Alvin Cheng Kam-mun ( zh, t=鄭錦滿, born 23 June 1988), also known as "Brother Four Eyes" ( zh, t=四眼哥哥, links=no), 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 ...
political activist
A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...
, a member of
Civic Passion, and founder of
student activist organization Student Front. In 2014, he led a rally in support of the Hong Kong
Umbrella Movement during the
G20 Brisbane summit.
Political career
On 22 September 2014, in response to the arrest of student protesters in the Hong Kong
Umbrella Movement Cheng returned home from his studies at
Queensland University of Technology to participate in the protest.
In November 2014, Cheng went back to
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
to lead a rally in support for the Umbrella Movement during the
2014 G20 Brisbane summit. On the 16th, the four-hour rally on a lawn outside the summit venue attracted participation by many overseas students from Hong Kong,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...
and Mainland China.
On 6 December 2014, Cheng established Student Front, a
student activist organization to fight against the "stage power" and to remain at the frontlines after the
Hong Kong Federation of Students and
Scholarism quit the protests.
He was arrested on suspicion of attending, and inciting others to take part in, an illegal assembly. He wrote an article that indicated he was arrested on 26 December 2014 and not granted
bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countrie ...
. After the Umbrella Movement, Cheng continued with numerous protest activities, such as
gau wu and the movement against
parallel trading. He was arrested on several occasions and found it difficult to obtain bail. He was then banned from entering
Mong Kok by a court order.
On 2 March 2015, Cheng announced that Student Front was dissolved and warned other activists not to depend completely on "student activism organizations". On the morning of 27 April 2015, Cheng was involved in a dispute with supporters of
Avery Ng, the vice-chairman of the
League of Social Democrats, outside
Mong Kok Police Station regarding the progress of the Umbrella Movement.
On 20 August 2015, Cheng was convicted of obstructing bailiff officers from clearing
occupied roads in Mong Kok on 26 November 2014, and sentenced to 21 days' detention.
On 20 November 2019, Cheng was arrested by Hong Kong police when he tried to escape from the
siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He was eventually convicted for taking part in a riot, and sentenced to 3 years and 8 months in prison on 11 February 2023.
Disqualification in 2020 Legco election
Five weeks ahead of the (subsequently postponed)
2020 Hong Kong Legislative Council Election, on 30 July 2020, as Cheng preparted to stand, the government stated that he was among a dozen pro-democracy candidates whose nominations were 'invalid', under an opaque process in which, nominally, civil servants –
returning officers – assess whether, for instance, a candidate had objected to the enactment of the
national security law, or was sincere in statements made disavowing separatism.
See also
*
Umbrella Movement
*
Hong Kong Autonomy Movement
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Alvin
1988 births
Living people
2014 Hong Kong protests
Hong Kong activists
Hong Kong localists
Queensland University of Technology alumni