 Once officeholder in the British colonial government, Lo gave up his British citizenship and his title of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for the Chinese citizenship in the early 1990s.When his popularity rating was only around one per cent, Lo withdrew on 17 October 1996.Simon Li, former judge and director of the Bank of East Asia and nephew of the prominent businessman and politician Li Tse-fong who initially supported Lo Tak-shing entered the race in November 1996, after Lo withdrew.