Cheng Chung-tai

Cheng Chung-tai (Chinese: 鄭松泰; born 5 November 1983) is a Hong Kong academic, social activist, and politician. In the 2016 legislative election, he won a seat in the New Territories West constituency. He took over Wong Yeung-tat's position as the chairman of Civic Passion after his electoral victory.

The Honourable Cheng Chung-tai
鄭松泰
Member of the Legislative Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2016
Preceded by	Lee Cheuk-yan
Constituency	New Territories West
Chairman of Civic Passion
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 September 2016
Preceded by	Wong Yeung-tat
Personal details
Born	(1983-11-05) 5 November 1983 Hong Kong
Nationality	Chinese (Hong Kong) (1997–)
Political party	Civic Passion
Alma mater	Hong Kong Polytechnic University (BA) Peking University (PhD)
Occupation	Academic
Signature

Cheng Chung-tai
Traditional Chinese	鄭松泰
Transcriptions Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Jehng Chùhng taai Jyutping Zeng^6 Cung^4 taai^3

Biography

Cheng obtained his bachelor's degree from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and doctoral degree from the Peking University.

He is a member of the localist group Civic Passion and participated in the anti-parallel trading protests in 2015. In the 2015 local election, Cheng represented the Civic Passion to run against pro-democratic Democratic Party incumbent Albert Ho in Lok Tsui, where he secured 391 votes, while Ho lost his seat to a pro-Beijing candidate Junius Ho by a margin of 277 votes.[1]

In the 2016 Hong Kong Legislative Council election, Cheng represented the Civic Passion to run in the New Territories West. He took over Wong Yeung-tat's position as the leader of Civic Passion after his electoral victory.[2]

In 2017, Cheng was convicted and fined for the offence of flag desecration. He had turned some miniature Chinese and Hong Kong flags upside-down, flags that pro-Beijing legislators had placed on their desks in the Legislative Council chamber in 2016. They had been handed out by Edward Lau to his pro-Beijing colleagues as a reminder that the "country should be respected".[3] Cheng regarded the flags as "cheap patriotic acts" and alleged that the pro-Beijing bloc was ignoring issues of actual importance to Hong Kong people.[4] Lau subsequently called the police to report Cheng for flag desecration.[3] On 29 September 2017, the Eastern Magistrates' Court found Cheng guilty and fined him $5,000.[5] Lau subsequently complained that the punishment was too lenient, and referred to previous sentences of imprisonment for the same offence.[3]

On 31 August 2019, Cheng was one of several prominent democrats targeted in sweeping arrests made by police that day.[6]

Academic career

From 2012 to 2018, Cheng has served as a teaching fellow at the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.[7] He teaches classes on Hong Kong society, Chinese society, and popular culture.[8]

In 2016, he was criticised by Kaizer Lau, a member of the governing council of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for supporting and organising violent protests and advocating for Hong Kong independence. Lau also called for the non-renewal of the employment contract of Cheng.[9]

Cheng lost this position on 30 June 2018 as his teaching contract had not been renewed by the university. He quoted a disciplinary letter from the university as stating: "Your conduct and convictions are inconsistent with the university’s commitment to quality education and aspiration to embrace internationalisation".[10] He alleged that the university's actions were "political persecution" and were unrelated to his teaching performance.[8]

See also

• Hong Kong Autonomy Movement

References

1. "Election Results". Electoral Affairs Commission.
2. "黃洋達辭任熱血領導 黃毓民：樹敵多累選情". AM730. 6 September 2016.
3. Cheung, Karen (29 September 2017). "HK$5,000 fine for lawmaker who flipped flags 'not a sufficient warning', says pro-Beijing legislator". Hong Kong Free Press.
4. Cheng, Kris (12 April 2017). "Hong Kong lawmaker arrested and charged after flipping flags at legislative meeting". Hong Kong Free Press.
5. Cheung, Karen (29 September 2017). "Civic Passion lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai found guilty of 'desecrating' flags during legislative session". Hong Kong Free Press.
6. Grundy, Tom (30 August 2019). "Hong Kong lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai arrested in round-up of pro-democracy figures". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
7. "Dr.CHENG Chung Tai 鄭松泰博士". The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Archived from the original on 2016-09-06. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
8. Ng, Naomi (12 January 2018). "Hong Kong lecturer decries 'political persecution' after Polytechnic University lets him go over Chinese flag desecration". South China Morning Post.
9. Cheng, Kris (21 April 2016). "CY Leung ally posts 26-point criticism of localist academic on PolyU's 'democracy wall'". Hong Kong Free Press.
10. Tong, Elson (13 January 2018). "Lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai's Poly U teaching contract not renewed after flag-turning conviction". Hong Kong Free Press.

Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Preceded by Lee Cheuk-yan	Member of Legislative Council Representative for New Territories West 2016–present	Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by Wong Yeung-tat as Leader of Civic Passion	Chairman of Civic Passion 2016–present	Incumbent
Order of precedence
Preceded by Lau Kwok-fan Member of the Legislative Council	Hong Kong order of precedence Member of the Legislative Council	Succeeded by Roy Kwong Member of the Legislative Council