Edward Leung
Edward Leung Tin-kei is a Hong Kong politician and activist. He is the former spokesperson of Hong Kong Indigenous, a localist group. He advocates Hong Kong independence, and coined the slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" during the 2016 by-election, which was later widely used in 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.
Leung contested the 2016 New Territories East Legislative Council by-election, representing Hong Kong Indigenous. In February 2016, he was arrested in the Mong Kok civil unrest, but despite that his popularity rose. In the election, he received more than 66,000 votes, around 15 per cent of total votes. This led the Hong Kong government to require future candidates a written declaration to confirm their political stance. Leung signed the declaration, giving up his pro-independence stance in the 2016 Hong Kong Legislative Council election in September. He was barred from running in the election because the electoral officer was not convinced by his declaration.
In December 2017, he resigned from his position as spokesperson of Hong Kong Indigenous. In the same year, Lost in the Fumes, an award-winning documentary based on his story, was released. In June 2018, he was convicted of rioting and assaulting a police officer during the Mong Kok unrest and sentenced to jail for six years. In 2019, a jury reached a verdict of not guilty in his trial for rioting in Portland Street, Mong Kok.
Leung served four years of his sentence in maximum-security prison, before his early release in early 2022 for good behaviour.
In 2019, Leung was recognised by Time magazine on its 100 Next, a list of rising stars expected to shape the future. The magazine called him a spiritual leader of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, which is a leaderless movement.
Early life
Edward Leung was born into a wealthy family in Wuhan, Hubei, China. He moved to Hong Kong at the age of one with his mother. His great-grandfather was killed by the Chinese Communist Party and his properties were confiscated. Leung's grandfather studied in British Hong Kong, later returned to Shanghai to study Economic Management at Shanghai Institute of Finance and Economics. In 1953, Leung's grandfather graduated from the university, and was allocated to work in Xinjiang Province Bureau of Mine for seven years, later resided in Zhuhai.In 1979, the rehabilitation policy after Cultural Revolution returned the previously confiscated properties to Leung's family. In Summer 1990, Leung's father met his wife in Wuhan, the couple registered in Wuhan and Leung's mother resigned her job shortly after. On 2 June 1991, Leung was born in Hubei Province. In the following year, Leung followed his mother to reside in Hong Kong. In 2000, Leung's parents invested in restaurants in Wuhan, but took a loss due to SARS and Avian Influenza.
Leung's father was a college teacher with expertise in Chinese history, Chinese language and Buddhism. He had a strong interest in contemporary Chinese history and taught Leung histories of Hong Kong and world history. Leung's mother worked as a housewife after moving to Hong Kong and later worked as a tutor, teaching Leung literacy.
Social movement
When Leung was young, he questioned the rationale behind political events such as the Handover of Hong Kong in 1997 and the yearly Hong Kong 1 July marches in 2003. His parents were excited with these events and explained to Leung about their meanings. He completed his college studies at Shung Tak Catholic English College in Yuen Long District. In 2008, aged 17, for the first time he participated in memorials for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and 1 July marches. He then realised Hong Kong people protest to pursuit democracy and felt touched with their passion to preserve the truth of history.In the same year, Leung started to participate in various social movements, and felt proud of driving the society forward. He studied at the University of Hong Kong, majoring in Philosophy with a minor in Politics and Public Administration, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2016. He felt disappointed with the Hong Kong government ignoring the will of people, forcibly passing the Express Rail Grant and postponing the implementation of dual universal suffrage.
He was a member of Ricci Hall, HKU and led its development actively. In his third year, he was elected as the president of Ricci Hall Student Association, HKU, and led the Hall to win HKU Sports Championship ──Malayan Cup. In Summer 2014, People's Republic of China has passed the "831 decision" and White paper, this led him to believe that the HKSAR government had decided to ignore the promise made in Sino-British Joint Declaration. In September 2014, Umbrella Revolution erupted, besides part-timing in an art gallery and studying, Leung spent most of his time joining the movement. On 30 November, Leung and a group of protesters occupied the Central Government Complex, in response to the call from Hong Kong Federation of Students and Scholarism. After facing clearance from Hong Kong Police Special Tactical Squad, he believed occupational movements could not lead to changes. His graduation was delayed to 2016.
