Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu 楊岳橋

Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu is a barrister and former Hong Kong politician who led the Civic Party (公民黨), a pro-democracy political party known for being mainly composed of professionals with legal expertise. The party disbanded following the introduction of the national security law in Hong Kong. [1]

Yeung immigrated with his parents to Canada at a young age after the 1989 Tiananmen massacre. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a bachelor’s degree in political science and obtained a master of laws in constitutional and administrative laws from Peking University around 2003. In 2005, he studied for a Master of Arts in legal studies at the University of Bristol and became a certified barrister in 2008. [2]

Yeung’s political journey began when he joined the Civic Party in 2011, inspired by campaigning for the party’s co-founder, Alan Leong (梁家傑) in the 2004 Legislative Council election. [3] In 2016, Yeung entered LegCo by winning a by-election in New Territories East, [4] and was re-elected in the 2016 general election, securing his position in LegCo until 2020. [5]

In July 2020, Yeung participated in the pro-democracy primaries where he garnered 25,366votes — 13.63% of the electorate — and secured a nomination for the upcoming legislative elections. [6] However, on Jul. 30, 2020, the Hong Kong government disqualified the nominations of 12 pro-democracy candidates, including Yeung. [7]

In November 2020, Yeung and three other seating lawmakers were disqualified just before the end of their terms, following a directive imposed by Beijing that was announced via Chinese state media. [8] The measure, passed by China’s highest legislative body, bars anyone from LegCo who “supports independence, refuses to recognize Beijing’s sovereignty over Hong Kong,” seeks help from “foreign countries or foreign forces to interfere in the affairs of the region” or commits “other acts that endanger national security.” [9] The decision triggered the resignations of 15 remaining pro-democracy members of the council as a protest.

Following Yeung’s participation in the primaries in July 2020, he was arrested on January 6, 2021, along with 54 other pro-democracy figures, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit subversion under the National Security Law and has been in custody since Feb. 28, 2021. [10] Yeung pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him. On Nov. 19, 2024, the court ruled that Leung was considered an active participant in the primary election, hence a starting point for sentencing at eight years. Given mitigating factors, including his guilty plea and his collaboration with the police force, he was ultimately sentenced to 5 years and 1 month in prison. [11]