Au Nok-hin (; born 18 June 1987) is a pro-democracy politician in Hong Kong. He is the former member of the
Legislative Council for
Hong Kong Island from 2018 to 2019 and member of the
Southern District Council
Southern District Council is the district council for the Southern District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Southern District Council currently consists of 17 members, of which the district is divided into 17 constituencies, ...
for
Lei Tung I from 2012 to 2019.
From 2016 to 2017, Au was the convenor of the
Civil Human Rights Front
The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) was an organisation that focused on the issues of Hong Kong politics and livelihood, affiliated with almost all pan-democratic camps in Hong Kong. It was founded on 13 September 2002 and disbanded on 15 Aug ...
. In the
2018 Legislative Council by-election triggered by
oath-taking controversy, Au replaced
Demosistō
Demosisto (stylised Demosistō) () was a pro-democracy political organisation established on 10 April 2016 as a political party. It was led by Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow – former leaders of Scholarism, along with Nathan Law, former secre ...
candidate
Agnes Chow
Agnes Chow Ting ( zh, t=周庭, born 3 December 1996) is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. She is a former member of the Standing Committee of Demosistō and former spokesperson of Scholarism. Her candidacy for the 2018 Hong Kong Is ...
who was disqualified over her alleged
pro-independence stance. He was elected with more than 130,000 votes. Au was a member of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
until 2017. In December 2019, Chow's disqualification was ruled unlawful by a court, invalidating the by-election result and unseating Au.
Early life and education
Au was born in Hong Kong in 1987 and grew up in
Kai Yip Estate
The following shows the public housing estates (including Home Ownership Scheme (HOS), Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS), Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS)) in Ngau Tau Kok, Jordan Valley, Kowloon Bay and surrounding neighbourhoods, in Kwu ...
in
Kowloon Bay
Kowloon Bay is a body of water within Victoria Harbour and an area within Kowloon, Hong Kong.
The bay is located at the east of the Kowloon Peninsula and north of Hong Kong Island. It is the eastern portion of Victoria Harbour, between ...
. He studied at the conservative
Baptist Lui Ming Choi Primary School and
St. Joseph's Anglo-Chinese School. He participated in the students union when he studied at the
Chinese University of Hong Kong
The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is the territory's second-oldest university and ...
(CUHK) and joined the
anti-Express Rail Link protests in 2009 and 2010. He then pursued a master's in political science at CUHK.
District Council and party politics
Au joined the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
in 2009 and was first elected to the
Southern District Council
Southern District Council is the district council for the Southern District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Southern District Council currently consists of 17 members, of which the district is divided into 17 constituencies, ...
at the age of 24 in the
2011 District Council election, running in
Lei Tung I, a constituency covered the
Lei Tung Estate
The following shows the public housing estates (including Home Ownership Scheme (HOS), Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS), Tenants Purchase Scheme (TPS) and Sandwich Class Housing Scheme (SCHS)) in Pok Fu Lam, Aberdeen, Wong Chuk Hang ...
with another young Democrat
Lo Kin-hei
Lo Kin-hei (; born 1 June 1984) is the Chairman of the Democratic Party and Southern District Council. He has been a Southern District Councillor for Lei Tung II constituency from 2012 to 2021.
Career
Born in 1984, Lo graduated from the Univ ...
.
Au was always at the progressive end of the spectrum in the Democratic Party, urging it to take a more radical stance to uphold the interests and core values of the Hong Kong people. He also opposed the party's secret meeting with Beijing officials in 2015. He became the youngest candidate to run in the
2012 party leadership election against the two chairpersons and veteran legislators
Emily Lau
Emily may refer to:
* Emily (given name), including a list of people with the name
Music
* "Emily" (1964 song), title song by Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer to the film ''The Americanization of Emily''
* "Emily" (Dave Koz song), a 1990 song ...
and
Sin Chung-kai
Sin Chung-kai (; born 15 June 1960) is a former member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. He was the chairman and a member of Kwai Tsing District Council for the Wah Lai constituency. He was one of the two vice-chairmen of the Democratic ...
