55 Facts About Martin Lee

Martin Lee Chu-ming is a Hong Kong politician and barrister.

Martin Lee is the founding chairman of the United Democrats of Hong Kong and its successor, the Democratic Party, Hong Kong's flagship pro-democracy party.

Martin Lee was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1997 and from 1998 to 2008.

Martin Lee became involved in discussions over Hong Kong's handover to China, and in 1985 he joined the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee to assist in the drafting of Hong Kong's Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution post-handover.

Martin Lee was expelled from the body in 1989 in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen square crackdown, due to his condemnation of the Beijing government's role in the incident and his vocal support for the student protestors.

Martin Lee worked closely with the last Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten in an attempt to push forward constitutional reform in relation to democratic elections, attracting strong criticism from the Beijing government.

Martin Lee resigned as the chairman of the Democratic Party in December 2002, and in 2008 he retired as a member of the Legislative Council.

Martin Lee's father fought against the Empire of Japan during World War II.

Martin Lee's father taught at Wah Yan College, a Jesuit school in Kowloon, for nine years, and then taught part time at the Institute of Chinese Studies.

Martin Lee's father maintained a good relationship with the Communist leadership, notably Premier Zhou Enlai, who repeatedly invited him back to the Mainland.

Martin Lee studied at Wah Yan College, Kowloon and read English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Hong Kong, sponsored by his mentor, the renowned barrister Dr Patrick Yu.

Martin Lee was called to the bar and began practising law in Hong Kong in 1966.

Martin Lee began his involvement in politics when the British and Chinese governments began their negotiations over Hong Kong's sovereignty in the early 1980s.

Martin Lee was in the delegation consisting of Hong Kong's young professionals led by Allen Martin Lee, a member of the Executive and the Legislative Councils of Hong Kong in Beijing in May 1983.

Martin Lee was concerned about the maintenance of judicial independence under Chinese rule and called for the preservation of Hong Kong's legal system.

Martin Lee suggested the creation of an independent Court of Final Appeal in place of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council after 1997.

Martin Lee's father warned him that the Chinese Communists liked to use people and then get rid of them.

In September 1985, Martin Lee ran in the Legislative Council elections when the Hong Kong government decided to introduce a handful of indirectly elected seats.

Martin Lee retained his seat in the 1988 re-election unopposed.

Martin Lee became the most recognisable and consistent voice pressing for rapid democratic reform.

Martin Lee condemned the government for mishandling the consultative exercise, accusing them of backing down on direct elections in the face of Beijing's pressure.

Martin Lee campaigned against the construction of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 in which the Chernobyl disaster sparked fears over safety among the Hong Kong public.

Martin Lee actively sought for public support through meetings and a signature campaign, which collected over one million signatures.

Martin Lee criticised the government for not disclosing information about the project and attempted to force the government to disclose information under the Legislative Council Power and Privilege Ordinance.

Martin Lee served as legal adviser to the Hong Kong Journalists Association, the Scout Association of Hong Kong and numerous professional bodies.

Martin Lee called for the rapid introduction of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance and a fully democratically elected Legislative Council before 1997.

Martin Lee began to lobby the United States to develop a specific policy on Hong Kong's democracy development.

Martin Lee has increasingly been seen as the spokesman for Hong Kong democracy on the international stage.

Martin Lee himself was elected through the Hong Kong Island East constituency, receiving the most votes in the election.

In preparation for the 1995 three-tier elections, the pro-democracy camp further consolidated themselves by merging the United Democrats and another moderate pro-democracy party Meeting Point into the Democratic Party in 1994 in which Martin Lee was elected the founding chairman.

Martin Lee met with Clinton again in 1998 during his visit to Hong Kong.

Martin Lee said he would never leave Hong Kong and stressed that he was not anti-China but only opposed the regime in Beijing.

Martin Lee went on getting re-elected for two more terms in 2000 and 2004.

Martin Lee accused the government of "giving away" Hong Kong's autonomy and condemned this move as "a dagger striking at the heart of the rule of law" and in symbolic protest walked out of the Legislative Council with 18 other members, all dressed in black, while 600 lawyers dressed in black held a silent protest against the interpretation.

In 2002, Martin Lee decided to step down as party chairman and was succeeded by Yeung Sum.

Martin Lee traveled to the West to rally for international support.

Martin Lee replied by saying that they were merely bad-mouthing a law that would be "thoroughly bad for Hong Kong".

In March 2004 when Martin Lee went to Washington to testify on Hong Kong's democracy development at a US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Beijing officials took rounds to attack Lee for inviting foreign power meddling in Hong Kong's internal affairs.

Martin Lee was called "traitor" upon his return to Hong Kong by pro-Beijing media and supporters.

However the pre-election polls showed that the Eu-Ho ticket had far more support and Martin Lee was in danger of losing, causing the Democratic Party to request all supporters to vote instead for their ticket.

In October 2007, Martin Lee published an article named "China's Olympic Opportunity" in The Wall Street Journal criticising Beijing for not living up to its promise to improve its human rights status during the Summer Olympic bid.

Martin Lee urged the West, particularly the United States, not to boycott the 2008 Olympic games but to instead take the opportunity while China is opening itself up to the world to "engage" China directly to bring China closer to the international community in terms of its human rights.

Martin Lee's article received rounds of criticism from the pro-Beijing media for asking the West to "intervene" China's internal affairs.

Some media even claimed that Martin Lee asked United States to boycott the games.

That immediately stirred backlash from Beijing loyalists, who virtually accused Martin Lee of being a hanjian, traitor of the Han people.

Martin Lee remained active in commenting politics and his legal practise after his retirement from the Legislative Council, especially taking cases of defending the pro-democracy activists who were charged for obstructing public order among other offences.

Martin Lee attended the rally in support of the five resigned Legislative Councillors.

In December 2018, Martin Lee represented Kwok Cheuk-kin and Hendrick Lui Chi-hang in an attempt to repeal the Small House Policy, a policy which Martin Lee said discriminates against the majority of people in Hong Kong by discriminating based on descent and gender.

Martin Lee mentioned that the policy for villagers to build homes without paying land fees was only implemented after the British began to rule the New Territories in 1898, and that before then, there was no mention of such a policy under Qing dynasty rule.

On 1 April 2021, district judge Amanda Jane Woodcock convicted Martin Lee of "holding an unauthorised assembly".

On 16 April, Martin Lee received a sentence of 11 months in jail, suspended for 24 months, for his part in the 2019 unauthorised assemblies.

On 12 April 2024 Martin Lee received from the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal a suspended sentence following conviction for taking part in an unauthorised procession in August 2019.

Martin Lee stopped his public activism as a result of the Hong Kong National Security Law which went into effect on 1 July 2020.

Martin Lee was nominated for the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize by multiple Norwegian members of parliament.

Martin Lee is a devoted Roman Catholic and a close friend with Cardinal Joseph Zen.