Paralleling Donald Tsang with his ancient counterpart Shi Jingtang

February 1, 2006

During the Era of Five Dynasties, Shi Jingtang, the first emperor of the Post-Jin Dynasty, called the then emperor of Qidan (a foreign tribe living in the north of China), Yelu Dequang, the Father Emperor and called himself the Son Emperor, thus Chinese people call a puppet ruler a son emperor thereafter.

Son Emperor Shi Jingtang

During the Era of Five Dynasties, Li Congke, the last emperor of the Post-Tang Dynasty, killed himself after being defeated by the allied forces of Qidan and a Chinese warlord Shi Jingtang.

Li Congke and Shi Jingtang were brothers-in-law on bad terms. After he came to the throne, Li Congke sent his troops to besiege the fort where Shi Jingtang was based. At the request of Shi Jingtang, Qidan emperor Yelu Dequang dispatched a rescue army to fight against the besiegers who consequently retreated after heavy losses. In the wake of the victory, Shi Jintang proclaimed Yelu Deguang the Father Emperor and ceded the 16 States of Yan and Yun (northern Hebei Province and northern Shanxi Province) to Qidan. Afterward, Shi Jingtang's forces, coupled with the Qidan army, invaded into the capital of the Post-Tang Dynasty and founded the Post-Jin Dynasty.

Son Emperor Donald Tsang

A civil servant under British colonial rule for more than three decades, Donald Tsang was knighted by the Britons before China annexed Hong Kong in 1997. Donald Tsang is a person who can treat any woman breast-feeding him as his mom, as substantiated in his well-known motto "give me the tools and I shall finish the job".

Considering that Donald Tsang is always a servant loyal and obedient to whoever happens to be his master (to be specific, a dominant master, that is, London before 1997, and Beijing after 1997, rather than the people of Hong Kong where Tsang and his family have been living for six decades), Beijing regime certainly trusts Donald Tsang more than Tsang's merchant predecessor Tung Chee-hwa. It is because Beijing wants the puppet chief executive of the puppet HKSAR regime to be a mere head of the Hong Kong civil servants for executing whatever commands are given by Beijing, but not engaging in any policymaking process which might weaken Beijing's control over Hong Kong.

In the contexts of the fraudulent "One Country, Two Systems" policy, Donald Tsang deserves the titles "puppet" and "son emperor". Unsurprizingly the titles can be glory to Donald Tsang, but a shame to Hong Kongers.