 The election was considered by many pundits as a done deal as the China's paramount leader and General Secretary Jiang Zemin singled Tung out for an exceptional cordial handshake at a meeting in Beijing long before the election in January 1996.He was endorsed by powerful tycoon Li Ka-shing.London's favourite Chief Secretary Anson Chan, the most senior civil servant in the colonial government, was a potential candidate which received substantial support in the society.