On September 9, 2011, Tang was appointed by the Hong Kong government as the Director of Broadcasting, the head of Radio Television Hong Kong. Tang's appointment took effect on September 15, 2011. However, Tang, previously an Administrative Officer, did not have experience in the field of broadcasting at the time he was appointed. Therefore, people, especially staff from RTHK, called Tang’s suitability for the role into question and saw Tang as the embodiment of government intervention into freedom of the press, fearing he would interfere with their editorial independence. After Tang took up his broadcasting post, he was criticized for politically interfering with the affairs of the RTHK. Criticisms of Tang continued from his initial appointment until present. A survey conducted by the Democratic Party in 2013 revealed that over 40% of respondents wished for Tang to step down from his position. Besides his inexperience in broadcasting before his appointment, Tang was accused of having a dual role as he is both the chief editor of broadcaster in RTHK and an administrative officer in the government. This led to criticisms that Tang may have a pro-government stance while performing his job in RTHK.
2012: ''Legco Review''
In 2012 Tang suggested terminating the 26-year-old programme Legco Review in an internal meeting. This led to criticisms that Tang was attempting to eliminate the voice in RTHK of criticizing controversial issues in the world. Some parties believe that RTHK's programmes were mostly used to mock the government officials and government policies in a one-sided manner. They think that Tang, who was from the government, can balance the internal views in RTHK towards the government. Thus, they staged a rally and started campaigns to support Tang. Some parties are dissatisfied with Tang's actions, which they view as political interference. They aired their grievances through the mass media. For example, they created groups and pages in social media like Facebook to draw attention to the issue. Some even made fun of Tang by nicknaming him "the last samurai of RTHK" or spoofing his photos.
2013: ''Headliner''
In 2013 Tang criticized the idea of using Adolf Hitler and the Nazis as characters in the programme Headliner. At last, the producers scrapped the idea and use characters from the story Journey to the West. This led to criticisms that Tang was interfering with RTHK's editorial independence by using his authority. In 2013 Tang did not approve the promotion of Sze Wing-yuen, RTHK's assistant director of TV and corporate business. Some claimed that it was because Sze had defied orders of Tang, hindering Tang's completion of his "political mission".
