Tommy Cheung

Tommy Cheung Yu-yan, GBS, JP (, born 30 September 1949 in Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong politician and former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), representing the Catering functional constituency. He is also a non-official member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong and is leader of the Liberal Party, having previously served as party chairman from 2016 to 2022.

Career He graduated from the Diocesan Boys' School and Pepperdine University. He was previously a member of the Eastern District Council. He is a businessman, chairman of a trading and investment company, and a member of the Diocesan Boys' School school committee.

Legislative Councillor In late 2005, when there were strong concerns regarding a potential "bird flu" pandemic, Cheung became "an outspoken opponent of migratory birds". He stated that migrating birds were the source of the pandemic threat.

On 20 March 2010, after Cheung suggested a minimum wage of HK$20/hour, he became the subject of insults and derision from labour quarters, nicknamed "$20 Cheung".

During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Cheung spoke out against the government's extension of mandatory social distancing measures. He complained that catering constituents were suffering due to mandatory closures of some types of businesses, such as bars and karaoke centres, and accused the government of "not understanding economics".

In January 2021, Cheung partially blamed teachers for the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests and that CCTV cameras should be installed in classrooms to monitor teachers for "subversive remarks."

In December 2022, Cheung was one of three lawmakers who drafted legislation to reform CUHK's governing council, saying "During the anti-government turmoil in 2019, there was a riot on the campus of CUHK but the attitude and handling of the incident by CUHK were appalling. At the same month, he was tested positive for COVID-19.

In September 2023, Cheung drew criticism after he helped push a bill to revamp Chinese University's governing council without the school's endorsement, with former lawmaker Abraham Shek asking "They should table the bill with the university’s endorsement. Why do they have to be that authoritarian?"

Cheung retired in 2025 amidst a massive wave of retirement.

Chairman of the Liberal Party Cheung was elected Liberal Party's new chairman after the 2016 Legislative Council election in October. The new leadership was seen as more moderate and conservative with less vocal anti-Leung Chun-ying (pro-government, but anti-Leung) stance. Cheung was subsequently appointed by Leung to the Executive Council. Cheung was reappointed to the Executive Council successively by Carrie Lam and John Lee.

Cheung voted against paternity leave when it was introduced to the Employment Ordinance in 2015. In 2018, he opposed the Hong Kong government proposal to increase statutory paternity leave from three to five days, claiming the benefit itself should not even exist, as demands for more would be "never-ending". Cheung said that "back in the 1980s" there was no legally mandated paternal leave, but many companies would still grant "white days" for funerals and "red days" for auspicious events such as births and marriages without the need for "inflexible" labour laws requiring them to do so. Cheung's remarks attracted a lot of criticism, including by Ng Chau-pei of the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, who described Cheung as taking part in a "barbaric form of capitalism". Another Executive Councillor, New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip agreed members should avoid publicly criticising the government.