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Chip Tsao (born 17 August 1958), also known by his Chinese language pen name To Kit, is a multilingual Hong Kong-based columnist, broadcaster, and writer. His writings are mostly in Chinese. He is well known for his sarcasm and wry sense of humour.


Family and education

Tsao's family traces their roots back to
Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...
. His father was the vice chief editor of ''
Ta Kung Pao ''Ta Kung Pao'' (; formerly ''L'Impartial'') is the oldest active Chinese language newspaper in China. Founded in Tianjin in 1902, the paper is state-owned, controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central Government after the Chinese Civil War ...
,'' a
leftwing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
newspaper in Hong Kong, whilst his mother was also an editor of the same paper. His maternal grandfather was a journalist of the '' Pearl River Daily''. He was raised in Hong Kong's
Wanchai Wan Chai is situated at the western part of the Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. Its other boundaries are Canal Road to the east, Arsenal Street to the west and Bowen Road to the south. The area no ...
district, and began reading early in his life. Tsao attended
Pui Kiu Middle School Pui Kiu Middle School () is a secondary school in Hong Kong. Located in the Eastern District area of North Point. The school uses Chinese language as a medium of instruction. During a portion of its history in British Hong Kong it was known ...
and later
Lingnan Secondary School Lingnan Secondary School (嶺南中學) is a secondary school located in Heng Fa Chuen, Hong Kong. It was established on Stubbs Road Stubbs Road is a road located in Mid-Levels East, Central, Hong Kong, which connects Happy Valley to The ...
in Hong Kong. During this time, his writing was once published in '' The New Evening Post''. In 1983, he was awarded a BA in English and European Literature from the
University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020 ...
. Then he completed a
Postgraduate Diploma A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award pos ...
in International Relations from the
London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 milli ...
. He states that he never thought about becoming a writer in his youth, however, and that his parents discouraged him from this career because they felt it would be dangerous. Tsao is married and has two children.


Career

Tsao began his journalism career in the United Kingdom as a reporter for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and
Radio Television Hong Kong Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econo ...
. Then, famous writer Jin Yong (Louis Cha) invited him to write a regular column for ''
Ming Pao ''Ming Pao'' () is a Chinese-language newspaper published by Media Chinese International in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, ''Ming Pao'' established four overseas branches in North America; each provides independent reporting on local news and colle ...
'' about his experiences living abroad. It was at this time that he began to use his pen name To Kit. The name of his column in Ming Pao,"'The Golden Venture", derives from the name of a vessel that took Chinese
illegal immigrants Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwa ...
to the United States in 1993. His first book, ''Alongside Thames'', was published in 1995. Tsao later he joined a team of
broadcasters Broadcaster may refer to: * A presenter of any syndicated media program * A broadcasting organization, one responsible for audio and video content and/or their transmission * A sports commentator on television or radio * Broadcaster, currently ...
to host a weekly current affairs programme on
RTHK Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econo ...
named 'Free as Wind' (). In September 2003, he switched to the
Commercial Radio Hong Kong Commercial Radio Hong Kong (CRHK, , aka Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company Limited is one of the two commercial radio broadcasting companies in Hong Kong along with Metro Radio Hong Kong. CRHK provides an array of entertainment, includ ...
to host a similar daily radio entitled 'Summit' (,
literally ''Literally'' is an English adverb. It has been controversially used as an intensifier for figurative statements. History The first known use of the word ''literally'' was in the 15th century, or the 1530s, when it was used in the sense of "in ...
'the Peak of Light'). Tsao currently writes for
Apple Daily ''Apple Daily'' ( zh, link=no, 蘋果日報) was a popular tabloid published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded by Jimmy Lai, it was one of the best-selling Chinese language newspapers in Hong Kong.
and
HK Magazine ''HK Magazine'' was a free English-language alternative weekly published by HK Magazine Media Group in Hong Kong. Launched in 1991, it offered coverage of local affairs, social issues as well as entertainment listings. The 1000th issue was publish ...
. Pieces from his columns, such as Come On, James, have gone viral and become an internet sensation in several new forms of adaptations. Tsao is not without his controversies. His status as a premier writer of Hong Kong is often challenged, one example being a piece by Rosetta Lui and Perry Lam in the December 2007 issue of ''Muse'': "Some 15 or 20 years from now, the books of Chip Tsao... if they are talked about at all, will most probably be used as anecdotal evidence to illustrate how dumbed-down our city's culture has become since the 1997 return to Chinese sovereignty. His essays are always funny, sometimes lyrical but almost never ruminative."


