Alvin Yeung

Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu (Chinese: 楊岳橋, born 5 June 1981) is a barrister and politician in Hong Kong. He is the current Leader of the Civic Party and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, representing New Territories East after winning the 2016 by-election. On 11 November 2020, Yeung was disqualified from the Legislative Council, along with three other lawmakers of the pan-democratic camp, by the central government in Beijing on request of the Hong Kong government. A mass resignation of pan-democrats the same day left the Legislative Council without a substantial opposition.

In this Hong Kong name, the surname is Yeung. In accordance with Hong Kong custom, their Western-style name is Alvin Yeung and their Chinese-style name is Yeung Ngok-kiu.

Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu
楊岳橋
Leader of the Civic Party
In office
1 October 2016 – 28 November 2020
Preceded byAlan Leong
Member of the Legislative Council
In office
29 February 2016 – 11 November 2020
Preceded byRonny Tong
ConstituencyNew Territories East
Personal details
Born (1981-06-05) 5 June 1981
Hong Kong
NationalityCanada (until 2012)
Chinese
Political partyCivic Party
Spouse(s)
Eve Chan Wing-yue
​
(m. 2017)​
Alma materUniversity of Western Ontario (BA)
Peking University (LL.M.)
University of Bristol (MA)
OccupationBarrister, politician
Signature
Alvin Yeung
Traditional Chinese楊岳橋

Background

Yeung was born in Yuen Long, Hong Kong in 1981 as the only child to a restaurant owner and a jewellery dealer. He and his parents emigrated to Canada in the early 1990s after the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.[1] Yeung graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a degree in political science and obtained a master of laws in constitutional and administrative laws from Peking University around 2003.[1]

Political career

Inspired by the major 2003 July 1 march, Yeung joined a group called "7.1 People Pile". He campaigned for Alan Leong Kah-kit, a barrister-turned-politician, in the 2004 Legislative Council election. From the following year, he studied for a master of arts in legal studies at the University of Bristol and became a certified barrister in 2008.[1]

He joined the Civic Party in 2011 and ran in the 2011 District Council election in Tai Po Market but was defeated. He was later elected to the Election Committee through the legal subsector in the 2011 Hong Kong Election Committee Subsector election. In 2012 Legislative Council election, he partnered with Ronny Tong to run in the New Territories East and successfully got Tong re-elected. He gave up his Canadian citizenship for the candidacy in the election.[2]

Yeung is currently chairman of the New Territories East branch of the party and member of the Appeal Panel (Housing),[3] and also co-host of the political talk-show "Teacup in a Storm" on D100 radio station.[1]

He was recommended by Ronny Tong when Tong resigned from the Legislative Council in June 2015 to take up the seat in the February by-election. He retained the seat for the Civic Party by defeating Beijing-loyalist DAB candidate Holden Chow Ho-ding and localist Hong Kong Indigenous candidate Edward Leung Tin-kei, receiving 160,880 votes in the New Territories East constituency.[4]

In the September general election, Yeung sought re-election in New Territories East. From his leading position in opinion polls, he cooperated with Labour Party's Fernando Cheung and later on with other pan-democrat candidates to split the votes evenly to maximise the block's chances of winning seven out of the nine seats. He was re-elected with 52,416 votes, along with six other anti-establishment candidates. Following the election, he succeeded Alan Leong as party leader, in an acting capacity from 1 October and formally, through a party election, in November.

Disqualification

Five weeks ahead of the (subsequently postponed) 2020 Hong Kong Legislative Council Election, on 30 July 2020, as Yeung prepared to defend his seat, the government stated that he was among a dozen pro-democracy candidates whose nominations were 'invalid', under an opaque process in which, nominally, civil servants – returning officers – assess whether, for instance, a candidate had objected to the enactment of the national security law, or was sincere in statements made disavowing separatism.[5] On 11 November 2020, following a decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress he was disqualified from Legislative Council along with three other lawmakers; this resulted in the resignation of a further 15 pro-democracy lawmakers.[6]

References
  1. Zeng, Vivienne (24 August 2015). "Rising political leaders profile: Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu". Hong Kong Free Press.
  2. "Hong Kong legislator Ronny Tong prepares successor, but who is Alvin Yeung?". South China Morning Post. 25 June 2015.
  3. "YEUNG Ngok Kiu, Alvin". Civic Party.
  4. "2016 Legislative Council Geographical Constituency New Territories By-election – Election Result". Electoral Affairs Commission. 29 February 2016.
  5. Ho, Kelly; Grundy, Tom; Creery, Jennifer (30 July 2020). "Hong Kong bans Joshua Wong and 11 other pro-democracy figures from legislative election". Hong Kong Free Press. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  6. "Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers resign after China ruling". BBC News. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Preceded by
Ronny Tong		 Member of Legislative Council
Representative for New Territories East
2016–2020		 Vacant
Party political offices
Preceded by
Alan Leong		 Leader of Civic Party
2016–2020		 Vacant
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