Anson Chan
Anson Maria Elizabeth Chan Fang On-sang, GBM, GCMG, CBE, JP (Chinese: 陳方安生; née Fang; born 17 January 1940) is a retired Hong Kong politician and civil servant who was the first ethnic Chinese and woman to serve as Chief Secretary, the second-highest position in both the British colonial government and the Hong Kong SAR government under the Chinese sovereignty from 1993 until she retired from the government in 2001, sparking speculations of her growing rift with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.
Anson Chan | |
|---|---|
陳方安生 | |
Chan in 2005 | |
| Chief Secretary of Hong Kong | |
| In office 1 July 1997 – 30 April 2001 | |
| Chief Executive | Tung Chee-hwa |
| Succeeded by | Sir Donald Tsang |
| In office 29 November 1993 – 30 June 1997 | |
| Governor | Chris Patten |
| Preceded by | Sir David Ford |
| 7th Secretary for the Civil Service | |
| In office 19 April 1993 – October 1993 | |
| Governor | Chris Patten |
| Preceded by | Edward Barrie Wiggham |
| Succeeded by | Michael Sze |
| 5th Secretary for Economic Services | |
| In office 23 March 1987 – 19 April 1993 | |
| Governor | Sir David Wilson Chris Patten |
| Preceded by | John Francis Yaxley |
| Succeeded by | Gordon Siu |
| Member of the Legislative Council | |
| In office 3 December 2007 – 30 September 2008 | |
| Preceded by | Ma Lik |
| Succeeded by | Regina Ip |
| Constituency | Hong Kong Island |
| In office 29 November 1993 – 31 July 1995 | |
| Appointed by | Chris Patten |
| Constituency | Official (as Chief Secretary) |
| In office 11 October 1989 – 22 August 1991 | |
| Appointed by | Sir David Wilson |
| Constituency | Official (as Secretary for Economic Services) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 January 1940 Shanghai, China |
| Nationality | |
| Spouse |
Archibald Chan
(m. 1963; died 2010) |
| Relations | Fang Shin-hau (father) Fang Zhaoling (mother) Harry Fang (uncle) |
| Children |
|
| Education | Sacred Heart Canossian College St. Paul's Convent School |
| Alma mater | University of Hong Kong (BA) Tufts University |
| Anson Chan | |||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 陳方安生 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 陈方安生 | ||||||||||||||
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Enjoying wide popularity during her tenure and often dubbed as "Iron Lady" and the "Conscience of Hong Kong", Chan became increasingly outspoken about pushing for a faster pace of the democratisation in Hong Kong and defending the autonomy of Hong Kong. Supported by the pan-democracy camp, she stood in the 2007 Hong Kong Island by-election and briefly served as member of the Legislative Council. After her retirement in 2008, she continued to lobby domestically and internationally for democracy and autonomy of Hong Kong, until her retirement from public life entirely in 2020.