Edward Leung

Edward Leung
梁天琦
Leung in 2015
Spokesman of Hong Kong Indigenous
In office
January 2015 – 18 December 2017
Personal details
Born (1991-06-02) 2 June 1991 (age 33)
Wuhan, Hubei, China
Political partyHong Kong Indigenous
ResidenceHong Kong
EducationShung Tak Catholic English College
Alma materUniversity of Hong Kong (BA)
OccupationPolitician
Known forHong Kong independence
2016 Mong Kok civil unrest
Signature
Chinese name
Chinese梁天琦
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLiáng Tiānqí
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationLèuhng Tīn kèih
JyutpingLoeng4 Tin1-kei4

Edward Leung Tin-kei (Chinese: 梁天琦; 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.[1] 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.[2] The magazine called him a spiritual leader of the 2019 Hong Kong protests,[2] which is a leaderless movement.[3]

  1. ^ Lau, Chris; Lam, Jeffie (11 June 2018). "Hong Kong activist Edward Leung, the face of city's independence movement, jailed for six years over Mong Kok riot". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Time 100 Next 2019: Edward Leung". Time. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  3. ^ McLaughlin, Timothy (31 October 2019). "Meet the Spiritual Leader of the Hong Kong Protests". The Atlantic. Retrieved 22 November 2019.