Paula Ling Hsiao Yun is a Portuguese-born Chinese lawyer and politician in

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. She was elected the deputy to represent Macau in the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...

(China's legislature) in 2008, has served on the committee to select Macau's Chief Executive, on the committee for Macau's Basic Law, and on Macau's Election Committee. In 2020, ''Macau Business'' listed her as one of the twenty most influential women in Macau.

Biography

Ling was born into a Chinese family that was originally from

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

but later settled in Portugal, in the Azores autonomous region, on

Terceira Island Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, about a third of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean at a similar latitude to Portugal's capital Lisbon, with the island group forming an insular part of Portugal. It is one of the ...

. She moved to Macau in 1977, and was one of the first students to enroll and study law at the University of Macau (then known as the University of East Asia). She has resided in Macau since, and speaks Portuguese and Chinese.

Career

She has been engaged in private practice as a lawyer since 1995, but has been also active in politics since the establishment of Macau as a Chinese autonomous region in 1999. She was a member of several key committees constituted to facilitate the establishment of the special administrative region of Macau, including the Preparatory Committee for the Macau Special Administrative Region, the Committee for the Basic Law of the Macao S.A.R, and the Selection Committee of the Chief Executive of the Macao S.A.R. She was elected deputy to represent Macau in the National People's Congress (China's legislature) in 2008, and continues to serve as a representative, winning a re-election in 2018. In 2016, as a delegate to the Congress, she advocated for equalizing maternity leave for female representatives. She is also active in the regulation of the legal profession in Macau, and was elected chair of the Macau Lawyers Superior Council as well as serving as a member of the Macau Lawyers Association's committee. She endorsed the nomination of Ho Lat-seng for the position of Chief Executive of Macau. She is on the board of the Macau Polytechnic University. She has also engaged in philanthropic work as the vice-chairwoman of the

Women's General Association of Macau A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

. In 2020, ''Macau Business'' listed her as one of the twenty most influential women in Macau.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ling, Paula 21st-century Chinese lawyers 21st-century Chinese women politicians 21st-century Chinese politicians Macau women in politics Macanese people People from the Azores Azorean women in politics University of Macau alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people)