Andrew Chiu Ka-yin 趙家賢

Andrew Chiu Ka-yin is a politician, accredited mediator, and arbitrator. He was an Eastern District Councillor from 2008 to 2021 and was the Chairperson of the Hong Kong Society of Accredited Mediators (香港認可調解員學會). [1] He was also the convenor of Power for Democracy (民主動力; PfD), a now-disbanded group that mediated electoral coordination among pro-democratic parties, since 2014. [2]

Chiu graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences from the Open University of Hong Kong (香港公開大學) and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Hong Kong Baptist University (香港浸會大學). [3] In 2004 at the age of 18, he founded the TKS Youth Volunteer Services Group (太古城青少年義工團) to serve the Tai Koo Shing community. [4] In the same year, he joined the Democratic Party. In 2007, he was elected to the Eastern District as a representative of Tai Koo Shing West and was re-elected three times in 2011, 2015, and 2019. [5] He was the “top runner” in two elections with the most votes among the pan-democrats. In 2020, he was elected vice president of the District Council.

Under Chiu’s leadership, the PfD has coordinated pan-democrats across parties on elections, joint petitions, and publishing research on political issues. In 2017, it organized the first pro-democracy camp primaries in history to elect the final candidates to run for the 2018 Legislative Council by-election to maximize the chances for the pro-democracy camp to win the race.

On Nov. 3, 2019, during a protest at Cityplaza in Tai Koo Shing, Chiu was attacked by a pro-Beijing, knife-wielding, Mandarin-speaking man, when he tried to stop a fight after the attacker assaulted several people. The man slashed a couple in the stomach and bit off Chiu’s left ear. [6] Chiu lost his left ears after the attempt to reattach it failed. [7]

In July 2020, as PfD’s convenor, Chiu worked alongside Benny Tai and others in organizing a pro-democracy primary election for the 2020 Legislative Council Election. The organization oversaw the execution of the entire primary election, including tasks such as fundraising, volunteers recruiting, publishing materials, and managing electoral expenses, according to Chiu’s testimony. [8]

On Jan. 6, 2021, he was arrested along with 54 other pro-democracy figures, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit subversion under the National Security Law for participating and organizing the primary election and has been in custody since Feb. 28, 2021. [9] In July 2021, he resigned from his position as a District Councillor. [10]

Chiu pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him and testified as an accomplice witness for the prosecution against his co-defendants. [11] On Nov. 19, 2024, the court ruled that Chiu was considered a primary organizer of the primary election, hence a starting point for sentencing at 15 years. Given mitigating factors, including his guilty plea, cooperation as an accomplice witness, and service to the community, he was ultimately sentenced to 7 years in prison. [12]

Photo credit: 香港電台 RTHK