Emily Lau - Political Career

Political Career

Lau was the first woman to be directly elected into the Legislative Council (Legco), in September 1991, and co-founded The Frontier party in 1996. She served as a legislator until 1997, and was re-elected in 1998.

Lau defends an assertive political platform in the democratic camp. An outspoken critic of the human rights situation, the progress of democratisation and a number of other policy areas in the HKSAR, she proved skeptical over the implementation of "One country two systems" principle. The Platform of the Frontier reflects her stances. Beside pushing for tightened human rights protection, more efforts on equal opportunities, and the establishment of a statutory right to access to information, she demanded a redraft of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's constitutional document, and democratisation in China. On the economy she supported legislation on fair trading, oppose importation of foreign labour, and called for a minimum wage.

On international issues, Lau is supportive of self-determination for Taiwan. In 2003, she and another legislator, James To of the Democratic Party, attended a seminar entitled "Hong Kong Under One Country, Two Systems" organised by a pro-Taiwan independence group headed by former ROC President Lee Teng-hui. Lau stated that "Taiwan's future should be determined by the Taiwan people themselves". Her subsequent refusal to explicitly recognise Taiwan as a part of the PRC during an interview again drew criticism from more conservative sectors of the Hong Kong society.

In June 2010, as vice-chairperson of Democratic Party, she voted with her party in favour of the government’s 2012 constitutional reform package, which included the party's late amendment – accepted by the Beijing government – to hold a popular vote for five new District Council functional constituencies.