Lau Chin-shek

{{family name hatnote|[[Liu (surname)|Lau]]|lang=Chinese}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Lau Chin-shek | native_name = {{nobold|劉千石}} | native_name_lang = zh-hk | image = Lau Chin-shek 201110.JPG | caption = Lau Chin-shek | office = Member of [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong]] | term_start = 1 October 1991 | term_end = December 1994 | predecessor = | successor = [[Lee Cheuk-yan]] | term_start1 = 1 October 1995 | term_end1 = 30 June 1997 | predecessor1 = Lee Cheuk-yan | successor1 = Replaced by [[Provisional Legislative Council]] | term_start2 = 1 July 1998 | term_end2 = 30 September 2008 | predecessor2 = New legislature | successor2 = [[Raymond Wong Yuk-man]] | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1944|9|12}} | birth_place = [[Guangzhou]], [[Guangdong]] | party = [[Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions]] (1990–2004) [[Democratic Party (Hong Kong)|Democratic Party]] (1994–2000) [[United Democrats of Hong Kong]] (1990–1994) | occupation = | alma_mater = }} {{Infobox Chinese | t = 劉千石 | s = 刘千石 | p = Liú Qiānshí | j = Lau4 Chin1 shek6 | y = Làuh Chīn sehk }}

'''Lau Chin-shek''' (born 12 September 1944) was the President of the [[Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions]] and a member of the [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong|Legislative Council]] from 1991 to 2008.

==Background== Lau was born in [[Guangzhou]], [[Guangdong]] with family root in [[Shunde]], [[Guangdong]]. He smuggled from Guangzhou to Hong Kong in 1960. Since the 1980s, he has been a [[Labour movement|labour activist]], working to help factory workers in [[Sham Shui Po]] and [[Cheung Sha Wan]], where working conditions were poor.

During the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]], Lau and other pro-democracy activists expressed sympathy and support to the student demonstrators who had gathered at Tiananmen Square. He and others also founded the [[Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China]], which organises the anniversary commemoration of the 1989 protests.

In 1990, Lau and other labour activists, including [[Lee Cheuk-yan]], established the 160,000-strong [[Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions]]. He was also vice-chairman of the [[Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee]].

Lau first ran in the [[1991 Hong Kong legislative election|Hong Kong legislative elections in 1991]] and was elected. Being re-elected four times, Lau sat in the Legislative Council continuously from 1991 to 2008, except he resigned in 1994 but elected again in 1995, a brief period during 1997 and 1998 when the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred to the [[People's Republic of China]], and the Legislative Council temporarily became a [[Provisional Legislative Council]] which was filled with people indirectly hand picked by Beijing.

In recent years, however, Lau has moderated his stance against Beijing. He was expelled from the [[Democratic Party (Hong Kong)|Democratic Party]] in 2000 because of dual party membership. Once branded subversive by the central authorities, Lau had been barred from entering [[mainland China]] for more than a decade. In May 2000, after quiet lobbying by Hong Kong top leaders, he was allowed to make a low-key visit to [[Guangzhou]] to see his ailing mother. Since then, he has been urging his pro-democracy colleagues to have "better communication with the Central Government" and visit mainland China and see for themselves the changes that are taking place in the country.

Lau lost his seat in the Legislative Council in the [[2008 Hong Kong legislative election|Legislative Election of 2008]] with only 5.1% or 10,553 votes.

Lau revealed to have been diagnosed with [[colorectal cancer]] on a radio program in September 2008, saying it is under control. He then turned low profile in politics, but endorsed pro-Beijing candidate [[Carrie Lam]] in [[2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election|2017 Chief Executive election]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=劉千石為林鄭站台：我愛香港才支持林鄭 - 香港經濟日報 - TOPick - 新聞 - 社會 |url=https://topick.hket.com/article/1654347/劉千石為林鄭站台：我愛香港才支持林鄭 |access-date=2023-01-20 |website=topick.hket.com}}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080824065922/http://lauchinshek.hk/ Lau Chin-shek's website] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20051115072153/http://www.legco.gov.hk/general/english/members/yr04-08/lcs.htm Hong Kong Legislative Council's website on Lau Chin-shek] *[http://www.labour.org.hk/ Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions' election campaign website]

{{s-start}} {{s-par|hk}} {{s-new|constituency}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of Legislative Council|district=[[Kowloon West (1991 constituency)|Kowloon Central]] |years = 1991–1994|alongside=[[Lam Kui-shing]]}} {{s-aft|after=[[Lee Cheuk-yan]]}} {{s-bef|before=[[Lee Cheuk-yan]]|as=Representative for Kowloon Central}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of Legislative Council|district=[[Kowloon West (1995 constituency)|Kowloon South]] |years = 1995–1997}} {{s-non|reason=Replaced by [[Provisional Legislative Council]]}} {{s-new|parliament}} {{s-ttl|title = Member of Legislative Council |district=[[Kowloon West (1998 constituency)|Kowloon West]] constituency|years = 1998–2008 |with=[[Jasper Tsang]], [[James To]] (1998–2008) |with2=[[Frederick Fung]] (2000–2008)}} {{s-aft|after=[[Wong Yuk-man|Raymond Wong]]}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=[[Anthony Cheung]]}} {{s-ttl|title=Vice Chairperson of [[Democratic Party (Hong Kong)|Democratic Party]]|years=1998 |alongside=[[Yeung Sum]]}} {{s-aft|after=[[Albert Ho]]}} {{end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lau, Chin-Shek}} [[Category:Hong Kong justices of the peace]] [[Category:1944 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions]] [[Category:Politicians from Guangzhou]] [[Category:Hong Kong trade unionists]] [[Category:Democratic Party (Hong Kong) politicians]] [[Category:The Frontier (Hong Kong) politicians]] [[Category:United Democrats of Hong Kong politicians]] [[Category:HK LegCo Members 1991–1995]] [[Category:HK LegCo Members 1995–1997]] [[Category:HK LegCo Members 1998–2000]] [[Category:HK LegCo Members 2000–2004]] [[Category:HK LegCo Members 2004–2008]]