisoner and conformed to the principle of international law that political prisoners shall not be extradited, the Hong Kong British government could not extradite Ho Chi Minh as requested by the French. The French Consul General in Hong Kong requested the Hong Kong British government to deport Ho Chi Minh to a small island in a British colony after obtaining the consent of the French Colonial Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In return, the French would assist Britain in handling cases related to the Communist Party of India and Myanmar. The Governor agreed with the French, but indicated that there were some difficulties in implementation, and it was better to keep a low profile in dealing with it in Hong Kong without disturbing London. At that time, the French Colonial Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Consulate General in Hong Kong, the Government of Colony of French Republic, Indochina and other departments kept in contact with each other. They were optimistic that Ho Chi Minh could not escape this time. However, things did not go as expected. On June 19, the French Communist Party's “L'Humanite” and other leftist newspapers first published the news on the arrest of Ho Chi Minh in Hong Kong. On June 22, The Hong Kong Telegraph, a Hong Kong English newspaper, first published the news in Hong Kong. The next day, the English version of South China Morning Post also published the news, saying that the Government of Colony of French Republic, Indochina had many intelligence agents in China looking for information about Ho Chi Minh. A few days later, The Times also published the news, stating that Ho Chi Minh was arrested at the request of France and the French requested extradition. Subsequently, the British Colonial Office began to express concern, and most officials believed that extradition should not be granted. After the exposure, the Governor's room for action was greatly reduced. Afterwards, the International Coalition Against Imperialism hired Lawyer Francis Henry Loseby (1883-1961), a left-wing sympathizer, for Ho Chi Minh. When Loseby first met Ho Chi Minh in Victoria Prison, Ho immediately informed Loseby that he had been sentenced to death by the Vietnamese court. The British wanted to deport him to the French colony, then the French would kill him, and the Hong Kong British government was carrying out the deportation. Immediately after the meeting, Loseby hired a barrister to apply for a habeas corpus for Ho and to represent Ho Chi Minh to file a lawsuit against the prison authority. From July 31 to September 12, the Hong Kong High Court held nine sessions to hear Sung Man Cho v. The Superintendent of Prisons. Then, the arrest of Ho Chi Minh became a public event. In court, two British barristers (F. C. Jenkin and A. M. L. Soares) and Loseby acted as the attorney agent for Ho Chi Minh. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong British government issued two expulsion orders to Ho Chi Minh on August 12 and 15. On September 11, the court ruled against the plaintiff by confirming the legality of the expulsion order of the Hong Kong British government. The Ho Chi Minh side immediately proposed to appeal to the Privy Council. The next day, the High Court allowed Ho Chi Minh to appeal to the Privy Council. After Ho Chi Minh appealed to the Privy Council, he was represented by Denis Noel Pritt (1887-1972), a famous British lawyer who supported Moscow, and Richard Stafford Cripps (1889-1952), who later served as British ambassador to the former Soviet Union, was on the British side. After understanding the case, Cripps felt that the expulsion order of the Hong Kong British government was illegal and worried that if Ho Chi Minh was freed after the lawsuit, it would not only offend the French government, but also bring negative impact on the reputation of the Hong Kong British government and even the British government. As a result, he negotiated an out-of- court settlement with Pritt, and the two sides finally reached an agreement. On July 22,1932, the Privy Council announced that it had agreed to a settlement agreement between the two sides. First, Ho Chi Minh must be expelled from Hong Kong and cannot enter Hong Kong for 10 years. Secondly, the expulsion destination cannot be a French colony or a place to which French power can be extended, and Ho cannot leave Hong Kong in French ships. Third, the Hong Kong Governor will do his best to ensure Ho Chi Minh can safely reach the place he wishes to go. Finally, the Hong Kong British government paid the prosecutor 250 pounds as litigation costs. On December 28, Ho Chi Minh was finally released from Victoria Prison after months of struggle.

