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Ex-Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang visits Taiwan as part of private tripCNA TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Donald Tsang (曾蔭權), a former chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, arrived in Taiwan yesterday on a private trip to visit relatives, the Mainland Affairs Council (陸委會) said Tuesday.
March 13, 2013, 12:15 am TWN Tsang, who stepped down last June, is the first key political figure from Hong Kong to visit Taiwan. He became Hong Kong's second chief executive after a by-election held to fill the top job left vacant by his predecessor, Tung Chee-hwa (董建華), who resigned in 2005 for health reasons. Tsang was re-elected to a second term in March 2007. While Tung was in office, relations between Taiwan and the former British colony were negatively affected by souring Taiwan-China ties, but after Tsang took the helm, Taiwan-Hong Kong ties improved, thanks to improved cross-Taiwan Strait relations. A sign of the warmer ties was a high profile reception from Tsang during a 2008 visit by Chiang Pin kung (江丙坤), at the time Taiwan's top negotiator with China. After that, more heavyweights for Taiwan's political and financial arenas visited Hong Kong, including Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強). Tsang's term also saw some unprecedented moves on the parts of both Taiwan and Hong Kong, including setting up organizations to bolster exchanges and upgrading the status of their representative offices. In May 2012, Hong Kong officially opened its representative office in Taiwan — the Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office.
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