Edward Leung

In 1953, Leung's grandfather graduated from the university, and was allocated to work in Xinjiang Province Bureau of Mine for seven years, later resided in Zhuhai.

In 1979, the rehabilitation policy after Cultural Revolution returned the previously confiscated properties to Leung's family.

In Summer 1990, Leung's father met his wife in Wuhan, the couple registered in Wuhan and Leung's mother resigned her job shortly after.

Edward Leung Tin-kei (born 2 June 1991) is a Hong Kong politician and activist.

He is the former spokesperson of Hong Kong Indigenous, a localist group.

On 2 June 1991, Leung was born in Hubei Province.

In the following year, Leung followed his mother to reside in Hong Kong.

When Leung was young, he questioned the Rationale behind political events such as the Handover of Hong Kong in 1997 and the yearly Hong Kong 1 July marches in 2003.

His parents were excited with these events and explained to Leung about their meanings.

He completed his college studies at Shung Tak Catholic English College in Yuen Long District.

In 2000, Leung's parents invested in restaurants in Wuhan, but took a loss due to SARS and Avian Influenza.

Leung's father was a college teacher with expertise in Chinese history, Chinese language and Buddhism.

He had a strong interest in contemporary Chinese history and taught Leung histories of Hong Kong and world history.

Leung's mother worked as a housewife after moving to Hong Kong and later worked as a tutor, teaching Leung literacy.

In 2008, aged 17, for the first time he participated in memorials for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and 1 July marches.

He then realised Hong Kong people protest to pursuit democracy and felt touched with their passion to preserve the truth of history.

In the same year, Leung started to participate in various social movements, and felt proud of driving the society forward.

In Summer 2014, People's Republic of China has passed the "831 decision" and White paper, this led him to believe that the HKSAR government had decided to ignore the promise made in Sino-British Joint Declaration.

He advocates Hong Kong independence, and coined the slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times" during the 2016 by-election, which was later widely used in 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.

Leung contested the 2016 New Territories East Legislative Council by-election, representing Hong Kong Indigenous.

In February 2016, he was arrested in the Mong Kok civil unrest, but despite that his popularity rose.

In the election, he received more than 66,000 votes, around 15 per cent of total votes.

This led the Hong Kong government to require future candidates a written declaration to confirm their political stance.

Leung signed the declaration, giving up his pro-independence stance in the 2016 Hong Kong Legislative Council election in September.

He was barred from running in the election because the electoral officer was not convinced by his declaration.

He studied at the University of Hong Kong, majoring in Philosophy with a minor in Politics and Public Administration, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2016.

He felt disappointed with the Hong Kong government ignoring the will of people, forcibly passing the Express Rail Grant and postponing the implementation of dual universal suffrage.

He was a member of Ricci Hall, HKU and led its development actively.

In his third year, he was elected as the president of Ricci Hall Student Association, HKU, and led the Hall to win HKU Sports Championship ──Malayan Cup.

In December 2017, he resigned from his position as spokesperson of Hong Kong Indigenous.

In the same year, Lost in the Fumes, an award-winning documentary based on his story, was released.

In June 2018, he was convicted of rioting and assaulting a police officer during the Mong Kok unrest and sentenced to jail for six years.

In 2019, a jury reached a verdict of not guilty in his trial for rioting in Portland Street, Mong Kok.

Leung served four years of his sentence in maximum-security prison, before his early release in early 2022 for good behaviour.

In 2019, Leung was recognised by Time magazine on its 100 Next, a list of rising stars expected to shape the future.

The magazine called him a spiritual leader of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, which is a leaderless movement.

Edward Leung was born into a wealthy family in Wuhan, Hubei, China.

He moved to Hong Kong at the age of one with his mother.

His great-grandfather was killed by the Chinese Communist Party and his properties were confiscated.

Leung's grandfather studied in British Hong Kong, later returned to Shanghai to study Economic Management at Shanghai Institute of Finance and Economics (now Shanghai University of Finance and Economics).