Martin Liao Cheung-kong, JP (, born 1957) is a non-official member of the

Executive Council of Hong Kong The Executive Council of Hong Kong (ExCo) is the Cabinet (government), cabinet of the Government of Hong Kong, acting as a formal body of advisers to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong that serves as a core policy-making organ assisting the c ...

and a member of

Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, colloquially known as LegCo, is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" c ...

for

Commercial (Second) The Commercial (Second) functional constituency () is a functional constituency in the elections for the Legislative Council of Hong Kong first created in 1985. The constituency is composed of 421 corporates members of the Chinese General Cham ...

constituency and a barrister.

Background

Liao received his honorary

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in Economics and

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

from

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. He was a member of the

Copyright Tribunal The Copyright Tribunal is a first-instance tribunal in the United Kingdom with jurisdiction over commercial licensing disputes. It was established by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The tribunal’s jurisdiction covers the whol ...

from 2001 to 2005. Since 2008, Liao has been a member of the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...

. Andrew Liao is his older brother. In the

2012 Hong Kong legislative election The 2012 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was held on 9 September 2012 for the 5th Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Legislative Council (LegCo) since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The election was for ...

, Liao secured the

functional constituency A functional constituency is an electoral device (a non-geographical constituency) used within the political systems of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China: * Functional constituency in Hong Kong * Indirectly el ...

, nominated by the

Chinese General Chamber of Commerce The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCCHK; ) is a non-profit organization of local Chinese firms and businessmen based in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1900 by Ho Fook and Lau Chu-pak, two prominent leaders of the Chinese community during t ...

, uncontested. He retained his Legislative Council seat in the 2016 election, again without having to face an opponent. He became convenor of the pro-establishment caucus after

Ip Kwok-him Ip Kwok-him, Grand Bauhinia Medal, GBM, Gold Bauhinia Star, GBS, Justice of the Peace, JP ( zh, 葉國謙; born 8 November 1951) is a former unofficial member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, served between 2016 and 2022. He is also forme ...

of the

Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) is a Pro-Beijing camp (Hong Kong), pro-Beijing political party registered since 1992 in Hong Kong. Chaired by Gary Chan and holding 19 Legislative Council of Hong Kong ...

(DAB) retired. In November 2016, he was appointed by Chief Executive

Leung Chun-ying Leung Chun-ying ( zh, t=梁振英; born 12 August 1954), also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Confe ...

to the

. In November 2020, following the expulsion of 4 pro-democracy lawmakers in the Legislative Council, Liao claimed that despite there being no opposition members in the Legislative Council, there would still somehow be opposing views within the legislature. In January 2021, Liao partially blamed teachers on the 2019-20 Hong Kong protests and said that teachers could have "ulterior political motives" in classrooms which could "deeply impact students negatively." In February 2021, after

Xia Baolong Xia Baolong (; born 2 December 1952) is a Chinese politician. Originally from Tianjin, Xia began his political career in the Communist Youth League. He served as the vice mayor of Tianjin, governor and Party Secretary of Zhejiang province. Betw ...

said that only "patriots" could be part of the Hong Kong government and that electoral changes would be needed, Liao agreed and said that it was not up to those in Hong Kong to decide rules on electoral changes, and that "It must be a matter for the National People's Congress and the

National People's Congress Standing Committee The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. It exercises the powers of the NPC when it is not in s ...

. Hong Kong has no say in any amendments to the Basic Law." In March 2021, Liao supported changes to Hong Kong's election system and criticized democratic systems, claiming that the changes would make Hong Kong less prone to "dictatorship of the majority." In addition, Liao claimed that "Many people in Hong Kong are politically immature" and that one vote per person would not be suitable for Hong Kong. In March 2021, Liao criticized ''

RTHK Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service of Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econom ...

,'' claiming that the station was biased against the government. In February 2022, Liao told SCMP that he would not be attending the 2022

Two Sessions The Two Sessions () is the collective term for the annual plenary sessions of the National People's Congress and of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which are typically both held every March a ...

, as a Hong Kong delegate.

Honours

Liao was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liao, Martin 1957 births Living people Hong Kong Christians HK LegCo Members 2012–2016 HK LegCo Members 2016–2021 HK LegCo Members 2022–2025 Barristers of Hong Kong Alumni of University College London Delegates to the 11th National People's Congress from Hong Kong Delegates to the 12th National People's Congress from Hong Kong Delegates to the 13th National People's Congress from Hong Kong Hong Kong people of Hakka descent Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong People from Wuhua Alumni of the UCL Faculty of Laws