17 Facts About Yeung Sum

Yeung Sum is a Hong Kong politician and academic.

Yeung Sum served several terms as a Legislative Councillor and was the second chairman of the Democratic Party, a pro-democracy political party in Hong Kong.

Yeung Sum is a lecturer at the University of Hong Kong.

Yeung Sum obtained his undergraduate degree at the University of Hong Kong.

Yeung Sum gained his master's degree at the University of York in Britain before returning to earn his doctorate from the University of Hong Kong.

Yeung Sum has taught at the University of Hong Kong since 1979 and has been a lecturer in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration since 1985.

Yeung Sum was the second chairman of the group from 1988 to 1989.

Yeung Sum formed the Joint Committee on the Promotion of Democratic Government with liberal-minded drafters Martin Lee and Szeto Wah and became the spokesman of the committee.

Yeung Sum was a committee member of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China during the Tiananmen protests of 1989 and remained critical of the Chinese government after the bloody crackdown.

Yeung Sum became the vice-chairman of the Democratic Party when the United Democrats and Meeting Point merged in 1994.

Yeung Sum remained legislator until the legislature was dissolved in 1997 when Hong Kong was handed over to China.

Yeung Sum was re-elected to the Legislative Council in the 1998 LegCo election and remained in the LegCo until he stepped down as the second place on the party's candidate list in 2008 behind Kam Nai-wai.

Yeung Sum represented the Mainstreamers, a relatively moderate faction, within the democratic camp, and discontent with him within the Democrats led to splits within the party.

When Yeung Sum took the chairmanship from Martin Lee in 2002, legislator Albert Chan quit the party, and the following year a number of "Young Turks" left the party to join The Frontier.

Yeung Sum has remained on the party's central committee and executive committees occasionally.

On 28 February 2020, Yeung Sum was arrested over his involvement in a march on 31 August 2019 which was part of protests sparked by the extradition bill, and had been classified by police as illegal assembly.

On 18 April, Yeung Sum was again arrested as one of 15 Hong Kong high-profile democracy figures, on suspicion of organizing, publicizing or taking part in several unauthorized assemblies between August and October 2019 in the course of the anti-extradition bill protests.