Emily Lau

Emily Lau Wai-hing JP (Chinese:劉慧卿; born 21 January 1952, Hong Kong) is one of two vice-chairmen of Democratic Party.

She was the convenor of The Frontier. She has been a full-time member of the Legislative Council (Legco) since 1991, elected from the geographical constituency of New Territories East.

Lau used to be strong against the Beijing Government and pro-Beijing supporters, but her stance is now changed to be moderate and compromised after joining the Democratic Party.^[1]

Education

Lau obtained a BA degree in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Southern California in 1976, and later earned her MSc in International Relations at the London School of Economics.^[2]

Early career

She began her career as a journalist in 1976. From 1987 to 1990 she was a lecturer in the Department of Journalism and Communication of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and also a lecturer of the Certificate in Journalism in the Department of Extra Mural Studies of the University of Hong Kong. Lau was the chairperson of the Hong Kong Journalists Association from 1989 to 1991.

Political career

Lau was the first woman to be directly elected into the Legislative Council (Legco), in September 1991, and co-founded The Frontier party in 1996. She served as a legislator until 1997, and was re-elected in 1998.

Lau defends an assertive political platform in the democratic camp. An outspoken critic of the human rights situation, the progress of democratisation and a number of other policy areas in the HKSAR, she proved skeptical over the implementation of "One country two systems" principle. The Platform of the Frontier reflects her stances. Beside pushing for tightened human rights protection, more efforts on equal opportunities, and the establishment of a statutory right to access to information, she demanded a redraft of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's constitutional document, and democratisation in China. On the economy she supported legislation on fair trading, oppose importation of foreign labour, and called for a minimum wage.

On international issues, Lau is supportive of self-determination for Taiwan. In 2003, she and another legislator, James To of the Democratic Party, attended a seminar entitled "Hong Kong Under One Country, Two Systems" organised by a pro-Taiwan independence group headed by former ROC President Lee Teng-hui. Lau stated that "Taiwan's future should be determined by the Taiwan people themselves". Her subsequent refusal to explicitly recognise Taiwan as a part of the PRC during an interview again drew criticism from more conservative sectors of the Hong Kong society.

In June 2010, as vice-chairperson of Democratic Party, she voted with her party in favour of the government’s 2012 constitutional reform package, which included the party's late amendment – accepted by the Beijing government – to hold a popular vote for five new District Council functional constituencies.^[3]

Controversies and attacks

In 1998, Lau sued the Hong Kong branch of the Xinhua News Agency due to the latter's slow response over her queries for personal information. She lost the case and was ordered by the court to pay a legal fee of HK$1.6 million. Claiming that her lawsuit was in the public interest, she attempted to raise funds from the public to repay the debt. In December 2000, with over $1 million still outstanding, the agency (now the Central People's Government Liaison Office) applied to the court for her bankruptcy.

Lau visited Taipei for a symposium on Hong Kong after the failure of the government to enact legislation on Article 23, pro-PRC media in Hong Kong attacked her personally by publishing half-page articles calling her the "Taiwan independence Legco member". Local communists also attempted to discredit her; they even reported her to the police.^[4]

Beside her legal problems, Lau has been the subject of several criminal nuisance cases, including telephone nuisance to her office in January and October 2003, and two cases where food and/or feces were splashed outside her office in Shatin in July and September 2003. A woman and an old man were arrested and fined in connection with some of these cases. Most notably, an arson attack against Lau's office took place on 21 June 2004. Posters outside her office, about an upcoming rally, were burned. Words were left saying "All Chinese traitors must die (所有漢汗（奸）都要死)". Paradoxically, such attacks exemplify how much freedom of speech remain possible in today's Hong Kong.

See also

• Politics of Hong Kong

References

External links

• Home Page of Emily Lau
• Emily Lau's Letter to former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook (In the letter she urged the UK to grant British citizenship for all BN(O)s)
• Emily Lau biography in German and interview in English in cosmopolis.ch