China鈥檚 No 4 politician was among senior Beijing officials and other heavyweights who sent wreaths to the wake for Hong Kong tobacco and media tycoon Charles Ho Tsu-kwok.
The ceremony for Ho, former chairman of the Sing Tao News Corporation who died at the age of 75 earlier this month, was held at the Hong Kong Funeral Home in North Point on Saturday.
Ho became a standing committee member of China鈥檚 top political advisory body, the Chinese People鈥檚 Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in 1998 and controlled Sing Tao News before selling his shares in 2021.
Wreaths were sent by Wang Huning, the fourth-most senior official in the Communist Party of China and who oversees the CPPCC, and Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang, who chairs the leading work group for Hong Kong and Macau affairs.
Xia Baolong, the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs office, the office itself and Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also sent wreaths.
Retired central government officials, including ex-top political adviser Yu Zhengsheng, former vice-premier Liu Yandong and Liao Hui, who served as director of the HKMAO, sent flowers under their names.
All their wreaths read: 鈥淚mmortal Ho鈥.
Government officials and politicians attending the wake included No 2 local official Eric Chan Kwok-ki, financial chief Paul Chan Mo-po, health minister Lo Chung-mau and former chief executives Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and Leung Chun-ying, who is now a CPPCC vice-chairman.
Business leaders attending the ceremony included Victor Li Tzar-kuoi, chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings, Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong, former joint chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties, and entertainment tycoon Albert Yeung Sau-shing.
鈥淗o鈥檚 family members were emotionally stable and the hall was packed with attendees who bade farewell to him,鈥 lawmaker Rock Chen Ching-nin said. 鈥淭he process went smoothly but solemnly.鈥
More than 100 wreaths were placed outside the funeral home.
The funeral will be held on Sunday.
Born in Shanghai in 1949, Ho inherited his grandfather鈥檚 Hong Kong Tobacco Company.
Ho revealed in February he was diagnosed with lung cancer last year and that he had been receiving treatment in Hong Kong.
He started smoking when he was 16 and became a staunch critic of the government鈥檚 anti-tobacco drive. But the strain of chemotherapy had caused him to change his views on tobacco, he said.
Ho kicked the habit and said he thanked health minister Lo for his crusade against smoking.
The tycoon was also well known for his outspoken views on politics, notably the scathing attacks he mounted on Leung Chun-ying during the chief executive race in 2012.
But Leung, who won the race and is now a CPPCC vice-chairman, revealed they had mended their rift and Ho became a frequent guest at Government House during his term.
Ho, who nominated Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor for the city鈥檚 top job in 2017, was among the business leaders who urged her administration to think carefully before pushing ahead with an unpopular extradition bill, which triggered months of anti-government protests in 2019.