, after
Albert Ho
Albert Ho Chun-yan (; born 1 December 1951) is a solicitor and politician in Hong Kong. He is the former chairman (2014–2019) and vice-chair (2019–2021) of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, and ...
resigned as chairman in the wake of the party's disastrous
2012 Legislative Council election
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
defeat. He received 14 votes, against Lau's 149 votes and Sin's 133 votes.
Au was on
James To
James To Kun-sun (; ; born 11 March 1963) is a Hong Kong lawyer and Democratic Party politician. From 1991 to 2020, To was a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, representing the District Council (Second) constituency. In his fin ...
's ticket in territory-wide
District Council (Second)
The District Council (Second) functional constituency () was a functional constituency in the elections for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong which was created in the 2012 constitutional reform package. It was the largest functional constituen ...
"super seats" in the
2012 Legislative Council election
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
, placing third after To and
Andrew Chiu Ka-yin. Although Au was not elected on To's list, his ticket saw To being elected with 316,468 votes, the largest votes received by a ticket in Hong Kong's electoral history.
Au was a member of the central committee of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
.
He had a frontline role in the
2014 Hong Kong protests
A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014.
The protests began after t ...
, starting with the storming of "Civic Square", the public forecourt of the
Central Government Complex on September 26, in the lead-up to the mass sit-ins. He also addressed the crowds in
Mong Kok
Mong Kok (also spelled Mongkok, often abbreviated as MK) is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Prince Edward subarea occupies the northern part of Mong Kok.
Mong Kok is one of the major shopping areas in Hong Kong. The area is characterised ...
some nights.
In 2014, he challenged incumbent chairwoman Emily Lau again in the
leadership re-election in a four-way contest with legislator
Wu Chi-wai
Wu Chi-wai, MH (, born 18 October 1962) is a Hong Kong politician. He is the former chairman of the Democratic Party from 2016 to 2020 and a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong for Kowloon East constituency since 2012. He ...
and party treasurer
Stanley Ng
Stanley Ng Wing-fai (; born 1961) is a Hong Kong based smart city expert, a licensed town planner and politician. He is Election Committee Member of Hong Kong (2006 to 2022) and Executive Committee member of the Democratic Party.
Education an ...
.
He received 33 member votes and was eliminated in the first round.
Legislative Council bids
Au was tipped to run in the
2016 Legislative Council election in
Hong Kong Island with another rising star Chai Man-hon. However, both Au and Chai did not submit their nominations in the
intra-party pre-election primary. Au is planning to run in the
Wholesale and Retail functional constituency
A functional constituency is an electoral device (a non-geographical constituency) used within the political systems of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China:
* Functional constituency (Hong Kong)
* Functional cons ...
, a long-time stronghold of the
pro-Beijing camp
The pro-Beijing camp, pro-establishment camp, pro-government camp or pro-China camp refers to a political alignment in Hong Kong which generally supports the policies of the Beijing central government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) t ...
and had been held by the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. As a partner in his mother's fashion retail company, which has two shops and a booth in the
Sincere Department Store
Sincere Department Store () is a department store under the Sincere Company Limited and one of the oldest department chains in Hong Kong. Prior to 1949, its largest operation was in Shanghai, and along with Wing On (which survives in Hong Kong ...
, he is eligible to run in the trade-based constituency. He received 1,231 votes and was defeated by Liberal Party's
Shiu Ka-fai.
From 2016 to 2017, he was the convenor of the
Civil Human Rights Front
The Civil Human Rights Front (CHRF) was an organisation that focused on the issues of Hong Kong politics and livelihood, affiliated with almost all pan-democratic camps in Hong Kong. It was founded on 13 September 2002 and disbanded on 15 Aug ...
. He also ran in the
2016 Election Committee subsector elections and received 561 votes, being defeated by
Vincent Fang's ticket.