Ho Chi Minh chose to go to Moscow - center of the international communist movement. However, passengers who want to go to Moscow from Hong Kong had to transfer ships in Shanghai or Singapore to reach Moscow via Vladivostok. Ho Chi Minh decided to transship from Singapore. On January 12,1933, Ho Chi Minh arrived in Singapore with the help of Loseby, but the Singapore police received the news in advance and refused to allow him to land on the ground with the reason that Ho had not applied for entry. On January 15, Ho Chi Minh had no choice but to return to Hong Kong on ship. When he got off the ship on January 19, Hong Kong police arrested Ho Chi Minh on the grounds that he violated the terms of the out-of- court settlement and put him back in Victoria Prison.

After hearing the news, Loseby managed to rescue him again, asking Governor William Peel (1875-1945) to intervene and expressing his willingness to offer guarantee for Ho. Peel ordered to release Ho Chi Minh that night, offering him three days to leave Hong Kong. Ho Chi Minh stayed in the Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong Bridges Street Centre for 3 days after his release. He left Hong Kong on January 22 in the “Anhui Ship” and went to Xiamen accompanied by Loseby to continue his revolutionary cause until the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945.

II.“Written on a Prison Wall” by Dai Wangshu - a patriotic poet

During World War II, Victoria Prison held a large number of anti-Japanese righteous men, many of whom were killed by the Japanese aggressors. According to statistics, only 166 prisoners remained alive in Victoria Prison after the end of World War II. Victoria Prison once held Dai Wangshu (1905-1950)- a famous poet. Dai Wangshu was born in Hangzhou in 1905. He was admitted to the Literature Department of Shanghai University in 1923 and learnt from Tian Han. In 1825, Shanghai University was closed, so Dai transferred to the French Department of Shanghai Aurora University. He began to publish poems in 1926. In 1928, he published his poem A Lane in the Rain in the Novel Monthly. Due to its refreshing words and catchy syllables, it was praised by Ye Shengtao and widely circulated. As a result, Dai became famous and was named “Rain Lane Poet”. During his study in Aurora University, he had close ties with left-wing writers and devoted himself to revolutionary propaganda. He went to France to study in November 1932 and successively studied at Paris University and Lyon Sino-French Institute. During his study, he devoted to the translation of foreign literary works. He successively translated A History of Soviet Literature, A Collection of Belgian Short Stories, A Collection of Italian Short Stories, etc., and studied many novels by Spanish writers. In 1935, he was expelled from school for participating in anti-fascist demonstrations in France and Spain and returned to China. After returning home, he founded the monthly New Poetry with Bian Zhilin, Sun Dayu, Liang Zongdai and Feng Zhi. New Poetry was one of the most important literary periodicals in modern Chinese poetry circle, and it was also an important platform for the exchange between the poets of New Moon School and the modernist poets. Dai Wangshu also became an influential figure in modern poetry circle. In March 1938, after Japan invaded and occupied Shanghai, he and other writers and artists initiated the establishment of the All-China Anti-Japanese Association of Writers and Artists. In May 1938, Dai Wangshu and his family went to Hong Kong to live in Woodbrook Villa at No.92 Pok Fu Lam Road. He joined Ta Rung Pao and acted as Chief Editor of the literary supplement and founded the magazine Gengyun. In August, Dai edited Constellation - the literary supplement of Sing Tao Daily, attracting many Chinese writers in the mainland, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia and becoming an important field for the cultural circle to support the anti-Japanese national salvation movement with literature and art as weapons. He was determined to struggle in the “gloomy climate” caused by the enemy's invasion and “offer illumination along with the lights around the harbor frontage” with his dim light. Dai Wangshu fought tenaciously with the invading enemy and the Hong Kong British government. His Blessings on New Year's Day, written on New Year's Day in 1939, praised the firm belief and optimistic attitude towards the anti-Japanese fight. In March 1939, the Hong Kong Branch of the All-China Anti- Japanese Association of Writers and Artists was established. For the purpose of cover-up, it was changed to the “Hong Kong Communications Office of the Hong Kong Branch of the All- China Association of Writers and Artists”. Dai Wangshu was elected as the first director. He was also the head of the research department and the western literature group, and the editorial member of the Association Weekly. In July, he edited Dingdian magazine with Ai Qing. In October, he engaged in the planning of the “third anniversary of Lu Xun's death” jointly organized by Hong Kong cultural circle. At the end of 1941, Japan invaded Hong Kong and intended to seize the cultural front to whitewash its aggression. In the spring of 1942, Dai Wangshu was arrested and imprisoned in Victoria Prison for using newspapers and periodicals to publicize the anti-Japanese war in Hong Kong for a long time. He was targeted by the Japanese invaders and refused to cooperate with the Japanese in winning the hearts and minds of the cultural circle for the Japanese through his influence. In prison, the Japanese aggressors inflicted various kinds of destruction on Dai Wangshu, a tender writer. He suffered tortures such as “chili water” and “torture rack”, and his asthma was aggravated, but his will under his tender appearance was not destroyed but strengthened. On April 27,1942, he resolutely wrote Written on a Prison Wall in his cell, declaring his strong will and firm belief in the victory of the Chinese nation in the war against Japan.

