Tributes flow in as Hong Kong mourns Tung Chee-hwa, pioneering first leader

Hong Kong is mourning the death of Tung Chee-hwa, the city’s first leader after its return to Chinese sovereignty and a respected elder statesman, who died on Tuesday at the age of 89.Tung was surrounded by his family when he “passed away peacefully” at 9.57pm, according to state news agency Xinhua.Tributes and messages of grief poured in on Wednesday from across Hong Kong and mainland China, as well as from overseas, with top officials, politicians, business leaders and others praising his pioneering role as the first steward of the “one country, two systems” policy under which the city would be administered after the end of British colonial rule in 1997.