Edward Yau
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Edward Yau Tang-wah, GBS, JP (; born 28 April 1960,
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 ...
) is a Hong Kong politician. He was the Secretary for the Environment from 2007 to 2012, and from 2012 to 2017, he was the Director of the Chief Executive's Office of Hong Kong. He served as
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development heads the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the Hong Kong Government. The Secretary is responsible for promoting commerce and the economic development of Hong Kong. The position was c ...
from 2017 to 2022.


Career

Yau joined the Administrative Service in August 1981 and earned more than 30 years of public administration experience. During his years as a civil servant, he was Deputy Director-General of Trade (later renamed Deputy Director-General of Trade and Industry), Director-General of the
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices (HKETOs) are the trade offices of Hong Kong outside the territory. There are 14 HKETOs outside Hong Kong and China, and seven in China (four offices and three liaison units). In addition to HKETOs, the ...
in
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
, and Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower, and Director of Information Services. Yau was the Secretary for the Environment from 2007 to 2012. His responsibilities covered environmental protection, energy, and sustainable development.
Nature conservation Nature conservation is the ethic/moral philosophy and conservation movement focused on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protecting biological diversity. A range of values ...
was also one of his main tasks and with his efforts, he established the Hong Kong Geopark which showcases the unique geological features in northeast Hong Kong. The Park obtained the UNESCO Global Geopark status in 2011. From 2012 to 2017, he was the Director of the Chief Executive's Office of Hong Kong, and his responsibilities were to assist the
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 ...
in formulating policies and setting policy goals and priorities; and to maintain close contacts with Executive and Legislative Councillors, political parties as well as the public sector to enlist their support for Government work. In 2020, after RTHK journalist Yvonne Tong asked
WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...
assistant director-general Bruce Aylward about the status of
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, Yau claimed that the show had violated the "One China" principle. In September 2020, after the United States required that goods made in Hong Kong be labelled as "Made in China," Yau filed a complaint to the United States, stating that such a rule was unreasonable. In January 2021, Yau said that a policy to require SIM card registration, where users of SIM cards would need to link their IDs, was necessary. In response, some sellers of pre-paid SIM cards said that they might lose their business, and that it would not prevent criminal activity, as criminals could use SIM cards from overseas. In May 2023, the government revealed that phone scams increased by 76% from the first quarter of 2022 to the first quarter of 2023. In February 2021, Yau said that his bureau was investigating complaints into
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 ...
and that he had requested RTHK to conduct a thorough review of its programming. Following a report that said RTHK had "serious inadequacies" that required changes, Yau claimed that the government was not trying to weaken RTHK's editorial independence. In March 2021, after two people asked why some episodes on RTHK had been axed, Yau defended the decisions and said "There is no need for the public to discuss whether a programme should be screened or not." In July 2021, Yau dismissed claims that the National Security Law would affect the city's creative freedom. In August 2021, Yau announced the introduction of a new film censorship law with punishments of up to three years in jail and fines of up to HK$1 million ($128,000) for anyone screening films containing material in violation of the new law. Yau claimed that the law would not compromise freedom of speech. In August 2021, Yau defended his decision to allow
Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an Australian and American actress and producer. Known for Nicole Kidman on screen and stage, her work in film and television productions across many genres, she has consistently ranked among the world ...
to skip quarantine when flying from Australia to Hong Kong, when others, including residents of Hong Kong, must undergo hotel quarantine. Athletes representing Hong Kong also must quarantine. Yau later during a TV interview claimed that Kidman's trip to a clothing store could have been part of a "costume fitting".


Education

Edward Yau graduated from the
University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...
in 1981, and received further education at
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
and
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
.


References


External links


Mr Edward Yau Tang-wah biodata
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yau, Edward 1960 births Alumni of the University of Hong Kong Alumni of the University of Oxford Government officials of Hong Kong Harvard University alumni Living people Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star