Written on a Prison Wall

If I die here,

Friends, do not be sad,

I shall always exist In your hearts.

One of you died,

In a cell in Japanese-occupied territory,

He harbored deep hatred,

You should always remember.

When you come back,

Dig up his mutilated body from the mud,

Hoist his soul up high With your victory cheers.

And then place his bones on a mountain peak,

To bask in the sun, and bathe in the wind:

In that dark damp dirt cell,

This was his sole beautiful dream.

Writing poems on prison walls has been a tradition in China. In the late Qing Dynasty, Tan Sitong left a quatrain of the same title in a prison including the following words:“I brave the sword o'erhead and laugh towards the sky; Stay or leave, live or die our minds stand mountain-high.” Revolutionary pioneer He Mengxiong also expressed his ambition in a poem of the same title in a prison set up by warlords, saying that although he was a prisoner, he still “never waste youth.” Compared with the archaic poems, Dai Wangshu's vernacular poem is refreshing and easy to understand, fully expressing his hatred and contempt for the Japanese aggressors' deprivation of liberty and cruel torture as well as his faith and vision for national liberation, which embodies the national integrity of an upright intellectual.

In May of the same year, Dai Wangshu was released on bail from prison by his friend Ye Lingfeng. After his release, Dai continued to write and spread anti-Japanese poems and ballads although he was ill. On July 3, he wrote the famous poem With My Injured Hand about his thoughts in prison.

With My Injured Hand

With my injured hand,

I stroke this great land;

This comer has been reduced to ashes,

That is only blood and mud.

This tract of lake should be my native place,

(In spring, flowers bloom like a brocade screen along the dike;

The peculiar fragrance of tender willow twigs when broken.)

Where I can feel the rushes and cool water,

The snowy peaks of Changbai Mountains chill to the bone,

The waters of Huanghe River mixed with silt between my fingers.

Paddy fields south of the Yangtze River, in those years,

Your seedlings once slender and soft, now rotten.

South of the Five Ridges, blossoms fade in solitude,

Further, I touch the bitter water of the boatless South China Sea...

The invisible hand brushes across rivers and mountains,

Fingers stained with blood and ash, palms glued to darkness,

Only a distant corner still remains intact,

Warm, bright, solid, vital.

Over there, I run my injured hand gently,

As if caressing the soft hair of my sweetheart,

Or like a baby fondling its mother's breast.

I summon all my strength to my palm And press it there, with my love and hopes.

Only there is the sun, the spring,

That will dispel the darkness and bring about new life.

Only there can we live not like beasts of burden,

Nor die like ants...

There is the eternal China!

Compared with Written on a Prison Wall, With My Injured Hand depicts his grief and anger over the sufferings of his motherland in a more delicate way, and more firmly shows his belief in the nation's indomitable fighting against the external aggression, thus generating a strong resonance among readers. Dai Wangshu finally welcomed the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in Hong Kong with this unquenchable passion and unceasing belief, thus ending the sufferings of himself and the Chinese nation under aggression.

III.Two Chief Executives from police dormitory and primary school for police children

Many celebrities are from the police dormitory of Victoria Prison and the primary school for police children nearby, including two Chief Executives of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - Leung Chun-ying and Tsang Yam- kuen.

