Earlier today Donald Tsang hit out at the local press for its increasingly feverish coverage of perceived conflicts of interest relating to compact-fluorescent bulbs (for which his in-laws operate a major supplier) and Lehman minibonds (purchased by his sister-in-law). The crux of Tsang’s statement is that the allegations of “transfer of interests” are entirely baseless and amount to deliberate attacks by members of the press on his character.

Tsang’s increasingly petulant responses to any form of criticism reflect a growing disconnect between him and public opinion. They are also the inevitable end-result of his policy of surrounding himself only with people who say what he wants to hear (親疏有別 - and if anyone can come up with a shorter translation, Palmerston would like to hear it).

The reason the local press delved deeper into the conflicts of interest is precisely because Tsang was not forthcoming with information at the first opportunity. It is particularly telling that Tsang, and the Exeuctive Council, were glibly dismissive - even about the failure to disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest. What little has come to light suggests that discussions of such conflicts were short and amounted to little more than a reassuring chorus from Tsang’s adjutants. Such groupthink is an inevitable result of Tsang’s distancing himself from the opposition.

Tsang’s conduct will certainly do him no favours in his current crisis of governance. Not only does his outburst demonstrate an abject lack of understanding of how politics work, but it will serve merely to galvanise journalists who are already smelling blood. This, and Tsang’s previous intemperate comments about the Tiananmen Square Massacre, may well be seen in retrospect to be the beginning of the end for the Tsang Administration.