{{Short description|Historic Hong Kong government position}} {{Use Hong Kong English|date=April 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Chinese | t = 首席華人非官守議員 | y = Sáu jihk wàah yàhn fēi gūn sáu yíh yùhn | j = Sau2 zik6 waa4 jan4 fei1 gun1 sau2 ji5 jyun4 }}
'''Senior Chinese Unofficial Member''' denotes the highest-ranking [[Han Chinese|ethnically Chinese]] member of the [[Legislative Council]] and [[Executive Council of Hong Kong|Executive Council]] of [[Hong Kong]] under [[British Hong Kong|colonial British rule]]. As Chinese council members were frequently referred to as "Chinese Representatives", the senior member was also known as the "Senior Chinese Representative". In the later years of the colonial rule, many Senior Chinese Unofficial Member also served as [[Senior Unofficial Member]] at the same time.
==History== In colonial Hong Kong government, an Unofficial Member of a council was a member who was not part of the council by virtue of their government office (i.e. not ''ex-officio''). The first Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council who was ethnically Chinese was [[Wu Tingfang|Ng Choy]], a British-trained barrister who later went on to serve as Foreign Minister and acting Premier of the [[Republic of China]]. He was appointed to the Legislative Council in 1880.
The first ethnically Chinese Unofficial Member of the Executive Council was Sir [[Shouson Chow]], a US-educated former [[Qing dynasty]] official, who was appointed in 1926.
Over the years, there were 22 ethnically Chinese Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council, and 11 of the Executive Council. Nine of them have served on both councils. The longest tenure was that of Sir [[Kai Ho]], who served 24 years on the Legislative Council. Sir Shouson Chow served 10 years on the Executive Council, the longest on that council. The Senior Unofficial Member served as a leader or representative speaking on behalf of all Unofficial Members, and the Senior Chinese Unofficial Member performed an equivalent role for the ethnically Chinese Unofficial Members.
After the [[Second World War]], the ethnically Chinese members of the two councils gradually increased, and as a result the Senior Unofficial Member was often the Senior Chinese Unofficial Member. From 1974 until the abolition of the colonical councils in 1997, the Senior Unofficial Member was always ethnically Chinese. As a result, the term "Senior Chinese Unofficial Member" gradually disappeared from the 1970s.
== Executive Council== {| class="wikitable" ! Order ! Image ! Senior Chinese Unofficial Member ! Term start ! Term end |- |align="center"|1||align="center"|[[File:Shouson Chow1952.jpg|80px]]|| Sir [[Shouson Chow]] ||1926||1936 |- |align="center"|2||align="center"|[[File:Robert Kotewall.png|80px]]|| [[Robert H. Kotewall]]<br>later Sir Robert ||1936||1941 |- !colspan=5| [[Japanese occupation of Hong Kong]] |- |align="center"|3||align="center"|[[File:Chau Tsun-nin (cropped).png|80px]]|| [[Chau Tsun-nin]]<br>Also Senior Unofficial Member in ExCo from 1953<br>later Sir Tsun-Nin ||1946||1959 |- |align="center"|4||align="center"|[[File:Chau Sik-nin.jpg|80px]]|| [[Chau Sik-nin]]<br>At the same time Senior Unofficial Member in ExCo<br>later Sir Sik-Nin ||1959||1962 |- |align="center"|5||align="center"|[[File:R. C. Lee 1964.jpg|80px]] || [[Richard Charles Lee]] ||1962||1966 |- |align="center"|6||align="center"|[[File:Kwan Cho-yiu.jpeg|80px]]|| [[Kwan Cho-yiu]]<br>later Sir Cho-Yiu<br>died in office ||1966||1971 |- |align="center"|7||align="center"|[[Image:Empty.png|80px]] || Sir [[Kenneth Fung Ping-fan]] ||1971||1972 |- |align="center"|8||align="center"|[[Image:Empty.png|80px]]|| Sir [[Kan Yuet-keung]]<br>Also Senior Unofficial Member in ExCo from 1974 ||1972||1980 |- |align="center"|9||align="center"|[[Image:Empty.png|80px]]|| Sir [[Chung Sze-yuen]]<br>At the same time Senior Unofficial Member in ExCo ||1980||1988 |- |align="center"|10||align="center"|[[Image:Empty.png|80px]]|| [[Lydia Dunn]]<br>At the same time Senior Unofficial Member in ExCo<br>later Baroness Dunn ||1988||1995 |- |align="center"|11||align="center"|[[Image:Empty.png|80px]]|| Dr. [[Rosanna Wong Yick-ming]]<br>At the same time Senior Unofficial Member in ExCo<br>later Dame Rosanna ||1995||1997 |- !colspan=5 | 1997 -[[Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong]] to the [[People's Republic of China]] |}