Leung Chun-ying was born in a police family. His father Leung Zung-jan was a policeman recruited by the Hong Kong British government from Weihai, Shandong. As mentioned above, the British occupation of Hong Kong was boycotted and resisted by the Chinese. In order to suppress Hong Kong's anti- British activities and safeguard the social order under British rule and create a good business environment for foreigners, especially the British, British colonists seized Hong Kong and soon established Victoria Prison and Hong Kong Police Force. The police are mainly to deal with the Chinese, and the prison is also mainly for the Chinese. By 1843, Victoria Prison had 482 detainees,90% of whom were Chinese, and the remaining 10% were mostly Indian sailors and soldiers as well as a few Portuguese, British and American. By 1876, Guo Song-tao had also recorded in The Journey to the West after visiting Victoria Prison on December 6,1876:“The prison detainees include more than 30 westerners, Luzon people and Indians, and 514 Chinese.” Therefore, the British colonists had great distrust of the Chinese, and the police and prison officials were all foreigners at that time. In 1853, Hong Kong promulgated its first prison law. At that time, the prison chief and the deputy prison chief were all British. The prison officials were mainly British and some Indians. However, due the increase in number of policemen needed for maintaining social order and warders needed for keeping an increasing number of prisoners in custody, the British colonists moved the Chinese soldiers in the “Chinese Regiment” set up in Weihai Concession, Shandong to Hong Kong to be policemen. After the Canton-Hong Kong Strike and Boycott in 1922, Hong Kong was in huge short of policemen. In many previous labor strikes, Hong Kong Chinese police officers with strong national consciousness did not treat their fellow demonstrators harshly. The Hong Kong British government had great distrust of Hong Kong Chinese and brought in a large number of police officers from Weihai, because the Weihai police who came to Hong Kong earlier were hard-working and left a good impression on the Hong Kong British government. Leung Zung-jan was a policeman recruited by the Hong Kong British government from Weihai in 1928. As a police guard from Shandong for Hong Kong Governor's Office, he was on duty at the Governor's Office and Taiping Mountain.

Leung Chun-ying lived in the police dormitory on the Western Street, Sai Ying Pun as a child and attended the school for police children on Hollywood Road. Later, his family moved to the police dormitory on Hollywood Road next to Victoria Prison and lived in Room 603, where they lived as ordinary Shandong families. His childhood in Hollywood Road had a great influence on Leung Chun-ying. Leung Chun-ying went to Hollywood Road for schooling when he lived in the police dormitory in Sai Ying Pun. In order to save 10 cents for the trolleybus ticket, he walked half an hour to school every day. He was very young at that time and curious about many things. He often stopped for observation: newspapers in newsstands, aquarium fish in shops and TV programmes herbal tea shops. Leung Chun-ying performed very well in the school. He served as monitor and hall monitor for 6 years in the primary school and later became the chief captain. Leung Chun-ying was nurtured by history from an early age and he still remembers that in the first grade, Teacher Zhang encouraged the students with Sun Yat-sen's deeds, telling them that the police dormitory on Hollywood Road was formerly the Central Academy, and many surrounding places were the previous gathering places for revolutionaries. He was deeply impressed by the deeds of revolutionaries such as Qiu Jin, Huang Xing and Lu Haodong, who aroused his national consciousness. There was a small stadium in the primary school for police children on Hollywood Road, where Leung Chun-ying often ran or played with his classmates. In the exam seasons, Leung Chun-ying always reviewed his lessons in the kitchen at home so as not to affect other people's sleep. Even in winter, he always put on his coat and hided in the kitchen to study hard. Leung Chun- ying went to school and lived in Hollywood Road for a long time. His neighbors were all policemen, so he had a thorough understanding of public officials. His father Leung Zung- jan used to be in charge of dormitory management. Leung Chun-ying often shared some work as a child. For example, he went downstairs to adjust the time of the clock, make and post announcements for division of winter and summer. He also frequently went to the principal's office and the teachers' office for homework collection and order management. Early experiences in the police dormitory and the primary school for police children had a positive impact on Leung Chun-ying's growth. In addition to inspiring national consciousness and national feelings by the deeds of revolutionaries, hard life honed his will, and strict discipline developed good working and living habits for him, thus laying a solid foundation for his future academic progress and career development until he was elected as the third Chief Executive of the Special Administrative Region and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