In 2017, he quit the Democratic Party "to pursue his own political beliefs". He was later tipped as a candidate for the
2018 Legislative Council Hong Kong Island by-election for the seat left vacant after the disqualification of
Nathan Law
Nathan Law Kwun-chung ( zh, link=no, t=羅冠聰; born 13 July 1993) is an activist and politician from Hong Kong. As a former student leader, he has been chairman of the Representative Council of the Lingnan University Students' Union (LUS ...
of
Demosistō
Demosisto (stylised Demosistō) () was a pro-democracy political organisation established on 10 April 2016 as a political party. It was led by Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow – former leaders of Scholarism, along with Nathan Law, former secre ...
. Demosistō member
Agnes Chow
Agnes Chow Ting ( zh, t=周庭, born 3 December 1996) is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. She is a former member of the Standing Committee of Demosistō and former spokesperson of Scholarism. Her candidacy for the 2018 Hong Kong Is ...
who later became the candidate, was disqualified by the returning officer which led to Au becoming the common candidate of the pro-democracy camp. He was elected with more than 130,000 votes, about 51 per cent of the vote share, defeating
Judy Chan
Judy Chan Ka-pui (; born 4 April 1980) is a Hong Kong politician who is a current member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong elected through the Elections Committee. She is a member of the New People's Party and was a former member of Southe ...
of the
New People's Party.
Arrests
Au Nok-hin was arrested at his home in
Kwun Tong on 30 August 2019 regarding his role in a demonstration on 8 July 2019, during the
2019–2020 Hong Kong protests
The Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement, also known as the 2019 Hong Kong protests, or the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, were a series of demonstrations from 15 March 2019 in response to the introduction by the Hong Kong government ...
. He was accused of obstructing and assaulting a police officer with the volume of his
loudspeaker
A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or ...
. On the same day, Hong Kong police arrested numerous pro-democracy figures and politicians.
Ko Chun-pong, a
Superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
of the
Hong Kong Police
The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...
Public Relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...
Branch, alleged that he felt discomfort in his right ear because Au's speaker seemed too loud. Another police officer, Kwan Chi-ho, testified that Au hit his
riot shield
A riot shield is a lightweight protection device, typically deployed by police and some military organizations, though also utilized by protestors. Riot shields are typically long enough to cover an average-sized person from the top of the head to ...
three times.
On 18 April 2020, Au was arrested again, as one of 15 Hong Kong high-profile pro-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.
On 24 April, Au was sentenced to 140 hours of
community service
Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performe ...
after a judge convicted him of assault for using a loudspeaker near the police. Au had maintained his innocence and stated his intentions to file an
appeal. Since his conviction, the
Hong Kong Bar Association
The Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) is the professional regulatory body for barristers in Hong Kong. The Law Society of Hong Kong is the equivalent association for solicitors in Hong Kong.
Victor Dawes SC is the current chairman of the Cou ...
launched an inquiry against Vivien Chan Man-wai, the prosecutor in Au's case, after she was accused of violating professional standards.
On 6 January 2021, Au was among 55 members of the pro-democratic camp who
were arrested under the
national security law, specifically its provision regarding alleged subversion. The group stood accused of organising and participating in
unofficial primary elections held by the camp in July 2020. Au was released on bail on 7 January.
Personal life
Au hosts an internet radio programme about Japanese culture and teaches Japanese in the estate he serves. He is known to be a fan of Japanese anime.
See also
*
Lo Kin-hei
Lo Kin-hei (; born 1 June 1984) is the Chairman of the Democratic Party and Southern District Council. He has been a Southern District Councillor for Lei Tung II constituency from 2012 to 2021.
Career
Born in 1984, Lo graduated from the Univ ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Au, Nok-hin
1987 births
Alumni of the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong democracy activists
Living people
District councillors of Southern District
Democratic Party (Hong Kong) politicians
HK LegCo Members 2016–2021
Hong Kong political prisoners