Edward Leung

Edward Leung Tin-kei (; born 2 June 1991) 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,

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 (now Shanghai University of Finance and Economics). the couple registered in Wuhan and Leung's mother resigned her job shortly after. 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. 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. and led the Hall to win HKU Sports Championship ──Malayan Cup. In September 2014, Umbrella Revolution erupted, besides part-timing in an art gallery and studying, Leung spent most of his time joining the movement.

Political involvement In 2015, Localist camp Hong Kong Indigenous was founded, to support street hawkers near districts of Sham Shui Po and Mong Kok. 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 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. 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 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(15.3%), behind Alvin Yeung (160,880 votes) and Holden Chow (150,329 votes).

Barred from running in 2016 Legislative Council election Edward Leung and Baggio Leung thanked voters' supports in September 2016.

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.

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.

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. 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. Leung revealed he would submit an election petition when the election results were published on Hong Kong Government Gazette,

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.

Imprisonment

On 18 January 2018, Leung and five other protesters were called in court on riot charges, Leung and Ray Wong were also charged with inciting riots and police assault charges.

On 22 January 2018, Leung pleaded guilty of assault charges, but denied rioting and inciting riot. He was instantly remanded in custody. but was acquitted on inciting riots. It is believed that Leung's lengthy sentence was intended to intimidate activists and squelch political protest.

On 5 March 2020, local media reported that Leung had been transferred to a maximum-security prison.

Appeal During the jail time, Leung appealed his charges and sentence, and applied for legal aid. In March 2019, jurors ruled with 7:2 ratio that Leung was not guilty in a second rioting case pertaining to the same night in 2016 as the other one. In October 2019 Leung launched a crowdfunding campaign for his appeal, and received over 450,000 Hong Kong dollars in 15 minutes. On 29 April 2020, Leung lost an appeal against his six-year jail term.

Release Leung was released from Shek Pik Prison on 19 January 2022 on after serving four years of his six-year sentence. After his release, he deleted his Facebook page. He stated that he would not give any interviews or receive visits, and must observe a supervision order.

Political stance Leung was educated in Hong Kong. This has shaped his values and deep passions to Hong Kong. and openly support, advocate Hong Kong Independence. He refused to identify himself as a Chinese,

Leung initially wanted to incorporate localism ideology into mainstream political agenda, and provide the rights for Hong Kong people to determine their future. He believed his by-election approval rate is an alarm to the government. Another main goal is to de-colonize Hong Kong. and anyone can be considered Hong Kong people if he or she is willing to defend Hong Kong's core values, respect Hong Kong culture, and willing to merge and maintain Hong Kong's codes and systems. even at the cost of sacrificing one's life. In 2015, Leung and Ray Wong advocated protesters to use Black bloc strategy to protect each other, yet he did not deny the actions of throwing rocks and arson, during Monk Kok civil unrest. After his disqualification, he believes revolution is the only way out. He also mentioned that to confront an evil government, actions should not be confined with "no violence", everything must be done to counter suppression. He expects Hong Kong revolution will require at least 16 years to succeed.

In 2017, Leung decided to temporarily halt pushing independence. In 2018, Leung revealed his wish for Localist and Democrats to reach a consensus, resolve differences and stand united against the government.

In 2019, Leung wrote an open letter to support anti-extradition bill protesters, but also implored protesters not to risk their lives and be dominated by hatred.

Influences Edward Leung is a protester after the Umbrella Revolution. Hong Kong Indigenous approves Leung's successful effort to incorporate localism into mainstream political stage. This was widely seen as signifying the rise of localism and a strong inspiration in the upcoming Legislative Council election. declaring support to Hong Kong Basic Law and promise loyalty to HKSAR. This led to Leung's disqualification. Later Leung was sentenced to 6 years in prison due to participation in the 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest.

Tai Kung Pao once commented on Leung's clear mind, quick response, and excellent communication skills, believing HKSAR Government need to treat the by-election results seriously. Former Chief Executive of Hong Kong Leung Chun-Ying criticized Leung's behaviour. Since Leung was born in China, he was once accused of improvising his localist stance. an award-winning biographical documentary by Nora Lam. However, no mainstream cinema in Hong Kong was willing to screen the film, renewing fears about self-censorship and suppress of freedom of speech.

In November 2019, Leung was nominated by Time on its "100 Next" as one of the top 100 rising stars predicted to shape the world's future. Time commented that although Leung has been jailed since 2016, anti-extradition bill protesters treated him as a spiritual leader. "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" slogan was widely used and Lost in the fumes was a highly successful political documentary.

The late businessman Stanley Ho and Leung are both HKU alumni. On 27 May 2020, HKU uploaded several group photographs, dated on 18 February 2014 at Ricci Hall 85th Anniversary with other alumni to show condolences, but Leung's part was found to be intentionally scrapped. This was widely condemned as self-censorship and wiping history After wide criticization, HKU replaced with the original photograph after two hours.