However, Leung Chun-ying encountered a legal problem after taking up the post of Chief Executive. During the Umbrella Campaign in October 2014, the Australian medium Fairfax Media reported that Leung Chun-ying officially announced his candidacy on the day when DTZ, some of whose shares were held by him, was transferred and was to be acquired by UGL, an Australian company. During the acquisition process, UGL signed an agreement with Leung Chun-ying, promising to pay 1.5 million pounds of bonus owed to him and give him another 4 million pounds (about 50 million Hong Kong dollars) before the formal acquisition. The fund was to be paid in two phases in December 2012 and December 2013 respectively. The agreement required him to help retain employees, not compete with UGL and provide consulting service within 24 months after leaving office. The agreement is accompanied by a handwritten supplementary clause signed on December 2,2011, stating that relevant assistance cannot constitute a conflict of interest. According to the agreement, Leung Chun-ying accepted UGL's payment after taking office as Chief Executive, but the fund was not declared in the “paid work” column of his declaration of interest. Later, Hong Kong media reported the news one after another.

To this, the Chief Executive's Office responded that the agreement was a resignation agreement and a private commercial arrangement. The aim was entirely to ensure that Leung Chun-ying would not compete with UGL after leaving office and did not require him to provide any specific service in the future. At the time of the transaction, Leung Chun-ying had resigned from the Executive Council and was not elected Chief Executive. Under the current system, no declaration was required.

After that, Legislative Councilor Kwok Ka-ki reported to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue that Leung Chun- ying was suspected of tax evasion, and asked for clarification as to whether Leung Chun-ying had reported remuneration income to the Inland Revenue and whether it was included in the tax payable. The Chief Executive's Office responded that Leung Chun-ying consulted certified public accountant on the tax payment for the salary in the Australian company last year. The accountant believed that the 50 million Hong Kong dollars was not income generated in Hong Kong and was therefore not taxable, while the tax for another 1.5 million pounds as bonus was already paid.

In November 2017, Democratic Legislator Lam Cheuk-ting went to Britain to report Leung Chun-ying to the National Crime Agency (NCA). In that month, Lam Cheuk-ting and Wan Siu- kin also went to Sydney, Australia to report the UGL incident to the local police. However, the results were not as expected. Britain sent letters to Leung Chun-ying and Lam Cheuk-ting in September 2018, informing them that they had decided not to continue investigating the UGL incident. Sydney police also indicated that there was insufficient evidence that Leung Chun- ying was involved in the crime. UGL Company, the other party concerned, also issued several statements, declaring that the implemented agreement with Leung Chun-ying was a common practice in commercial operations and did not violate any laws, and Leung Chun-ying actually did not provide any specific assistance to it.

Regarding the report of the New Democratic Party to the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the Independent Commission Against Corruption issued a statement on December 12,2018, declaring that it had completed its investigation into the complaints of Leung Chun-ying and Chow Ho-ding, who were alleged to have committed corruption and improper conduct as public officials, and had consulted the Attorney General, who believed that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the two persons and no reasonable chance of conviction. The ICAC presented the investigation results to the “Advisory Committee on Review of Corruption Reports”, who agreed that the ICAC did not need to conduct further investigations. On the December 11,2018, the Attorney General issued a statement to explain the rationale before the ICAC, pointing out that all the evidence showed that DTZ knew that Leung Chun-ying and UGL had signed an agreement and accepted fund from UGL for “not competing and not poaching staff'. It also indicated that DTZ was facing financial difficulties at that time and the negotiations between Leung Chun-ying and UGL were in DTZ's interest. As the evidence failed to show that DTZ did not agree Leung Chun-ying to accept the funds or that the situation constituted the crime of accepting interest by an agent as stipulated in Article 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance,“so it was not reasonable to convict Leung Chun- ying of corruption”. As for the allegation to Leung Chun- ying that Leung did not declare his interest to the relevant departments, Leung Chun-ying has no conflict of interest and there was no law requiring him to declare that he signed an agreement with UGL to obtain fund before taking office as Chief Executive, so he did not constitute any crime of misconduct as an public official.

