Leung Chun-ying, known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor, who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since March 2017.
62 Facts About Leung Chun-ying
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Leung Chun-ying was previously the third Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 2012 and 2017.
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At the beginning of his administration, Leung Chun-ying faced the anti-Moral and National Education protests and the Hong Kong Television Network protests.
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In 2014, Leung Chun-ying's government faced widespread civil disobedience targeting the government's constitutional reform proposals; the movement gained global attention as the "Umbrella Revolution".
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Leung Chun-ying's tenure coincided with the rise of social instability, localism in Hong Kong, and an independence movement for Hong Kong's separation from Chinese sovereignty.
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In December 2016, Leung Chun-ying announced he would not seek a second term, becoming the first Chief Executive not to do so.
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Leung Chun-ying was born at Queen Mary Hospital, the teaching hospital of University of Hong Kong, in Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong on 12 August 1954 to Leung Chun-ying Zung-Jan and Kong Sau-Zi of Shandong origin.
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Leung Chun-ying's father was a Hong Kong police officer who had stationed at the Government House.
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Leung Chun-ying earned a scholarship to study at King's College, where he was a classmate of future democratic activist Lau San-ching.
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In 1974, Leung Chun-ying undertook further studies in valuation and estate management at the Bristol Polytechnic and graduated in 1977 first in his class.
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Leung Chun-ying returned to Hong Kong after becoming a chartered surveyor and joined the real estate company Jones Lang Wootton, where he worked for five years.
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Leung Chun-ying became the real estate advisor for Zhu Rongji when Zhu was mayor and party chief in Shanghai from 1987 to 1991.
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Later, in 2013, Leung Chun-ying appointed Levin Zhu Yunlai, the elder son of former premier Zhu Rongji, as an advisor in the Hong Kong Government's Financial Services Development Council.
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From 1995 to 1996, Leung Chun-ying was the president of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors.
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Leung Chun-ying is a former chairman of the Hong Kong branch of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
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Leung Chun-ying has taken up the post of international economic advisor for Hebei.
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From 2002 to 2007, Leung Chun-ying was a board member in the Government of Singapore-owned banking firm DBS Group Holdings Ltd and DBS Bank Hong Kong Ltd.
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In October 2011, one month before Leung Chun-ying announced his candidacy for the Hong Kong Chief Executive post, his company DTZ was hit by a liquidity crisis.
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On 24 November 2011, Leung Chun-ying resigned as director from the board of DTZ and on 28 November 2011 announced his candidacy for the Hong Kong Chief Executive election.
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In December 2012, nine months after winning the Hong Kong Chief Executive election, Leung Chun-ying received the first tranche from UGL.
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In 1985, Leung Chun-ying joined the Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee, a 180-member body nominated by the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee, that was to consult with Hong Kong people regarding various drafts of the Hong Kong Basic Law.
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Leung Chun-ying was a founding member of the New Hong Kong Alliance set up by Lo Tak-shing in 1989 who led to a faction of the Group of 89, a conservative business and professional lobby group in the HKBLCC and HKBLDC.
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In 1999, Leung Chun-ying was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong Government.
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Leung Chun-ying was a member of the National Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and only submitted his resignation one week prior to assuming his office of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong in 2012.
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Leung Chun-ying is currently the chairman and sits on the board of directors of the pro-Beijing One Country Two Systems Research Institute.
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In 1999, Leung Chun-ying took over the position of council chairman of Lingnan University.
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Leung Chun-ying continued in this position for nine years, until 21 October 2008.
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Leung Chun-ying responded by saying that such rowdy rallies should be "sanctioned and restrained".
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On 28 November 2011, Leung Chun-ying officially announced his candidacy for Chief Executive of Hong Kong, two years after he had first hinted at his interest in the post.
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However, while Tang stumbled over the revelation of an illegal structure at his home, Leung Chun-ying faced similar problems at his residence.
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Leung Chun-ying appointed Fanny Law, who attracted widespread criticisms for mishandling educational reforms when in office from 2002 to 2006, to his Office of the Chief-Executive Elect as Campaign Manager.
