Events in the year 2019 in Hong Kong.

Incumbents

Executive branch

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Carrie Lam Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor ( Cheng; ; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the fourth Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022, after serving as Chief Secretary for Administration for five years. After g ...

Chief Secretary for Administration The chief secretary for administration is the second-highest government official in Hong Kong, right after the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. When the chief executive is on leave, the chief secretary for administration will act on their behalf ...

: Matthew Cheung **

Financial Secretary Financial secretary is an administrative and executive government position within the governance of a state, corporation, private or public organization, small group or other body with financial assets. A financial secretary oversees policy con ...

: Paul Mo-po Chan **

Secretary for Justice The secretary for justice () is the head of the Hong Kong Department of Justice, the chief legal advisor to the chief executive of Hong Kong and the government, and the chief law enforcement officer of the Government of Hong Kong. Before th ...

: Teresa Cheng

Legislative branch

* President of the Legislative Council:

Andrew Leung Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen (; born 24 February 1951) is a Hong Kong politician who is the current President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco), representing the Industrial (First) functional constituency. From October 2012 to Octobe ...

Judicial branch

Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal The chief justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, sometimes informally known as the chief justice of Hong Kong, is the head of the Judiciary of Hong Kong and the President of the Court of Final Appeal. The chief justice is one of fo ...

Geoffrey Ma Geoffrey Ma Tao-li (; born 11 January 1956) is a retired Hong Kong judge who served as the 2nd Chief Justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal— the court of last resort (or supreme court) in Hong Kong. Between 2001 and 2010, he held ...

Events

* 29 March – the Government gazettes the extradition bill. * 9 April – Nine defendants, including Benny Tai, were convicted for occupying Central in 2014. * mid-April – Scandal between

Andy Hui Andrew Hui Chi On (born 12 August 1967) is a Hong Kong people , Hong Kong singer and actor. Hui is considered one of the most successful Hong Kong singers, with an extensive list of Cantonese and Mandarin hits to his credit. Early life Hui' ...

and Jacqueline Wong broke * 9 June – Over 1 million people in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

protest against proposed legislation regarding

extradition In an extradition, one Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction delivers a person Suspect, accused or Conviction, convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforc ...

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

. It is the largest protest in Hong Kong since the 1997 handover. * 12 June – June 12, 2019 Hong Kong protest: The

Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...

and

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

controversially declare that the protest has "turned into a

riot A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

". * 15 June –

government announces it will indefinitely suspend the controversial extradition bill, but protests continue, this time calling for the total withdrawal of the bill and the resignation of

. * 16 June – Despite bill suspension on June 15 2019, nearly 2 million people gather in Victoria Square demanding the legislation be withdrawn. If the organizers numbers are confirmed, this is the largest protest ever. Police say turnout was 338,000 at its peak
(BBC News)
* 17 June –

Joshua Wong Joshua Wong Chi-fung (; born 13 October 1996) is a Hong Kong Pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong), pro-democracy activist and politician. He served as secretary-general of the pro-democracy party Demosisto, Demosistō until it disbanded following i ...

released from prison. * 1 July – Protesters stormed LegCo. * 21 July – After the Yuen Long attack, no arrest were made by the

upon investigation at a nearby village that night. * 5 August – Amid ongoing protests,

is hit by the first

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

s of their kind since 1967. * 8 August – Disappearance of Simon Cheng by the

Chinese mainland "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addition to the g ...

police at the Hong Kong West Kowloon High Speed Rail Station. * 12 August –

Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is an international airport on the island of Chek Lap Kok in western Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or Chek Lap Kok Airport, to distinguish it from its predec ...

is closed due to protests. * 15 August – Benny Tai released on bail. * 22 August – Protests enter their 12th week as police reintroduced water-cannons and tear gas. * 31 August – The raptors stormed

Prince Edward station Prince Edward is a MTR station on the Tsuen Wan line. It is located under the intersection of Nathan Road and Prince Edward Road West, after which it is named. History Prince Edward was primarily designed as a cross-platform interchange be ...

, the police arrested 65 people. * 4 September –

announces the official withdrawal of the controversial

Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 A fugitive or runaway is a person who is fleeing from Arrest, custody, whether it be from jail, a government arrest, government or non-government interrogation, questioning, vigilante violence, or outraged private individuals. A fugitive from ...

, and setting up of an independent study to probe social and economic inequality within the territory. * 22 September – Chan Yin-lam's

cadaver A cadaver, often known as a corpse, is a Death, dead human body. Cadavers are used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue (biology), tissue to ...

, floating in the sea, was recovered by

Marine Police Water police, also called bay constables, coastal police, harbor patrols, marine/maritime police/patrol, nautical patrols, port police, or river police are a Specialist law enforcement agency, specialty law enforcement portion of a larger polic ...

. * 4 October –

and the Chief Executive in Council invokes the Emergency Regulations Ordinance and banning the face mask in public gatherings with immediate effect. * 5 October – The Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation begins. * 10 October – Chan Yin-lam

cremated Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

. * 23 October – Chan Tong-kai released from prison. * 4 November – Chow Tsz-lok, who fell from height, died. * 11 November – The conflict at Chinese University begins. * 13 November – The

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

officially announces a premature end to the semester as a result of large-scale protests and civil unrest. Besides CUHK, several Hong Kong universities switch to online learning and suspend on-campus class. The

Education Bureau The Education Bureau (EDB) is a policy bureau responsible for formulating and implementing education policies in Hong Kong. The bureau is headed by the Secretary for Education and oversees agencies including University Grants Committee ...

in Hong Kong officially announces to close all schools in Hong Kong due to the ongoing protests. * 24 November – In the

2019 Hong Kong local elections The 2019 Hong Kong District Council elections were held on 24 November 2019 for all 18 District Councils of Hong Kong. 452 seats from all directly elected constituencies, out of the 479 seats in total, were contested. Nearly three million people ...

, The

pro-democracy camp The pro-democracy camp, also known as the pan-democracy camp, is a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports increased democracy, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic La ...

achieved its biggest landslide victory in the history of Hong Kong, gaining control of 17 of the 18 District Councils and tripling their seats from around 124 to about 388. * 27 November – United States signs Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act that requires the U.S. government to impose sanctions against Chinese and Hong Kong officials. * 29 November – As the siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University ends, the University takes back the control of the campus.

Deaths

*3 January – Michael Yeung, Roman Catholic prelate, Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church. The diocese takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city, the metropolitan area where the bishop resides. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong ...

(b. 1945). *12 January – Patrick Yu, barrister, Hong Kong's first Chinese prosecutor (b. 1922). *11 March – Peter Wong Man-kong, shipping magnate and politician (b. 1949).

References

{{Year in Asia, 2019 Years of the 21st century in Hong Kong