During the investigation and processing procedure of the whole incident, Leung Chun-ying himself has twice sent lawyers' letters to the media and relevant personnel, requiring them to stop slandering himself maliciously. He also filed a lawsuit to the High Court, asking the court to issue a restraining order to stop the defendant from slandering and requiring compensation.

Tsang Yam-kuen, the second Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, was from the police dormitory on Hollywood Road. According to the book Tsang Yam-kuen Family, Tsang Yam-kuen's family is descended from Zengzi in Shandong and Tsang Yam-kuen is the 74th generation of Zengzi. The grandfather Tsang Fuke moved to Hong Kong to take part in dragon boat race in the 1920s and settled there. Tsang Yun, Tsang Yam-kuen's Father, returned to the mainland to join the army after the outbreak of the Anti- Japanese War. After being wounded, he returned to Hong Kong to join the police force, stationed in Sha Tau Kok and lived in the police dormitory on Hollywood Road. The dormitory was only a small room with only one big bed. Tsang Yam-kuen, his younger brothers and sister, and his three cousins could only make shakedowns in the room, and a total of eight family members lived in the crowded small room. There was no toilet in the room, so the family members had to go to the public toilet outside. The kitchen was also in an outdoor arcade. In his early years, the Tseng family was very poor. However, in today's online language, Tsang Yam-kuen is a model of Diaosi Counterattack.

Tsang Yam-kuen was in a poor family and was called “a child raised in poverty and hardship”. The 5 family members all live on the low salary of Tsang Yam-kuen's father. It was difficult to solve the problem of food and clothing. At the same time, Tsang Yam-kuen's mother worked as a piece worker in a sewing factory in the market. She often worked late into the night. As a result, she died at middle age due to hard work when Tsang Yam-kuen was in primary school. As a young child, Tsang Yam-kuen assumed the responsibility of supporting the family and taking care of his younger brothers and sister. His younger brothers and sister said that he arranged all the family affairs. When he was 11 or 12, he took his younger brothers and sister to visit his father on duty by several buses from Hong Kong Island to Fanling. Tsang Yam-kuen was not talented, but he was taught by his police father and under strict control, so he forged a spirit of hard working and perseverance. After his graduation after several transfers of school, he was admitted to the famous Wah Yan College, where his English level exceeded that of his British classmates, his oral English even made the English teachers feel inferior. After graduating from high school, he was admitted to the Department of Architectural Engineering, University of Hong Kong with excellent scores. However, due to the heavy burden in his family, he was forced to give up his study and find a job to share familial responsibility for his father. As a young supporter of his family, he developed his ability. The combination of ability and perseverance enabled him to make outstanding achievements in his career. After graduating from high school, Tsang Yam-kuen got his first job - salesman for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Limited. His early training enabled him do the difficult job well. Eventually, many hospitals and clinics in Kowloon, Hong Kong became his clients. Nevertheless, Tsang Yam-kuen's goal in life went beyond that. In 1965, the Hong Kong British government recruited 10 civil servants from the Chinese for the first time. Tsang Yam-kuen applied but failed. The following year, encouraged by his father, girlfriend and teacher, he applied for the examination again with full preparation and successfully passed the interview presided over by then Governor David Clive Crosble Trench (1915.6-1988.12), becoming the earliest Chinese civil servant. Then, after 30 years of unremitting efforts, he was recommended by the Hong Kong British government to Harvard University to study for a master's degree in public administration. He graduated with 9A grade and finally became the first Chinese financial secretary of the Hong Kong British government in 1995. In 1997, after Hong Kong's return to the motherland, he became the first financial secretary of the SAR government. In June 2005, Tsang Yam-kuen reached the peak of his career and became the second Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, and he assumed the position until he stepped down in October 2012.

However, when things go too smoothly, misfortune will come. After serving as Chief Executive for more than 6 years, he encountered legal troubles.

