Lee Cheuk-yan
Lee Cheuk-yan (Chinese: 李卓人; born 12 February 1957 in Shanghai[1]) is a Hong Kong politician and social activist.[2] He was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1995 to 2016, when he lost his seat. He represented the Kowloon West and the Manufacturing constituencies briefly in 1995 and had been representing the New Territories West constituency from 1998 to 2016. He is a trade union leader and General Secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, as well as former chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.
Lee Cheuk-yan | |
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李卓人 | |
Lee in 2018 | |
Chairman of the Labour Party | |
In office 18 December 2011 – 13 December 2015 | |
Succeeded by | Suzanne Wu |
Chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China | |
In office 2 January 2011 – 15 December 2014 | |
Deputy | Richard Tsoi Mak Hoi-wah |
Preceded by | Szeto Wah |
Succeeded by | Albert Ho |
General Secretary of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions | |
Assumed office 1990 | |
Member of the Legislative Council | |
In office 1 July 1998 – 30 September 2016 | |
Preceded by | New parliament |
Succeeded by | Cheng Chung-tai |
Constituency | New Territories West |
In office 11 October 1995 – 30 June 1997 | |
Preceded by | New constituency |
Succeeded by | Replaced by Provisional Legislative Council |
Constituency | Manufacturing |
In office 10 February 1995 – 31 July 1995 | |
Preceded by | Lau Chin-shek |
Succeeded by | Lau Chin-shek |
Constituency | Kowloon Central |
Personal details | |
Born | Shanghai, China | 12 February 1957
Nationality | Chinese |
Political party | Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions Labour Party |
Other political affiliations | Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China |
Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Tang |
Alma mater | University of Hong Kong |
Occupation | Legislative Councillor Trade unionists |
Lee Cheuk-yan | |||||||||
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Chinese | 李卓人 | ||||||||
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Background
Lee's ancestral home is at Chaoyang, Guangdong. Lee emigrated from Mainland China to Hong Kong in 1959. He graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1978.[3] Since his university days, he has been a labour and pro-democracy activist.
During the student-led Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, he collected donations from the Concert for Democracy in China in Hong Kong and travelled to Beijing to hand over the funds to student protesters in Tiananmen Square. He was detained by the authorities there and made to sign a confession letter before being allowed to return to Hong Kong. Since the events of 1989, Lee has remained a standing committee member of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China which promotes democratic reform in China.
Legislative Councillor
In 1995, Lee was elected unopposed in a by-election of the Legislative Council, replacing Lau Chin-shek, who had resigned. He has since been re-elected four times, continuously serving as a lawmaker, except for a brief period during 1997 and 1998, when the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred to the People's Republic of China, and the Legislative Council temporarily became a Provisional Legislative Council, composed of Beijing nominees.
Labour Party
In December 2011, he and three other Legislative Councillors Fernando Cheung, Cyd Ho and Cheung Kwok-che co-founded the Labour Party, becoming the third largest pan-democratic parties in the legislature. He served as chairman until December 2015 when he stepped down to give way to the younger party members and took the vice-chairmanship.[4]
He received an unexpected loss in the 2016 Legislative Council election, departing the legislature after more than 20 years of service.
Family
He is married to Elizabeth Tang, the chairperson of the Hong Kong People's Alliance on WTO. They have one daughter.[3]
Arrests
On 28 February 2020, Lee was arrested for his involvement in a pro-democracy march on 31 August 2019, which was part of the protests sparked by the extradition bill and had been classified by police as illegal assembly. A few hours later, he was released on bail, as were the other arrestees Jimmy Lai and Yeung Sum. The cases were scheduled to be heard at Eastern Law Court on 5 May 2020.[5][6]
On 18 April, Lee was one of the 15 Hong Kong high-profile democracy figures arrested on suspicion of organizing, publicizing or taking part in several unauthorized assemblies between August and October 2019 during the anti-extradition bill protests.[7][8]
See also
- List of graduates of University of Hong Kong
References
- 隔牆有耳:李卓人原來係富三代. Apple Daily. 23 March 2011.
- Lo, Sonny Shiu-hing (2006). "The Politics of Policing the Anti-WTO Protests in Hong Kong". Asian Journal of Political Science. 14 (2): 140–162. doi:10.1080/02185370601063175.
- "Hon LEE Cheuk-yan". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
- "工黨換班 女將胡穗珊任主席". Ming Pao (in Chinese). 13 December 2015.
- Zhang, Karen; Lum, Alvin (28 February 2020). "Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai charged over August 31 march, intimidation case". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- Wong, Rachel; Grundy, Tom (28 February 2020). "Hong Kong police arrest pro-democracy newspaper tycoon Jimmy Lai and Labour Party vice-chair Lee Cheuk-yan". HKFP. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
- Yu, Elaine; Ramzy, Austin (18 April 2020). "Amid Pandemic, Hong Kong Arrests Major Pro-Democracy Figures". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- Wong, Rachel (18 April 2020). "15 Hong Kong pro-democracy figures arrested in latest police round up". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
External links
- Hong Kong Legislative Council's website on Hon Lee Cheuk-yan
- Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions' election campaign website
Legislative Council of Hong Kong | ||
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Preceded by Lau Chin-shek |
Member of Legislative Council Representative for Kowloon Central March 1995 – September 1995 Served alongside: Lam Kui-shing |
Succeeded by Lau Chin-shek as Representative for Kowloon South |
New seat | Member of Legislative Council Representative for Manufacturing 1995–1997 |
Replaced by Provisional Legislative Council |
New parliament | Member of Legislative Council Representative for New Territories West 1998–2016 |
Succeeded by Cheng Chung-tai |
Party political offices | ||
New political party | Chairman of Labour Party 2011–2015 |
Succeeded by Suzanne Wu |
Non-profit organization positions | ||
Preceded by Szeto Wah |
Chairman of Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China 2011–2014 |
Succeeded by Albert Ho |
Order of precedence | ||
Preceded by Albert Ho Member of the Legislative Council |
Hong Kong order of precedence Member of the Legislative Council |
Succeeded by James To Member of the Legislative Council |