Tiffany Yuen Ka-wai was a former Southern District Councillor in Hong Kong and the former vice chairperson of Demosisto, a political party aimed at self-determination and autonomy for Hong Kong people and advocating for the representation of young voices in politics.[1]

She started her activism at a young age, notably in the 2013 Hong Kong dock strike (葵青貨櫃碼頭工潮), protests against the government's Northeast New Territories development plan in 2014 (反新界東北撥款示威), and the Umbrella Revolution in the same year.[2] After graduating from the City University of Hong Kong, she joined Demosisto (香港眾志) in 2016 and was elected vice chairperson in 2017. During her time in Demosisto, Yuen advocated for equality, women's rights, and LGBT rights in Hong Kong.[3]

In 2018, She left Demosisto and ran for the 2019 District Council election as an independent candidate for the Tin Wan constituency. Securing a decisive victory, she defeated the pro-Beijing candidate Chan Fu-ming with 61.7% of the votes.[4]

In 2020, Yuen participated in the pro-democracy primaries where she garnered 19,884 votes — 21.94% of the electorate — and secured a nomination for the upcoming legislative elections.[5] However, on Jul. 30, 2020, the Hong Kong government disqualified the nominations of 12 pro-democracy candidates, including Yuen.[6]

Following her participation in the primaries, Yuen was arrested on Jan. 6, 2021, along with 52 others for allegedly violating the National Security Law.[7] She was released on bail the next day.[8] Later, on Feb. 28, 2021, Yuen and 46 others were formally charged with "conspiring to subvert state power" under the National Security Law. She was denied bail and has remained in custody ever since.[9]

On May 6, 2021, Yuen was sentenced to four months in prison for participating in an unauthorized assembly to mark the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.[10] The judge stated that Yuen played a passive role in the event by promoting their presence at the vigil on social media with a picture of the activists in the park.[11]

Photo: Tiffany Yuen Facebook