In February 2012, media including Apple Daily, Mingpao Daily and Oriental Daily successively reported on the inside stories about Tsang Yam-kuen accepting invitation by the rich, including a three-day and two-day tour to Macau on a luxury yacht and a tour to Thailand on a private plane of a wealthy businessman. After retirement, Tsang Yam-kuen would move to the 6,000-square-foot mansion built by Huang Chubiao - a real estate tycoon in Shenzhen. Huang Chubiao claimed that Tsang Yam-kuen would not share the decoration cost of 14 million Hong Kong dollars. Tsang Yam-kuen explained that there was no transfer of benefits between him and the rich businessmen. He paid the owner of the yacht at the price of taking a ferry and the owner of the private plane at the price of economy class ticket. However, his explanation did not allay the outside doubts. On February 23,2012, Wan Siu-kin, head of the Democratic Party's Organization Department, went to the Independent Commission Against Corruption to report Tsang Yam-kuen's corruption. He believed that the continuous reports of the Oriental Daily showed sufficient evidence that Tsang Yam- kuen violated Articles 4,5 and 10 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. Wan called for a thorough investigation into whether Tsang Yam-kuen received benefits from wealthy businessmen and offered returns afterwards. Emily Lau, Vice Chairman of the Democratic Party, also wrote to ICAC Commissioner Timothy Tong, urging the ICAC to investigate Tsang Yam-kuen. On February 24,2012, League of Social Democrats and People Power sued Tsang Yam-kuen to the ICAC on the same issue. Ho Sau-lan, Chang Kuo-Chu and Lee Cheuk-yan of the Labor Party respectively raised urgent questions to the Legislative Council on Tsang Yam-kuen's suspected conflict of interest. Leong Kahkit and Tong Ka-wah of the Civic Party asked the Constitutional Affairs Committee and the House Committee to discuss the Tsang Yam-kuen incident, and wrote to Tsang Yam-kuen for a detailed explanation of the incident as soon as possible. On February 28, the ICAC announced that with the consent of the Chief Executive, it would investigate the allegations by the Democratic Party and other parties. On July 1, Tsang Yam-kuen stepped down as Chief Executive.

On October 5,2015, after 3 years of investigation, the Independent Commission Against Corruption filed two charges against Tsang Yam-kuen for misconduct as public official. First, during 2010-2012, when Tsang Yam-kuen discussed and approved the digital broadcasting license and related applications of Wave Media Limited (later renamed as Digital Broadcasting Corporation Hong Kong Limited) as Chief Executive, he did not declare that he was discussing with Huang Chubiao (the major shareholder of Wave Media Limited) the matter of renting Junhaoge in Donghai Garden (Huang as the owner), and the fact that his wife had prepaid 800,000 yuan to Donghai Group. Second, from December 2010 to July 2011, when Tsang Yam-kuen proposed to award an honor to the designer Barrie Ho, he did not disclose that Barrie Ho was the interior designer of Junhaoge in Donghai Garden rented by him. Barrie Ho was awarded the Medal of Honor by the SAR Government in 2011.

The case was transferred to the Court of First Instance of the High Court after the Eastern Magistracy failed the trial. On October 11,2016, at the third preliminary hearing of the Court of First Instance of the High Court, the Attorney General was granted an additional charge of “Chief Executive accepting advantages”. The Attorney General accused Tsang Yam-kuen, as Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Chairman of the Executive Council, of accepting the above luxurious decoration of Junhaoge in Donghai Garden from January 2010 to the end of June 2012. That is why Tsang approved the issuance of a license to Wave Media Limited at 2 executive meetings and approved Li Kwok-cheung to be Board Chairman of Wave Media Limited.

