Leung Ka-wing, news chief at Hong Kong-based Asia Television (ATV), said Tuesday that he was resigning from the post, taking full responsibility for the erroneous report made by his television station regarding the death of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin early July.
Explaining the reason for his sudden resignation, Leung said in a statement aired by ATV that it was because he "failed to stop that news report from being aired despite my all-out efforts."
It has since emerged that Leung's deputy, vice president Tammy Tam Wai- yee, has also tendered her resignation over the same issue.
Leung was the the vice-president of ATV's news department when the television station aired a wrong report stating that Jiang had died. The report in question was aired by ATV on July 6.
The development came days after Jiang's failure to attend events marking the 90th anniversary of the Communist Party triggered rumors that he had died. Further, it was common knowledge the time that Jiang was unwell in hospital.
However, ATV was the only station to wrongly report Jiang's death. The incident triggered an outrage in China, where state media rejected the ATV report as "pure rumor."
Jiang Zemin was China's president until 2003. He had risen to power after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. He was successful in improving China's international image and leading the country into an economic boom during his reign.
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