Andrew Cheng Kar-foo () (born 28 April 1960 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

) was a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

and solicitor. He is a former Democratic Party member of the

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kon ...

representing the

New Territories East New Territories East is the eastern part of New Territories, covering North, Tai Po, Sha Tin, and Sai Kung District. History All districts except Sai Kung District have been connected by the Kowloon–Canton Railway (now East Rail line) since it ...

geographical constituency In Hong Kong, geographical constituencies, as opposed to functional constituencies, are elected by all eligible voters according to geographically demarcated constituencies. There are currently 5 geographical constituencies in Hong Kong, return ...

Biography

He was a founder member of the Democratic Party, previously a member of the

Meeting Point Meeting Point ( Chinese: 匯點) was a liberal political organisation and party in Hong Kong formed by a group of former student activists in the 1970s and intellectuals for the discussion for the Sino-British negotiation on the question of Hon ...

. He was a member of Southern District Council (representing

Ap Lei Chau Estate Ap Lei Chau Estate () is a public housing estate in Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. Known colloquially and on road signs simply as Hong Kong, the island has a population of 1 ...

) between 1994–99 and of

Tai Po District Council The Tai Po District Council () is the district council for the Tai Po District in Hong Kong. It is one of 18 such councils. The Tai Po District Council currently consists of 21 members, of which the district is divided into 19 constituencies, el ...

(representing Tai Po Central) from 1999 to 2011. Cheng was first elected to the Legislative Council in 1995 representing the Financial, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services constituency but left the council when it was replaced by the Provisional Legislative Council in July 1997. He was elected to represent the New Territories East constituency in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and won re-election in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

. In June 2010, Cheng publicly pondered his moral dilemma in supporting the vote in support of the revised electoral reform proposals put forward by the government and backed by the Democratic Party. The proposal draw unprecedented controversy in the pan-democractic camp as the leaders of the Democratic Party had met with and sought approval from the officials of the Central Government Liaison Office. He subsequently decided to vote against the proposals, and announced in his Legco speech that he would quit the party because "small, but critical differences of opinion" prevented him from fulfilling his election pledge to strive for universal suffrage in 2012.Wong, Albert (24 June 2010) "Electoral reform row makes one Democrat a quitter, others bitter", ''South China Morning Post'' Cheng stood down at the 2012 election, in which he supported several pan-democratic candidates in New Territories East. He helped

Gary Fan Gary Fan Kwok-wai (; born 30 October 1966) is a Hong Kong politician. He was the member of Legislative Council from 2012 to 2016 and from 2018 to 2019 after winning the 2018 by-election for New Territories East. He is also a former member of ...

, who stood second in his list in previous elections and also quit the Democratic Party owing to disagreement over the 2010 electoral reform proposals, of

Neo Democrats The Neo Democrats was a pro-democracy, localist political group in Hong Kong composed mainly of former and disenchanted members of the Democratic Party New Territories East branch after the 2012 constitutional reform proposals. It had held ...

to win a seat in the constituency. He joined D100 as a radio host after retiring from the Legislative Council. Although once denied rejoining electoral politics, Cheng changed his mind and contested the 2016 legislative election in New Territories East. He lost the bid with only 3.08% support. Three of Neo Democrat's Shatin District Councillors defected from Gary Fan to Cheng on the election day; they were subsequently dismissed from the party for Fan's failure in re-election.

Personal life

Cheng is married to Chan Kwai-ying, who is a cousin of his fellow Democrat Wong Sing-chi, and is a father of two.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Andrew 1960 births Living people Alumni of the University of Hong Kong District councillors of Tai Po District Alumni of Hong Kong Baptist University Charter 08 signatories Meeting Point politicians Democratic Party (Hong Kong) politicians HK LegCo Members 1995–1997 HK LegCo Members 1998–2000 HK LegCo Members 2000–2004 HK LegCo Members 2004–2008 HK LegCo Members 2008–2012 University of New South Wales Law School alumni