Kenneth Leung | |
|---|---|
梁繼昌 | |
 | |
| Member of theLegislative Council | |
| In office 1 October 2012 – 11 November 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Chan |
| Succeeded by | Edmund Wong(2022) |
| Constituency | Accountancy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1962-10-17)17 October 1962 (age 62) Hong Kong |
| Nationality | |
| Political party | Professional Commons |
| Education | Queen's College |
| Alma mater | Hong Kong Polytechnic (PD) London School of Economics (BSc,LLM) |
| Occupation | Tax Consultant Accountant |
| Signature |  |
Kenneth Leung Kai-cheong (Chinese:梁繼昌; born 17 October 1962) is a Hong Kong politician formerly serving as a member of theLegislative Council for theAccountancyfunctional constituency. Professionally, he is atax adviser andaccountant.[1] On 11 November 2020, he was disqualified from the Legislative Council, along with three other lawmakers of thepan-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.
Leung was born in Hong Kong and attendedQueen's College. After taking a diploma inaccountancy atHong Kong Polytechnic University, he went on to study at theLondon School of Economics and Political Science, from where he obtained a bachelor's degree in economics and anLL.M. degree.[2][3] He has been working as a senior tax consultant.[4]
Leung is considered a moderate in the pan-democratic camp.[1] His first electoral successes were in theaccountancy sub-sector of theElection Committee for the Chief Executive. In a 2005by-election he secured a seat, which he defended the following year.
In the2012 LegCo election he won in theAccountancy constituency, securing 47% of the vote,[5][6] and held the seat for two terms until 2020.[1] He was a member of theProfessionals Guild, a group of pro-democratic lawmakers in the Legislative Council, at the time of his disqualification in 2020.[1]
On 23 August 2019, during the2019–20 Hong Kong protests, Leung led a protest of accountants against theextradition bill. Leung stated that a particular concern of the bill to accountants came from their need to frequently cross the border to the Chinese mainland. He called for the protests in the central business district to be "civilized and calm".[7]
In November 2019, Leung requested the government to disclose the composition of the tear gas used by police in the protests, and to issue more guidelines regarding tear gas residue. Health SecretarySophia Chan refused the first of these requests, citing operational concerns, and said that there was no evidence of tear gas leading to contamination bydioxines or dioxin poisoning.[8]
Five weeks ahead of the later postponed2020 Hong Kong Legislative Council Election, on 30 July, the government stated that Leung 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 thenational security law, or was sincere in statements made disavowing separatism.[9] The election officials' main justification for the disqualification of Leung had been his participation in a March 2020 visit to the United States to discuss Hong Kong-United States relations. Leung's appeal against the decision was unsuccessful, even though the discussion had included politicians from the pro-BeijingDAB; the government argued that by not having opposed sanctions during the trip or at a conference that was held afterwards, he had played a "supportive" role in the call for sanctions.[2][10] In a December 2020 interview, Leung said he disagreed with the sanctions that the United States had imposed on the city.[10]
On 11 November 2020, following a decision of theStanding 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.[11][12]
In 2013, Leung was one of eight legislators treated byCathay Pacific to a six-day trip to France to tourAirbus factories. In response to the public outcry and the perception of aconflict of interest, Leung stated that he would donate HK$100,000 toUNICEF, but refused to apologise.[13]
In March 2017, Kenneth Leung was sued byCY Leung, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, for alleged defamation. Kenneth Leung has made remarks about the $50 million payment that CY Leung received from an Australian firm in 2011 for signing a non-compete agreement, claiming that CY Leung was under investigation by overseas tax authorities for that payment, which CY Leung denied. According to theSCMP, Kenneth Leung said that the lawsuit "would not stop him from continuing with a Legislative Council investigation into the payment controversy".[14]
Leung is married.[13]
| Legislative Council of Hong Kong | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Legislative Council Representative forAccountancy 2012–2020 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