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Martin Lee, a pro-democracy politician, questioned the survival of the 'one country, two systems' principle if Leung Chun-ying were to be elected the CE, saying that Leung Chun-ying must have been a loyal CCP member for him to be appointed as the Secretary General of the Basic Law Consultative Committee in 1985 at the young age of 31.
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Leung Chun-ying explained that, in order for Leung to succeed Mao Junnian as the Secretary General of the Basic Law Consultative Committee, he must have been a party member, per the tradition of the party.
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Leung Chun-ying cited Leung's vague remarks about the 1989 Tiananmen massacre as a clue to his membership, in contrast to Henry Tang's greater sympathy for the protest movement.
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Leung Chun-ying said that if Leung, as an underground party member, won the election then the leader of the Communist Party in Hong Kong would be in actual control.
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The suggestion that Leung Chun-ying's loyalty was more to Beijing than Hong Kong has long dogged him.
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In 2010, Leung Chun-ying had been asked whether he would support the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.
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Leung Chun-ying replied that China's former paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, should have been the first Chinese to win the award.
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On 25 March 2012, Leung Chun-ying was declared Hong Kong's new Chief Executive, after securing 689 votes from the 1,200-member appointed election committee.
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Leung Chun-ying assumed office as Chief Executive on 1 July 2012.
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Chen is a former General Secretary of the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Young Elites Association, of which Leung Chun-ying is a patron.
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On 8 October 2014, an Australian newspaper revealed how the contract was made, but Leung Chun-ying has denied having done anything morally or legally wrong.
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Leung Chun-ying sidestepped key questions, such as why he did not declare the payment to the Executive Council.
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Leung Chun-ying claimed negative effects on the economy without providing evidence, and his assertions were contradicted by official figures.
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CY Leung Chun-ying had visited KI when in Sweden in 2014, and subsequently introduced KI president Anders Hamsten to Lau.
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Legislator James Tien said that Leung Chun-ying should clarify his comment, because "obviously his authority is not above the executive, the legislature and the Judiciary".
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Leung Chun-ying was widely expected to run for re-election as Chief Executive in 2017.
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Leung Chun-ying said during an interview that a teacher who had been de-registered for using Hong Kong independence materials in class should be publicly identified.
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On 21 December 2020, two days after those reports, Leung Chun-ying finally notified the government of his positions.
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In January 2021, Leung Chun-ying said that those from Hong Kong who gain British citizenship through the BN program should be required to renounce their Hong Kong passport.
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Also in March 2021, Leung Chun-ying claimed that the proposed changes to overhaul the election system to allow only "patriots" to serve in the government could lead the way to universal suffrage, despite the election committee given potential powers to filter candidates from the Legislative Council.
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In May 2021, Leung Chun-ying revived an earlier plan to build housing on less than 100 hectares of land on the fringes of country parks to in an attempt solve issues of housing in Hong Kong.
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In December 2021, Leung Chun-ying criticized Nathan Law, using his social media account to question a picture of Law with a Christmas tree.
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In November 2022, Leung Chun-ying said that Hongkongers should not worry about the "7+3" quarantine system when going to mainland China, and said that Hong Kong government officials, members of the Executive Council, and businessmen should pay the "time cost" to visit mainland China and understand its developments.
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In November 2022, Leung Chun-ying criticized the High Court for allowing Jimmy Lai to hire a lawyer from the UK.
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In 1981, Leung Chun-ying married Regina Ching Yee Higgins whose father was a Royal Hong Kong Police officer.
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One of his daughters, Chai-yan Leung Chun-ying, regularly attracted media attention for her brazen public comportment.
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Leung Chun-ying has posted remarks on her Facebook account and has appeared in several magazine interviews, in which she talked about her depression and her stormy relationship with her parents, principally her mother.
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CY Leung Chun-ying pleaded with the media and the public for some space.
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Leung Chun-ying denied abusing power by ordering airline staff to retrieve Chung-yan's bag in violation of security guidelines.
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In December 2022, Leung Chun-ying tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to Hong Kong from Singapore and Cambodia.
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Since becoming chief executive, Leung Chun-ying was bestowed the pejorative moniker "689", referring to the meagre number of votes that elected him into office, and is used ironically to symbolise the lack of representation of the will of Hong Kong people at large.