Frederic Choi Chin-pang (; born 28 August 1970) is a former director of the National Security Division of the

Hong Kong Police Force The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. Pursuant to the one c ...

. He was sanctioned by the United States in early 2021 for his role in implementing the

Hong Kong national security law Hong Kong national security legislation may refer to one of the following laws/bills: Laws in force * Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2020 national law of C ...

. Choi was suspended from the police force in May 2021 after reportedly being caught in a raid at an unlicensed massage parlour.

Early life

Choi was born on 28 August 1970 in Hong Kong. He studied at

Hong Kong Baptist University Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) is a public Liberal arts education, liberal arts university with a Christian ethics, Christian education heritage in Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The university was established as Hong Kong Baptist ...

, graduating with a bachelor of social sciences in

China studies Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilization p ...

in 1992.

Career

Choi joined the Royal Hong Kong Police in 1995 as an inspector. He was promoted to senior superintendent in 2014. He was promoted again to chief superintendent in 2017, and to assistant commissioner in January 2019, commanding the police force's security wing. In July 2020, following the passage of the

, Choi was promoted to the rank of senior assistant commissioner and was tasked with commanding the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force. In May 2021, he was placed on leave pending investigation for alleged misconduct. The police force did not provide details. However, the ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...

'' reported that Choi had been caught in a raid on an unlicensed massage parlour. The venue was later revealed to be Viet Spa, on

Johnston Road Johnston Road () is a major road in Wan Chai on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. Location Johnston Road spans from the junction with Heard Street, Hennessy Road and Stewart Road on its east, towards another junction with Hennessy Road and ...

Wan Chai Wan Chai (Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: 灣仔) is located in the western part of Wan Chai District on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It is bounded by Canal Road, Hong Kong, Canal Road to the east, Arsenal St ...

. In October 2021, a judge ruled that prosecutors (led by Claudia Ko Hoi-yee), charging the massage parlour's managers, had heavily edited the CCTV footage to hide Choi's face, and forced the prosecutors to provide the unedited footage. The defense lawyers for the managers had asked for the unedited footage to see if Choi was a regular customer. Besides the CCTV footage, the prosecutors had also withheld Choi's police statements. In August 2022, Choi testified that he had visited the massage parlour 4 to 5 times from 2020 to 2021, and claimed he never received any sexual services. Choi also said he was not offered any sexual services, and never saw any such services either.

Sanctions

On 15 January 2021, Choi was sanctioned by the United States under

Executive Order 13936 Executive Order 13936, entitled "The President’s Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization", is an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on July 14, 2020. On the same day Trump had signed into law Hong Kong Autonomy Act, one ...

for his role in regards to the National Security Law.

Decorations

Choi was awarded the Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2020 in recognition of "his outstanding performance and dedicated service in the Hong Kong Police Force for over 25 years". On 10 February 2021, Choi and other police officials sanctioned by the United States were awarded the Chief Executive's Commendation for Government and Public Service by Chief Executive

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 ...

(who herself was also sanctioned).

Personal life

According to an official biography, Choi holds master's degrees in human rights law and public policy and management. In March 2021, it was reported that he owned a fully paid-off flat in

Fo Tan Fo Tan () is an area of Sha Tin District, New Territories, Hong Kong. It was developed as a light industrial area, but this activity has declined markedly in recent years. There are residential areas to the east, alongside the MTR line, and in t ...

then valued at HK$13.09 million.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choi, Frederic Chin-pang 1970 births Alumni of Hong Kong Baptist University Living people Hong Kong police officers Individuals sanctioned by the United States under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List Police officers from British Hong Kong