Tat Cheng


Cheng Tat-hung is a Hong Kong politician from the Civic Party. He is a member of the Eastern District Council for Tanner since 2016.

Education

Cheng was educated at Cheung Chuk Shan College and St. Stephen's College. He graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University with a bachelor's degree in Social Policy and Administration. In 2016, he began studying for a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree at the City University of Hong Kong. Cheng's legal studies were concurrent with his duties as an active district councillor. According to Cheng, his intent for pursuing the doctoral degree was to equip himself with legal knowledge and earn the trust of his constituents.
In 2018, Cheng completed his studies and graduated from the program with the JD designation. In the following year, he began pursuing a Postgraduate Certificate in Laws at CUHK. This program allows graduates to qualify for representation as a barrister or solicitor in Hong Kong. Cheng reiterated the value of legal knowledge after the 2019-20 Hong Kong protests commenced, stating that it can help protesters with obtaining bail and navigating the jurisdiction process.

Political career

Civic Party

As a university student, Cheng began a two-month internship with the pan-democrat Civic Party in 2011. After graduation, he officially joined the political party near the end of 2012. Cheng became the chairman of the party's youth-oriented sector, also known as "Young Civics", in 2014. He was the vice secretary-general of the party between 2016 and 2018.
During his tenure with the Civic Party, Cheng was involved in community outreach initiatives within North Point. He also made guest appearances on City Forum to give speeches and discuss local politics.
Cheng participated in the 2016 Legislative Council election as the second candidate for Tanya Chan. Their ticket came in sixth place, thus securing Chan a seat in the Legislative Council.

District Council

In the 2015 District Council election, Cheng ran in the Tanner constituency, which was previously held by veteran politician Desmond Lee. His opponent was Tsang Cheuk-yi from the pro-Beijing Liberal Party, who had the backing of Lee. Cheng won the election with 53.4% of the vote, becoming the only pro-democracy Eastern District Councillor in North Point.
Cheng was challenged by Tsang again for his district council seat in 2019. Cheng formed a pro-democracy alliance with local candidates in North Point and Fortress Hill, aimed to contest pro-establishment seats in the election. On 25 November, he was re-elected after gaining 57.65% of the vote. His pro-democracy alliance earned six district council positions out of seven prospective candidates.

Legislative Council bid

In the 2020 Legislative Council election, Cheng was nominated by the Civic Party to run in the Hong Kong Island constituency. He replaced incumbent Tanya Chan, who was barred from running due to her suspended sentence over the 2014 Occupy protests. In July 2020, Cheng contested in the pro-democracy primaries, where he came in fourth place after Ted Hui, Tiffany Yuen, and Fergus Leung. With 11,090 votes, Cheng received 12.26% of the electorate and secured a nomination spot in the general election.
On 25 July, Cheng fielded a series of questions from electoral officers, which challenged his eligibility in the upcoming election. He was given 24 hours to clarify his stance on the national security law, as well as his views on international sanctions and allegiance to the Hong Kong Basic Law. Civic Party members Alvin Yeung, Dennis Kwok, and Kwok Ka-ki, along with other pro-democracy candidates, also faced similar questioning. On the next day, Cheng issued his response before the mandated deadline.
On 30 July, it was announced that Cheng had been disqualified from running in the election. His colleagues from the Civic Party, and other candidates from the pro-democracy camp, were also disqualified.