Lau Kong-wah

劉江華
Secretary for Home AffairsIn office
21 July 2015 – 22 April 2020Chief ExecutiveLeung Chun-ying
Carrie LamPreceded byTsang Tak-singSucceeded byCaspar TsuiUnder Secretary of the Constitutional and Mainland AffairsIn office
21 December 2012 – 21 July 2015SecretaryRaymond TamPreceded byAdeline WongSucceeded byRonald ChanNon-official Member of the Executive Council of Hong KongIn office
14 October 2008 – 30 June 2012Appointed byDonald TsangPreceded byJasper TsangSucceeded byStarry LeeMember of the Legislative CouncilIn office
1 July 1998 – 30 September 2012Preceded byNew parliamentSucceeded byElizabeth QuatConstituencyNew Territories EastIn office
21 December 1996 – 30 June 1998
(Provisional Legislative Council) Personal detailsBorn (1957-06-22) 22 June 1957 (age 66)
British Hong KongPolitical partyUnited Democrats (1991–93)
Civil Force (1993–present)
DAB (1998–present)SpouseMuk Fei-manAlma materSt. Paul College
Sir Robert Black College of Education
University of Exeter
City Polytechnic of Hong Kong.
Lau Kong-wah
Traditional Chinese劉江華
Simplified Chinese刘江华
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLiú Jiānghuá
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationLàuh Gōng-wàh
JyutpingLau4 Gong1-waa4

Ray Lau Kong-wah, JP (born 22 June 1957, Hong Kong), also called Ray Lau,[1][2] is a former Hong Kong Government official and former member of both the Legislative Council and the Executive Council. Until 2020, he was Secretary for Home Affairs.

Lau was vice-chairman of the pro-Beijing Hong Kong political party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), after founding the similarly aligned Civil Force in 1993. Before that, he was a member of a pro-democracy party, United Democrats of Hong Kong, one of the predecessors of the Democratic Party.

Political career

Lau was a member of the United Democrats of Hong Kong (a predecessor of the Democratic Party). After losing in the 1991 LegCo election, running as 'Ray Lau', he left the party and founded the Civil Force. He subsequently joined the DAB in 1998.[3][4]

On 14 October 2008, Chief Executive Donald Tsang appointed Lau a non-official member of the Executive Council, filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Jasper Tsang, a role he held, in parallel with his Legco seat, until June 2012.

In 2012, Lau lost his seat in the 2012 Hong Kong Legislative Council Election.[5][6]

On 20 December 2012, he was appointed undersecretary for constitutional and mainland affairs by Chief Executive CY Leung, tasked with overseeing political reforms. During the 2014 Occupy movement, as one of five officials representing the government in the televised debate with student representatives, he was mocked for saying not a word, and was then widely represented as hiding inside a typical Hong Kong rubbish bin.[7]

On 21 July 2015, Leung moved Lau to the role of Secretary for Home Affairs, a post he held through into the administration of Carrie Lam. He was removed from the post in a cabinet reshuffle on 22 April 2020.[8][9]

References

  • DAB website
  1. ^ Beatty, Bob (2003). "The Game's Afoot: Democratic Openings in Hong Kong with Lasting Effect". Democracy, Asian Values, and Hong Kong: Evaluating Political Elite Beliefs. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. p. 36. ISBN 9780275976880. Retrieved 8 December 2016 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Pro-China challenge to most popular legislator | South China Morning Post". 25 August 1995.
  3. ^ Yau, Thomas (25 June 2010) "Reluctant James To toes the party line" Archived 10 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Burton, Sandra; Colmey, John; Moriarty, Francis; Yu, Lulu (18 September 1995). "Eleventh-hour Election Fever". Time. Archived from the original on 28 October 2004. Retrieved 8 December 2014 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ "劉江華墮馬市民熱賀"
  6. ^ "劉江華遭自己人扯下馬"
  7. ^ "Hong Kong officials become the butt of online jokes after Occupy crisis talks". Hong Kong Government. SCMP. 22 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Government announces appointment and removal of Principal Officials (with photos)". Hong Kong Government. 20 April 2020.
  9. ^ "New faces Carrie Lam has enlisted to help Hong Kong tackle coronavirus impact". South China Morning Post. 20 April 2020.
Political offices
New constituency Member of Sha Tin District Board
Representative for Tsang Tai Uk
1985–1999 		Succeeded by
Leung Chi-kin
New title Member of Regional Council
Representative for Sha Tin West
1986–1994 		Succeeded by
New constituency Member of Regional Council
Representative for Sha Tin South
1994–1999 		Council abolished
New constituency Member of Sha Tin District Council
Representative for Chun Kam
2000–2003 		Constituency abolished
Preceded by Non-official Member of Executive Council
2008–2012 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Sha Tin District Council
Representative for Tin Sum
2012 		Succeeded by
Pun Kwok-shan
Preceded by Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
2012–2015 		Succeeded by
Ronald Chan
Preceded by Secretary for Home Affairs
2015–2020 		Succeeded by
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
New parliament Member of Provisional Legislative Council
1997–1998 		Replaced by Legislative Council
Member of Legislative Council
Representative for New Territories East
1998–2012 		Succeeded by
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