Political involvement
In 2015, Localist camp Hong Kong Indigenous was founded, to support street hawkers near districts of Sham Shui Po and Mong Kok. In March 2015, under the referral from his classmate, Leung met Ray Wong, another political activist, but was unable to join Hong Kong Indigenous. Based on their common ideology, Leung was invited to be the spokesperson of the aforementioned group. Leung and Wong founded "Channel i" on October of the same year, acting as shareholder and CEO.2016 New Territories East by-election and Mong Kok unrest
In December 2015, Leung decided to participate 2016 New Territories East by-election, with the aim of promoting Localism ideology, testing his approval rate, and encouraging young politicians. On 15 January 2016, Leung was nominated to represent Hong Kong Indigenous to run for New Territories East by-election, and was endorsed by Youngspiration, another localist group. But the public was not confident that Leung would have enough votes to even retrieve election deposit. Leung organized a small election parade in Sheung Shui, to explain the social problems brought by parallel importers, and was not interfered by the police.In February 2016, two street vendors were arrested. At 8pm on 8 February, Food and Environmental Hygiene Department officers attempted to drive away street vendors in Mong Kok, Leung and Hong Kong Indigenous members assisted vendors to move to Portland Street, while calling help from social network to protect vendors, the solidarity at midnight elevated to civil unrest between protesters and the police. In order to protect the protesters, Leung announced election parade during the riot and refused to leave. People gathered at Mong Kok streets and committed arson at Nathan Road, confronting riot police.
Leung and 20 other Hong Kong Indigenous members were later arrested by police at Mong Kok. However, Leung received supports from other political organizations and activists such as Youngspiration, Civic Passion, LegCo councilor Wong Yuk-man, Chin Wan. They helped Leung to set up street election stations, while comparatively, Electoral Affairs Commission claims that wordings such as "Autonomy", 'Independence" violated Hong Kong Basic Law, and refused to mail Leung's promotional letter. On 28 February, Leung lost the by-election with 66,524 votes, behind Alvin Yeung and Holden Chow.
Barred from running in 2016 Legislative Council election
After the by-election, Leung decided to participate in the 2016 Hong Kong Legislative Council election. At that time, Leung and Ray Wong were invited to join InterEthnic InterFaith Leadership Conference in Dharamshala, India, organized by 14th Dalai Lama. Leung and Dalai Lama held a meeting at Jokhang for two hours, the latter encourage Hong Kong people to persevere.In July 2016, Electoral Affairs Commission released new election measures, directed against activists with Hong Kong Independence stance, requiring all candidates to sign declarations to confirm their support to Basic Law, and Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China as stated in the Basic Law.
Leung applied to elect for New Territories East District, and initially refused to sign the declaration and asked for judicial review. On 22 July, Leung received an email from Electoral Affairs Commission, asking clarification on Leung's pro-Independence political stance.
For this, Leung and Avery Ng sought judicial review with the High Court, claiming Electoral Affairs Commission has acted in excess of their authority, criticizing HKSAR Government's political censorship. However, the judges ruled that there was no urgency before the end of nomination and refused to approve judicial review immediately. Leung eventually decided to sign the declaration, claiming to support the Hong Kong Basic Law and declaring loyalty to HKSAR, and no longer advocating independence.
In the end, six allegedly pro-independence nominees, including Leung and Hong Kong National Party convener Chan Ho-tin, were disqualified by the committee, the reason being the returning officer refused to believe their claims were genuine. On 5 August, Leung and 2,500 pro-independence supporters rallied, claiming it was the first rally supporting Hong Kong Independence.
Aftermath
In August 2016, Leung uploaded a video on Facebook, claiming he had been tracked for a month. Facebook quickly deleted the video and barred Leung's account from posting for 24 hours when Leung attempted to re-upload it. On 15 August, Leung was stalked by Ta Kung Pao reporters. Leung photographed the stalker and conflict occurred in Tai Koo Station, police arrived and filed the case as dispute, later changed to public fighting because the stalker claimed that Leung had assaulted him.Meanwhile, Ta Kung Pao continuously dug information on Leung's background, including his birthplace and ancestry. In September, Leung and Ray Wong participated in Seventh International Conference of Tibet Support Groups, organized in Brussels, Belgium. Leung revealed he would submit an election petition when the election results were published on Hong Kong Government Gazette, On 7 October, Leung submitted the election petition on his disqualification.
On the other hand, Leung was charged of rioting and inciting riot after the Mong Kok civil unrest. On 18 December 2017, Hong Kong Indigenous issued a statement, announcing Leung has resigned his membership and spokesperson duty.