== Legislative Council == {| class="wikitable" ! Order ! Image ! Senior Chinese Unofficial Member ! Term start ! Term end |- |align="center"|1||align="center"|[[Image:Wu Ting-Fang.jpg|80px]]||[[Wu Tingfang|Ng Choy]] ||1880||1882 |- !colspan=5 | Vacant (1882–84) |- |align="center"|2||align="center"|[[File:Wong Shing.jpg|80px]]|| [[Wong Shing]] ||1884||1889 |- |align="center"|3||align="center"|[[Image:Sir Sai Ho.jpg|80px]]|| Dr. [[Ho Kai]] later Sir Kai ||1890||1914 |- |align="center"|4||align="center"|[[File:Wei Yuk.png|80px]]|| [[Wei A. Yuk]]
later Sir Boshan ||1914||1917 |- |align="center"|5||align="center"|[[File:Lau Chu Pak.gif|80px]]|| [[Lau Chu-pak]] died suddenly in office ||1917||1922 |- |align="center"|6||align="center"|[[File:Shouson Chow1952.jpg|80px]]|| [[Shouson Chow]] later Sir Shouson ||1922||1931 |- |align="center"|7||align="center"|[[File:Robert Kotewall.png|80px]]||[[Robert H. Kotewall]] later Sir Robert ||1931||1935 |- |align="center"|8||align="center"|[[File:Dr Tso Seen Wan.jpg|80px]]|| Dr. [[Ts'o Seen Wan]] ||1935||1937 |- |align="center"|9||align="center"|[[File:Chau Tsun-nin (cropped).png|80px]]|| [[Chau Tsun-nin]] later Sir Tsun-Nin ||1937||1939 |- |align="center"|10||align="center"|[[File:Sir Man Kam Lo.png|80px]]||[[Lo Man-kam]] later Sir Man-Kam ||1939||1941 |- !colspan=5 | [[Japanese occupation of Hong Kong]] |- |align="center"|11||align="center"|[[File:Chau Tsun-nin (cropped).png|80px]]|| [[Chau Tsun-nin]] became the senior unofficial member of LegCo in 1950
later Sir Tsun-Nin ||1946||1953 |- |align="center"|12||align="center"|[[File:Chau Sik-nin.jpg|80px]]|| [[Chau Sik-nin]] At the same time Senior Unofficial Member in LegCo
later Sir Sik-Nin ||1953||1959 |- |align="center"|13||align="center"|[[Image:Empty.png|80px]]|| [[Ngan Shing-kwan]] At the same time Senior Unofficial Member in LegCo ||1959||1961 |- |align="center"|14||align="center"|[[File:Kwok Chan.jpg|80px]]|| [[Kwok Chan]] At the same time Senior Unofficial Member in LegCo ||1961||1962 |- |align="center"|15||align="center"|[[Image:Empty.png|80px]] || [[Kenneth Fung|Kenneth Fung Ping-fan]] later Sir Kenneth ||1962||1965 |- |align="center"|16||align="center"|[[File:Kwan Cho-yiu.jpeg|80px]]|| [[Kwan Cho-yiu]] later Sir Cho-Yiu ||1965||1966 |- |align="center"|17||align="center"|[[Image:Empty.png|80px]]|| [[Kan Yuet-keung]] Also Senior Unofficial Member in LegCo from 1968
later Sir Yuet-Keung ||1966||1972 |- |align="center"|18||align="center"|[[Image:Empty.png|80px]]|| [[Woo Pak-chuen]] At the same time Senior Unofficial Member in LegCo
||1972||1974 |- |align="center"|19||align="center"|[[Image:Empty.png|80px]]|| [[Chung Sze-yuen]] At the same time Senior Unofficial Member in LegCo
later Sir Sze-Yuen ||1974||1978 |- |align="center"|20||align="center"|[[File:OV Cheung.JPG|80px]]|| [[Oswald Cheung|Oswald Victor Cheung]] At the same time Senior Unofficial Member in LegCo
later Sir Oswald ||1978||1981 |- |align="center"|21||align="center"|[[Image:Empty.png|80px]]|| Dr. [[Harry Fang|Harry Fang Sin-yang]] later Sir Harry ||1981||1985 |- |align="center"|22||align="center"|[[Image:Empty.png|80px]]|| [[Baroness Dunn|Lydia Dunn]] At the same time Senior Unofficial Member in LegCo
later Baroness Dunn ||1985||1988 |- |align="center"|23||align="center"|[[File:Allen Lee at 71demo 2008.jpg|80px]]|| [[Allen Lee]] At the same time Senior Unofficial Member in LegCo
||1988||1992 |- !colspan=5| Concept abolished in 1992 |}
==See also== * [[Executive Council of Hong Kong]] * [[Legislative Council of Hong Kong]]
==References== * 鍾士元，《香港回歸歷程－鍾士元回憶錄》，香港：中文大學出版社，2001年。 * 鄭棟材,''[http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/44/4401147.pdf CHINESE UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE COUNCILS IN HONG KONG UP TO 1941]'', 29 April 1968. * ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20060218175633/http://www.legco.gov.hk/english/index.htm Hansard]'', Hong Kong: HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, 1884-1992.
[[Category:British Hong Kong|Senior Chinese Unofficial Member]] [[Category:History of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Legislative Council of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Executive Council of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Senior legislators]] [[Category:Hong Kong-related lists]]