Political viewpoints


Hong Kong politics

Tsao first began writing about Hong Kong public affairs in a column for English-language newspaper ''
Eastern Express The Eastern Express ( tr, Doğu Ekspresi) is an overnight passenger train operated by the Turkish State Railways. The train runs from Ankara Railway Station to Kars Railway Station in Kars. The train was the first overnight service east of Anka ...
''. He is often perceived as pro-British, and has been accused of looking down on China. But in a South China Morning Post interview in 2008, Tsao explained his position on China and denied that he was an anglophile, saying: "I am critical of modern China but if people think criticising makes you a traitor, that’s their problem. Some people say I’m an Anglophile but I don’t consider myself one. I just admire beautiful things and good values, and that includes Tibetan culture. There are bad things about the Brits too – they can be hypocrites and racists."


Accusations of racism

Tsao has faced various accusations of racism for his English-language writings. In October 2005, an article he wrote for the '' South China Morning Post'' entitled "Have Hong Kong girls stopped looking for Mr White?" sparked accusations that he promoted discrimination and was jealous of white men in Hong Kong. Tsao responded that he was merely being sarcastic and provocative, repeating themes which were often discussed in Chinese media, and accused his critics themselves of being racist and lacking the ability to "read between the lines". On 27 March 2009, an article of Tsao's entitled "The War at Home" was published in the free ''
HK Magazine ''HK Magazine'' was a free English-language alternative weekly published by HK Magazine Media Group in Hong Kong. Launched in 1991, it offered coverage of local affairs, social issues as well as entertainment listings. The 1000th issue was publish ...
''. In it, he wrote that the Philippines was unworthy of claiming the
Spratly Islands The Spratly Islands ( fil, Kapuluan ng Kalayaan; zh, c=南沙群島/南沙群岛, s=, t=, p=Nánshā Qúndǎo; Malay, id, Kepulauan Spratly; vi, Quần đảo Trường Sa) are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea. Composed ...
from China because "as a nation of servants, you don't flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter." Many Filipinos decried his article as racist, discriminatory, and demeaning, and the Philippine government declared him an "
undesirable alien In diplomacy, a ' ( Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of t ...
" as a result. His writings provoked negative reactions from various Philippine legislators; Senator
Pia Cayetano Pilar Juliana Schramm Cayetano KGCR (born March 22, 1966), known as Pia Cayetano, is a Filipina politician and lawyer serving as a Senator since 2019, a position she previously held from 2004 to 2016. She was also the Representative of Tagu ...
stated that "instead of contributing to intelligent discussions on ways to resolve the Spratlys dispute, Tsao only succeeded in eliciting hatred and sowing more confusion not only among Filipinos but maybe even among his fellow Chinese who are not aware of the intricacies of the issue", while Parañaque Congressman Roilo Golez refused to accept Tsao's apology for his article, and challenged him to a boxing match. On 30 March 2009, HK Magazine issued an apology for the offence Tsao's article had caused. The following day, Tsao subsequently admitted his wrongdoing and apologised to the Philippine government and its people in an interview aired over Hong Kong’s ATV. He said, "I realized that I had crossed the line. I now offer my public apology." He has also indicated, however, that the article was meant as satire, and that it "was never intended to be insulting to the Filipino domestic workers."


Criticism of #MeToo

In 2017, Tsao posted on Facebook mocking the
Me Too movement #MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...
one day after the revelation from Hong Kong athlete Lui Lai Yiu that she was sexually assaulted by a former coach. Tsao wrote that he was touched on the face without his consent by a female teacher when he was in kindergarten and now he realised that he was "one of the victims of low-end sex abuse". "Thanks to the Facebook generation, by simply attaching a selfie, anyone can become a
Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...
or a
Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolade ...
," he added. Some praised him for his "good sense of humour" and recognizing that any man could be open to accusations over past inappropriate behaviour of which they may or may not be guilty. More including the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women criticised him for inappropriate analogy and ignorance on sexual violence.


Works

Tsao's work, both on radio and in his columns, concentrates on the following subjects: *Changes in governance of Hong Kong prior to and following the transfer of sovereignty to China *The essence of classical Chinese and Western civilisation *Difference between Chinese and Westerners (particular in terms of politics and lifestyle) *The 'peasant mentality' of the Chinese *Films A new film called "ENTHRALLED" released on 10 April 2014 in Hong Kong which portrays post-handover Hong Kong through the love story of a group of returnees. *Prominent women (he wrote a column on the achievements of well-known Chinese women in ''Ming Pao Monthly'' between 1998 and 2003)


Publications

Major works by Chip Tsao:


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsao, Chip 1958 births Living people Alumni of the University of Warwick Hong Kong columnists Hong Kong writers British expatriates in Hong Kong