Hong Kong, Aug 01: A new comic book satirizing troubled Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa, depicted as a stupid, stumbling emperor who causes unrest among his people, has attracted a large following at a book fair, its publisher said. Another comic lampooning former Hong Kong security chief Regina Ip was also a hit. Both sold about 1,800 copies yesterday, the first day of the six-day fair, publisher Jimmy Pang said.
Chief Executive Tung has come under fire recently over his handling of an anti-subversion bill. Half a million people demonstrated against it earlier this month, saying it would undermine Hong Kong's civil liberties.
The protest prompted a crisis in his administration that forced him to postpone the bill's passage through the legislative council. The government was further shaken by the resignations of two key secretaries, including Ip, who had been one of the bill's strongest supporters.
The comic about Tung is titled "Chee-hwa Uprising" and features a silly emperor who ruined his country of 7 million people _ a population similar to Hong Kong's _ with his poor policies.
The one about Ip, titled with four Chinese characters that are similar in pronunciation to her name, is about a girl's suffering under a bad mother.
The books are the latest in a three-year series of comics published by Hong Kong Subculture's Four Elephants Co.
Bureau Report