16 Facts About Fernando Cheung

Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung is a Hong Kong politician, the vice-chairman of the Labour Party, and a former member of the Legislative Council.

Fernando Cheung worked in the United States from 1988, and became a naturalized United States citizen.

Fernando Cheung obtained a Master's degree in Social Work from California State University, Fresno, and a Ph.

Fernando Cheung became the vice-convener of Civil Human Rights Front in 2002, where he had developed a close relationship with the pro-democrats.

Fernando Cheung joined the functional constituency of social welfare of the Legislative Council in 2004.

Fernando Cheung introduced a motion for the referendum on universal suffrage for the 2007 chief executive elections in Hong Kong.

In July 2018, Fernando Cheung declared that he would not stand in the 2020 Legislative Council elections, which were later postponed to 2021.

Fernando Cheung expressed relief that the protesters had safely vacated the building, and had grabbed those refusing to leave.

In July 2020, after the introduction of the Hong Kong national security law in the city on 30 June 2020, Fernando Cheung said on a programme by public broadcaster RTHK that the law had turned Hong Kong from an international city into an ordinary Chinese city overnight, and that he expected an exodus of professionals and young people.

Fernando Cheung warned the Chinese Communist Party against trying to impose travel restrictions on the city's residents, saying that this would only increase discontent, and against restricting access to the internet, as this would only destabilize social and economic conditions in the city.

On 11 November 2020,15 democratic lawmakers including Fernando Cheung resigned en masse in protest of a decision made by the central government in Beijing the same day, authorizing the Hong Kong government to dismiss politicians who were deemed to be a threat under the national security law.

Fernando Cheung said that the initial dismissals, which had concerned four democrats, "signifie[d] that the Chinese Communist Party is willing to break laws and rules to eradicate the opposition", and that even if the other democrats had remained in the Legislative Council, the loss of the votes meant that they could have been impeached one by one.

Fernando Cheung was arrested on 1 November 2020, along with six other democrats, in connection with a melee that had broken out in the LegCo on 8 May 2020 when Starry Lee, chair of the LegCo House Committee, commenced a meeting of the Committee after extended stalling tactics of the pan-democratic camp over the previous months.

Fernando Cheung had repeatedly chanted "Starry Lee abused her powers" in front of her.

Fernando Cheung pleaded guilty to a contempt charge but not wrongdoing, saying that his persecution had been politically motivated.

Fernando Cheung was sentenced to three weeks jail on 4 February 2022, the first such conviction since indirect LegCo elections were introduced in 1985.