Junius Ho

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The Honourable

Junius Ho Kwan-yiu
何君堯
JuniusHo20180425 (cropped).jpg
Member of the Legislative Council
Assumed office
1 October 2016
Preceded byAlbert Chan
ConstituencyNew Territories West
Member of the Tuen Mun District Council
Assumed office
1 January 2016
Preceded byAlbert Ho
ConstituencyLok Tsui
Personal details
Born (1962-06-04) 4 June 1962 (age 57)
Tuen Mun, New Territories, British Hong Kong
NationalityHong Kong Chinese
Children3
ResidenceNgau Tam Mei, New Territories
Alma materQueen's College, Hong Kong
Anglia Ruskin University
OccupationSolicitor
politician
Websitewww.juniusho.com

Junius Kwan-yiu Ho (Chinese: 何君堯; born 4 June 1962) is a Hong Kong lawyer and politician. He is the former President of the Law Society of Hong Kong and Tuen Mun Rural Committee. He has been also an elected member of the Tuen Mun District Council since 2015. In 2016, he was elected to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. He is well known for encouraging violence in Hong Kong society and has been documented cooperating with Triad gang members to coordinate an attack on Hong Kong civilians in July of 2019.

Early life[edit]

Ho came from a family of village leaders. He grew up in the old site of Leung Tin Village (Chinese: 良田村) in Tuen Mun. He is a 32nd-generation descendant of his Hakka clan which can be traced back to the 10th century.[1]

Ho attended Queen's College Hong Kong from 1975 to 1979, after which he went to the United Kingdom, where he enrolled at Anglia Ruskin University (formerly known as Chelmer Institute of Higher Education) and obtained his Bachelor of Law's degree in 1984. Ho joined a post-graduate programme at the University of Hong Kong in 1984 and obtained his Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) in 1986. He was bestowed an honorary Doctorate of Laws by Anglia Ruskin University in 2011.[2]

Career[edit]

After gaining his qualifications he was admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong in 1988 and claimed to be similarly admitted in Singapore and England and Wales in 1995 and 1997.[3] His qualifications caused controversy in 2017 when it was reportedly that Ho is not admitted in England and Wales, where he claimed to be admitted, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.[4] He is the senior partner of a law firm in Hong Kong and a principal representative of a law firm in Guangzhou. His major practice field is civil litigation, specialising in shareholders' disputes and family disputes. He was appointed a China-Appointed Attesting Officer in 2003.[5]

He became the Vice-President (June 2005 – May 2011) and Council Member of the Law Society of Hong Kong (May 2012 – present) and was elected as the President of the Law Society of Hong Kong (May 2011 – May 2012).[6] Ho was appointed an independent director of Hong Kong Football Association.[7]

Political career[edit]

Ho first contested in the Legislative Council election in 2008, running against Civic Party's Margaret Ng in the Legal functional constituency. He was defeated, receiving 1,286 votes, about 34 per cent of the total vote share.

Ho was elected as Chairman of Tuen Mun Rural Committee in 2011, ousting the long-time chairman and most powerful rural leader, chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk Lau Wong-fat. On that capacity he was also an ex officio member of the Tuen Mun District Council. He served as the rural committee chairman until 2015. He has also been a spokesman for the New Territories Concern Group.[8] He was a candidate in the Legislative Council election in New Territories West in September 2012, where he received 10,805 votes, about two per cent of total vote share and was not elected.[9]

He was a leading critic of the legal scholar Benny Tai's Occupy Central with Love and Peace which suggested a full-scale occupation protest in the form of civil disobedience to press the Beijing government to make concession on the electoral reform. He set up an anti-Occupy group called "Protect Central" which he said would resist the "Occupy" campaign.[10] Being a hardcore pro-government figure, Ho was appointed to Lingnan University council by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in October 2015.[11] Students staged a protest against their appointment over fears of political interference of university governance.[12]

In the 2015 District Concil elections, Junius Ho defeated Albert Ho of the Democratic Party in the latter's long-held Lok Tsui seat in a six-way contest by a narrow margin of 277 votes, as the pro-democracy votes were split between Albert Ho and Cheng Chung-tai of Civic Passion.[13] Ho ran again in the 2016 Legislative Council election where he was reportedly backed by the Central People's Government's Liaison Office in Hong Kong. During the election, Ho and his supporters were allegedly involved in Liberal Party candidate Ken Chow Wing-kan's drop-out who claimed he had been intimated.[14] Ho was elected with 35,657 votes, more than three times than the previous election, winning last of the nine seats in the New Territories West.

