Charles Ho Tsu-kwok, GBM (, born 23 June 1949) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

businessman who was the chairman of the

Sing Tao News Corporation Limited Sing Tao News Corporation Limited (Sing Tao) is a Hong Kong media company, incorporated in Bermuda. It was formerly called Global China Group Holdings Limited. History The Group, which is listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, was founded ...

between 2001 and 2021 and an independent non-executive director of

Shun Tak Holdings Shun Tak Holdings Limited () is a Hong Kong-Macau company founded in 1972. It has been one of the constituents of the Hang Seng Hong Kong MidCap Index since 11 September 2006. The company is active in shipping, property, hospitality and investme ...

. As a member of the

pro-Beijing camp The pro-Beijing camp, pro-establishment camp, pro-government camp or pro-China camp refers to a political alignment in Hong Kong which generally supports the policies of the Beijing central government and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) t ...

, Ho maintains good relations with the

Chinese government The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, m ...

, and is appointed as a National Committee Member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference representing

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

, serving in that post since 1998. Ho was awarded the

Grand Bauhinia Medal The Grand Bauhinia Medal () is the highest award under the Hong Kong honours and awards system; it is to recognise the selected person's lifelong and highly significant contribution to the well-being of Hong Kong. The awardee is entitled to the ...

, the highest

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awar ...

under the Hong Kong honours and awards system by

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

CY Leung Leung Chun-ying (; 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 Conference since Ma ...

on July 1, 2014, although the decision to award Ho with such an award sparked controversy in the

Hong Kong media Hong Kong's media consists of several different types of communications of mass media: television, radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, websites and other online platforms. Overview Hong Kong is home to many of Asia's biggest media entities ...

Early life

Ho was born in Hong Kong with family roots in

. He was the grandson of Ho Ying-chie (1911-2000), the founder and owner of the Hong Kong Tobacco Cooperation Limited, and the brother of David Ho, a

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

based entrepreneur. Ho founded the Sing Tao Newspaper Group Limited in 2001.

Events

Relation with CY Leung

On 9 December 2011, Ho, an outspoken supporter of Chief Executive Election candidate

Henry Tang Henry Tang Ying-yen (; born 6 September 1952) is a Hong Kong politician who served as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong between 2007 and 2011. He held the position of Financial Secretary from 2003 to 2007. In 2012, he lost the Hong Kong Chief ...

, publicly challenged Tang's opponent CY Leung in a press conference, questioning his ability to handle the top job in Hong Kong. Ho noted that one of Leung's companies, DTZ Holdings, has the values of its shares decreased to zero and declared bankruptcy, and thus fearing that "Hong Kong's economy would become zero because of Leung's wrong decisions. However, in an interview on 30 August 2014, Ho withdrew his accusation towards CY Leung by praising Leung's efforts in improving people's livelihood, saying that Leung's decisions "hasn't made Hong Kong's economy become zero yet".

Awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal

On July 1, 2014, Ho was awarded the

, the highest

under the Hong Kong honours and awards system by

for his "distinguished service to the community, particularly his contribution to the media industry." The decision to award Ho the highest honor sparked dismay among some

. Ho is originally considered a staunch supporter

, CY Leung's major opponent in the 2012 Chief Executive Election. However, he switched sides and praised Leung as a competent leader immediately after he was elected, and has since then been a staunch supporter of CY Leung's government. Some media expressed opinions that Ho does not deserve the award, as they believe only "true heroes" should be honored instead of a " Yes man" like Ho.

Objections to "Civil Nomination"

In an interview on 30 August 2014, Ho commented on the civil nomination proposal demanded by members of the

pro-democracy Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

camp for the 2017 Chief Executive election, saying that there is no such thing as a "civil nomination" in any political system worldwide, and that he feared that the adoption of a "civil nomination" for Chief Executive may ultimately result in triads nominated for the post.

Reported entry denied to US

In early December 2019, there were unconfirmed reports that Ho was denied entry to the United States after the passing of

Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act The Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 (HKHRDA)Naomi Xu ElegantThe U.S. Senate Passed 2 Bills Supporting Hong Kong Protesters. But They Might Do More Harm Than Good, ''Fortune'' (November 20, 2019). (; ) is a United States federal ...

. Ho denied the rumour and sued an online media for libel.

Politics

In December 2021, it was reported that Ho had a "privileged" vote in the

2021 Hong Kong legislative election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, where the vote would count approximately 7,215 times more than an ordinary citizen.

Awards

*2014:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho, Charles 1949 births Living people Hong Kong businesspeople Recipients of the Grand Bauhinia Medal Members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 1998–2000 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2000–2005 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2007–2012 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2012–2017 Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2017–2021 Members of the 13th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Sing Tao News Corporation