Mo Kwan-nin (), GBM (20 May 1937 – 5 February 2013) was a Hong Kong born

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

politician. Mo Kwan-nin was born in Hong Kong in 1937 and graduated from the Chinese Department of the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...

in 1961. He later joined the Methodist College in

Yau Ma Tei Yau Ma Tei is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. Name ''Yau Ma Tei'' is a phonetic transliteration of the name (originally written as ) in Cantonese. It can also be spelt as Yaumatei, ...

as a Chinese language and Chinese history teacher. He was put in charge of the school's curriculum. In 1984, Mo joined the Hong Kong office of the

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

, the ''de facto'' representative office of People's Republic China government in the colonial period. He was appointed as deputy director in 1987, becoming the highest ranking Hong Kong born official at that time. It was seen as a Chinese Communist Party gesture to show its recognition of Hongkongers. Mo served alongside

Lu Ping Lu Ping (; 27 September 1927 – 3 May 2015) was a Chinese politician and diplomat. He served as Head of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China. He is best known as China's delegation head ...

as the deputy secretary-general of the

Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Drafting Committee (BLDC) was formed in June 1985 for the drafts of the Hong Kong Basic Law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) after 1997. It was formed as a working group ...

and the secretary-general of the

Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Consultative Committee (BLCC; 香港基本法諮詢委員會) was an official body established in 1985 to canvass views in Hong Kong on the drafts of the Hong Kong Basic Law. Background The f ...

, the two organs responsible for drafting the Hong Kong's mini-constitution under Chinese rule after 1997. Hong Kong-based political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu said Mo became an underground member of the Communist Party after he joined Xinhua. However, it was not disclosed until the China News Service accidentally exposed his membership in a report during the 13th

CPC National Congress The National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (; literally: Chinese Communist Party National Representatives Congress) is a party congress that is held every five years. The National Congress is theoretically the highest body within th ...

. According to Lau, Mo's role became less significant after the disclosure. Mo's support of the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...

also significantly diverged from Beijing's and his career was in limbo after that. In 2000, Mo was honoured with the

Grand Bauhinia Medal The Grand Bauhinia Medal () is the highest award under the Hong Kong honours and awards system; it is to recognise the selected person's lifelong and highly significant contribution to the well-being of Hong Kong. The awardee is entitled to the ...

. Mo died from an undisclosed illness on 2 February 2013 7:02 p.m. in a local hospital at the age of 75. Johnny Lau praised Mo, saying he had served Beijing with pure intention, which was rare at that time. "What he had given to the country was much more than what he could earn back," Lau said.

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Leung Chun-ying Leung Chun-ying (; born 12 August 1954), also 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 Ma ...

also paid tribute, saying that Mo was committed to serve Hong Kong and involved in the preparatory work for the transfer of sovereignty. "He has made outstanding contributions to both the country and Hong Kong," Leung said.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mo, Kwan-nin 1937 births 2013 deaths Hong Kong educators Alumni of the University of Hong Kong People's Republic of China politicians from Hong Kong Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee members Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee members Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal Xinhua News Agency people