In May 2017, pro-democracy lawyer Kevin Yam published an article on the media urging solicitors not to vote for Junius Ho in the re-election of the governing council of the Law Society of Hong Kong. Ho issued filed a defamation lawsuit against Yam but eventually failed to be re-elected, securing only 572 votes out of 8,148 from his peers.[15]

In April 2018, Ho became the only legislator to vote against the appointments of foreign judges Brenda Hale and Beverley McLachlin to the Court of Final Appeal over their support of same-sex rights, claimed the two opposed traditional "family values".[16]

Controversies[edit]

Anti-gay remarks[edit]

Ho has made controversial anti-gay statements. In late April 2017, following a lawsuit on government benefits for civil workers who are in a same-sex relationship, Ho said that legalisation of same-sex marriage in Hong Kong would lead to acceptance of bestiality and incest.[17]

Fellow LegCo member Raymond Chan Chi-chuen, who is openly gay, condemned Ho's comments, and said those who sincerely hold such thoughts should seek professional help.[17] Holden Chow, also a member of LegCo, also criticised Ho's remarks, stating that he did not need to be so extreme in his comments.[17] Prominent lawyer, Kevin Yam, criticised Ho's linking of bestiality with homosexuality as "a vile form of homophobia", while Ho riposted that his remarks were taken out of context and that criticism was a personal attack on him because of his political views.[18][19]

In May 2017, Ho said that a ruling granting marriage benefits to a gay civil servant could lead to "chaos in society" and co-signed a petition asking the government to appeal the decision.[20]

Views on 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre[edit]

On June 2017, Junius Ho became the only pro-Beijing lawmaker to vote in favour of a motion to “never forget” the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre at the Legislative Council. He expressed sympathy for the Chinese students before the People’s Liberation Army crackdown.[21]

Demanding the removal of Benny Tai[edit]

In August 2017, Ho called for the removal of Occupy Central co-founder Benny Tai, who as of 2017, is facing charges of inciting others to create public nuisance, from working at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) for the social unrest and pro-independence sentiment, but rejected by the HKU Vice-Chancellor Peter Mathieson and HKU Council chairman Arthur Li. Ho submitted a petition with over 80,000 signatures urging the University of Hong Kong to investigate Tai and organise a rally on September 17 calling for his removal.[22][23][24] Ho himself acknowledges that the number of online-signatures is unverifiable.[25] As to the legality of the rally, Ronny Tong Ka-wah pointed out that the Public Order Ordinance could have been violated.[26]

Interview of Junius Ho by pro-establishment media Speak Out HK, HKG Pao and Silent Majority for Hong Kong.

Advocating killing of Hong Kong independence supporters[edit]

Ho in 2018.

In September 2017, Ho said supporters of Hong Kong independence need to be "killed mercilessly". He made the comments both at a rally which he organised to demand that the University of Hong Kong to fire Benny Tai. He stated that it was "not big deal to kill pigs or dogs", and also appeared on a Commercial Radio programme, where he said of pro-independence activists, "why shouldn’t these people be killed?" Faced with criticism, Ho responded, "If we’re talking about Hong Kong independence, that means war. What’s wrong with killing enemies in a war?"[27]

Ho's remarks were condemned by figures on all sides of the political spectrum. Senior Counsel Ronny Tong said that Ho's comments may have violated the Public Order Ordinance. Chief executive Carrie Lam, who is anti-independence, alluded to Ho's comments after she stated on 19 September that "unacceptably cruel, insulting and intimidating comments" had no place in a civilised society.[28] Executive Council member Regina Ip called Ho's remarks "stupid", and continued, "It will do our country no good to have stupid 'patriots', including possibly quite a few hired to become 'patriots'."[29] The 22 lawmakers from the Pro-democracy camp issued a joint statement condemning Ho’s remarks: “Ho, as a legislator and lawyer, expressed hate speech involving murder at a public event, crossing the bottom lines of free speech and morality and severely breaching professional conduct.” [30]

