Tung Chee — hwa, Hong Kong's first leader under Chinese rule, laid to rest

BEIJING, Sept 20 (Reuters) — Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong's first chief executive after the territory's handover from Britain to China, was laid to rest in a state funeral on Sunday. Tung, who took office in 1997 as Hong Kong emerged from more than 150 years of British colonial rule, died on September 8 at the age of 89. Andrew Tung Lieh-cheung, son of the late shipping magnate and heir to the Orient Overseas Container Line empire, carried a portrait of his father at the Hong Kong Funeral Home in the North Point district, where bouquets of white flowers lined the entrance. Tung's wife Betty Tung Chiu Hung-ping was seen being supported by family members as she left the memorial, according to local media. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee was among the pallbearers carrying Tung's casket, which was draped with a Chinese flag. Shi Taifeng, Politburo member and head of the Communist Party's Organisation Department, which oversees personnel decisions, delivered an eulogy, lauding Tung as an "outstanding contributor to 'one country, two systems'" and a "close friend of the Communist Party of China", Xinhua reported. Tung's successors Donald Tsang, C.Y. Leung and Carrie Lam also paid their re