On January 3,2017, the Court of First Instance of the High Court formally held a trial of Tsang Yam-kuen case by jury. Tsang Yam-kuen denied all 3 allegations made by the Attorney General. The prosecutor called many former and current officials and senior government officials, but Tsang Yam-kuen chose not to make self-representation. On February 14, after the prosecutor and the defendant had a debate and cross-examination, the judge Andrew Chan offered guiding instructions to 9 jurors. After 19 hours of deliberation on February 17,8 male jurors and 1 female juror ruled that Tsang Yam-kuen's first crime of misconduct as a public official, namely, failing to disclose the fact that he had negotiated with Huang Chubiao (major shareholder of Wave Media Limited) to rent his Junhaoge in Donghai Garden, Shenzhen during the examination and approval of his application for license for Wave Media Limited, is constituted. There was no majority verdict on the Chief Executive's acceptance of advantages. On February 22, Judge Andrew Chan sentenced Tsang Yam-kuen to 20 months' imprisonment according to the verdict of the jury. The lowest sentence for the crime was 30 months of imprisonment. The intercession from all walks of life and Tsang Yam-kuen's long-term contribution to Hong Kong as a civil servant, especially in the Asian financial crisis when he successfully organized as Financial Secretary to repel the attack of foreign financial giants on Hong Kong dollar,10 months of imprisonment was deducted. For the majority verdict not achieved concerning the Chief Executive's accepting advantages, the jury would be dissolved for retrial. Tsang Yam- kuen said he would appeal.

On November 3, the High Court tried again on Tsang's accepting advantages as Chief Executive. The jury was still unable to reach a majority verdict. The judge announced the dissolution of the jury and the Attorney General said that he would not apply for a retrial. On July 20,2018, the Court of Appeal of the High Court rejected Tsang Yam-kuen's appeal, but reduced his sentence from 20 months to 12 months. Tsang Yam- kuen appealed again to the Court of Final Appeal. On December 20, the Court of Final Appeal held that the original judge had not properly guided the jury to prove the defendant's intentional misconduct. Whether Tsang Yam-kuen's conduct was serious enough to constitute a criminal offence should be considered, so the Court of Final Appeal accepted Tsang Yam-kuen's appeal application and scheduled for hearing on May 14,2019. On January 11,2019, Tsang Yam-kuen was transferred from Stanley Prison to Queen Mary Hospital for medical treatment due to physical discomfort 4 days before he was released from prison. On January 15,74-year-old Tsang Yam-kuen was released from the Queen Mary Hospital after serving his sentence. When he came out of the hospital, he took his wife Tsang Pau Siu- Mei's hand and smiled in front of the media, saying that he was finally able to reunite with his family after serving his sentence. He was very grateful and would continue to appeal and seek justice and innocence. Then, Tsang Yam-kuen and his wife left in a government vehicle escorted by G4 VIP protection unit. The courtesy of the government vehicle and G4 VIP protection enjoyed by the former Chief Executive was temporarily cancelled during his sentence, but resumed after his release. After Tsang Yam-kuen's appeal to the Court of Final Appeal was approved, many of the initiators and media who sent him to prison expressed infinite sympathy to him.

On May 14,2019, the day the author completed the article, the Court of Final Appeal held a hearing on schedule for Tsang Yam-kuen's final appeal. The court was headed by Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma, and was also composed of permanent judges Roberto Alexandre Vieira Ribeiro, Joseph Paul Fok and Andrew Cheung Kui-nung as well as non-permanent judge Murray Gleeson. The court held a hearing at 9:30 a.m.and heard statements from both the prosecutor and the defendant. The focus of the dispute was whether the appellant had committed a crime intentionally or not and whether the judge's guidelines to the jury were sufficient. Tsang Yam-kuen appeared in court and his wife Tsang Pau Siu-Mei and other family members attended the hearing. After the court debate was over, the court announced that it would announce its judgment at a later date.

At this moment, it seems that Mr. Tsang Yam-kuen should return to Tai Kwun to visit to the giant mango tree that could bring good luck to people, and pray for extrication from the lawsuits lasting for more than 6 years and to spend his late years safely. The mango tree is located in the inspection square between the police dormitory behind Victoria Prison and the police station. With a history of over 60 years, the tree is said to be magical and will bring good luck to the police in the yard. The tree bears fruits every 2 or 3 years, and each time some police are promoted, so it is called “promotion tree”. I don't know whether the promotion of the 2 former Chief Executives of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is due to the life in the police dormitory all the year round when they were young and the shelter by the tree. Whether they were sheltered in those days or not, it is worthwhile for them to pay a visit when facing difficulties.