Ho maintained that he was expressing his contempt towards the evil of pro-independence movement, and said that the journalists should not take his words out of context.[27]

False qualification allegation[edit]

In September 2017 during the controversy caused by Ho's "killed mercilessly" comment, there are reports concerning his legal qualifications in England and Wales and Singapore, as a letter responding to a complainant regarding to Ho's controversial remarks as a solicitor by the Solicitors Regulation Authority writes that Ho's name does not exist in the authority's record. “According to our records, Mr Ho is not a solicitor and is not admitted in England and Wales." Ho stated in his election pamphlet for the Legislative Council election in 2016 that he was a "solicitor in Singapore, England and Wales".

Ho responded to that by explaining that he had obtained the right to practise but did not practise in the UK.[4]. However, the U.K's Solicitors Regulation Authority is the only authority in the U.K. who admit solicitors, and Ho does not appear in their reocrds. [31]

Support for violent gangs[edit]

See also: 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests § Yuen Long attacks

On 21 July 2019, hundreds of men dressed in white t-shirts stormed through Yuen Long. Allegedly triad gangs, they entered Yuen Long station and attacked railway passengers with sticks and other instruments.[32] On the same night, Ho was filmed reportedly supporting and congratulating members of these gangs, allegedly claiming "All of you are my heroes." and giving them thumbs-up.[33] Ho claimed that he was simply greeting one of his supporters, and said it was "normal". He then also praised those attackers for "safeguarding" their district.[34] 1000 teachers, alumni and students from Ho's alma mater Queen's College participated in a signature campaign condemning Ho's alleged involvement in the attack. They urged LegCo members to impeach Ho, and requested Queen's College Old Boys' Association to suspend his membership.[35]

Current positions[edit]

Business[edit]

  • Committee member of Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in China – Guangdong
  • Arbitrator of Wuhan International Arbitration Court and Zhengzhou Arbitration Commission
  • Consultant of Guangzhou Municipal Board for International Investment

Charity[edit]

  • Chairman of Yan Oi Tong (1996–1997)[36]
  • Advisory board member of Yan Oi Tong (1997 to present)[37]
  • Member of Concerted Efforts Resource Centre
  • Honorary President of 2011–2012 Tuen Mun West District, New Territories Region, Scout Association of Hong Kong
  • Vice-President of 2009–2012 Yuen Long Western District, New Territories Region, Scout Association of Hong Kong[38]

Community[edit]

  • Chairman of the Mainland Legal Affairs of the Law Society of Hong Kong
  • Chairman of Product Eco-responsibility Appeal Board Panel[39]
  • Rotated Chairman of Duty Lawyer Service Council in 2005 and 2007
  • Founder of Butterflyers Association Ltd in Tuen Mun in 2011[40]

Political[edit]

Personal life[edit]

