HONG KONG: A Hong Kong television company behind the annual Miss Asia beauty contest has admitted the final outcome did not match the real tally of public votes.

The Miss Asia Pageant, held earlier this month, used public voting for the first time in its 20-year history instead of the traditional panel of judges, and people sent in their choice via SMS and the Internet.

But Asia Television (ATV) has said the tally of public votes was different from the figures given at the contest, the South China Morning Post said.

“This is an issue of trust, and is unacceptable,” said Mr Linus Che- ung, executive chairman of ATV, ac- cording to the Post.

“The number of votes shown on TV last Sunday was wrong.”

The competition was won by 23-year-old Hong Kong student Eunis Yao, who beat Canadian Be- linda Yan, 22, and Taiwanese mod- el Lene Lai, 19.

A source told the Post that as voters were largely from the mainland, the emergence of a Hong Kong winner had raised eyebrows.

Mr Cheung did not reveal what the real result was or whether the places would change, but has announced an independent investigation into the incident, the Post said.

No one from ATV was immediately available for comment.

Last year, the BBC was forced to suspend several members of staff after it admitted to fixing the winners of phone-ins and interactive competitions on six shows, including charity appe als and children’s programmes.

The embarrassment for ATV comes amid a leadership flap, as Mr Cheung said the company’s controversial chief executive, Mr Ricky Wong, had resigned.

But Mr Wong’s spokesman issued a written statement on Monday that said he does not plan to resign, and has not been not notified by ATV of any such development.

The statement added that “the resignation does not exist”, according to Hong Kong newspaper The Standard.

Mr Cheung had cited irreconcilable differences over management styles between them as a reason for Mr Wong’s departure. – AFP