He is married and has three children.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "university strife-lingnan's new council member". South China Morning Post
  2. ^ "Junius Ho - Anglia Ruskin University". www.anglia.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. ^ Law List – The Law Society of Hong Kong
  4. ^ a b "Pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho rebuts claims he is not 'solicitor in England and Wales'". Hong Kong Free Press. 22 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - Members' Biographies ::Dr Hon Junius HO Kwan-yiu, JP". www.legco.gov.hk. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  6. ^ Council Members – The Law Society of Hong Kong
  7. ^ "Hong Kong Football Association Ltd". www.hkfa.com. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  8. ^ "About Us". NT Concern Group.
  9. ^ "LegCo Election results: New Territories West". Government of Hong Kong. 9 September 2012.
  10. ^ "Newly founded group vows to 'protect' Central". China Daily. 24 September 2014.
  11. ^ "LingnanU Council member storms out of forum, says students swore, insulted his wife". Hong Kong Free Press.
  12. ^ "Chief Executive appoints pro-Beijing figures as Lingnan University Council members". Hong Kong Free Press.
  13. ^ "'Umbrella soldiers' win eight seats as veteran politicians suffer surprise defeat". Hong Kong Free Press.
  14. ^ http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2009326/legco-contender-junius-ho-distances-himself-supporters-plans
  15. ^ "Lawmaker Junius Ho loses Law Society election, comes last in the race". Hong Kong Free Press. 26 May 2017.
  16. ^ "Pro-Beijing lawmakers voice concerns over foreign judges' support for gay rights". South China Morning Post. 28 April 2018.
  17. ^ a b c 何君堯：准同性婚姻 恐演變容許人獸交 [Junius Ho: Legalize same-sex marriage would lead to Zoophilia]. Oriental Daily (in Chinese). 29 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  18. ^ Contributor, Guest (14 May 2017). "Law Society Council election: Why lawmaker Junius Ho should be voted out".
  19. ^ Contributor, Guest (14 May 2017). "Law Society Council election: Vicious characters and hypocrites only earn my spite".
  20. ^ Ng, Ellie (24 May 2017). "'Protect family values': Hong Kong gov't urged to appeal ruling on marriage benefits for gay couple". Hong Kong Free Press.
  21. ^ https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/06/08/video-surprise-move-pro-beijing-lawmaker-junius-ho-votes-never-forget-june-4-tiananmen-massacre/
  22. ^ http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news.php?id=95487&sid=4
  23. ^ https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/09/07/lawmaker-threatens-protests-legal-action-unless-hku-investigates-pro-democracy-professor-benny-tai/
  24. ^ https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/09/18/hundreds-attend-protest-hong-kong-independence-urge-sacking-pro-democracy-hku-scholar-benny-tai/
  25. ^ http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20170907/20145185
  26. ^ http://www.post852.com/?p=229560
  27. ^ a b Cheung, Karen (18 September 2017). "Pro-Beijing legislator Junius Ho's call for death of independence activists may have broken law, says ExCo member". Hong Kong Free Press.
  28. ^ "Carrie Lam deplores 'cruel, insulting, intimidating' remarks on kill threat". The Standard. 19 September 2017.
  29. ^ Kao, Ernest (19 September 2017). "'Unhealthy and stupid' calls to kill advocates of Hong Kong independence criticised by city's leader". South China Morning Post.
  30. ^ "Pan-democrats blast Junius Ho for saying activists should be 'killed'". Retrieved 22 October 2017.
  31. ^ http://www.sra.org.uk/trainees/admission/admission.page
  32. ^ Cheng, Kris (22 July 2019). "Chaos and bloodshed in Hong Kong district as hundreds of masked men assault protesters, journalists, residents". Hong Kong Free Press.
  33. ^ "【無警時份】何君堯向元朗白衣人鼓掌豎拇指：你哋係我嘅英雄". Apple Daily. 22 July 2019.
  34. ^ "Junius Ho accused of supporting Yuen Long mob". The Standard. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  35. ^ "Junius Ho accused of supporting Yuen Long mob". The Standard. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  36. ^ 仁愛堂 :: 歷屆總理聯誼會. yot.org.hk.
  37. ^ 仁愛堂 :: 諮議局. yot.org.hk.
  38. ^ 2011–2012 年度區務委員會委員名錄 (PDF).
  39. ^ "Product Eco-responsibility Appeal Board Panel". Government of Hong Kong.
  40. ^ "Butterflyers Association". butterflyers.net.
  41. ^ "List of Village Representatives, Home Affairs Department".
  42. ^ Newly founded group vows to ‘protect’ CentralHK – China Daily
Legal offices
Preceded by
Huen Wong 		President of Law Society of Hong Kong
2011–2012 		Succeeded by
Dieter Yih
Political offices
Preceded by
Albert Ho 		Member of Tuen Mun District Council
Representative for Lok Tsui
2016–present 		Incumbent
Legislative Council of Hong Kong
Preceded by
Albert Chan 		Member of Legislative Council
Representative for New Territories West
2016–present 		Incumbent
Order of precedence
Preceded by
Jimmy Ng
Member of the Legislative Council 		Hong Kong order of precedence
Member of the Legislative Council 		Succeeded by
Ho Kai-ming
Member of the Legislative Council
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