Nathan Law
Nathan Law Kwun-chung (Chinese: 羅冠聰; born 13 July 1993) is a mainland-Chinese-born activist and politician from Hong Kong. As a former student leader, he has been chairman of the Representative Council of the Lingnan University Students' Union (LUSU), acting president of the LUSU, and secretary-general of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS). He was one of the student leaders during the 79-day Umbrella Movement in 2014. He is the founding and former chairman of Demosistō, a new political party derived from the 2014 protests.
Nathan Law | |
|---|---|
羅冠聰 | |
Nathan Law in 2022 | |
| Chairman of Demosistō | |
| In office 10 April 2016 – 16 May 2018 | |
| Deputy | Oscar Lai Tiffany Yuen |
| Leader | Joshua Wong |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Ivan Lam |
| Member of Legislative Council | |
| In office 1 October 2016 – 14 July 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Jasper Tsang |
| Succeeded by | Au Nok-hin |
| Constituency | Hong Kong Island |
| 58th Secretary General of Hong Kong Federation of Students | |
| In office 1 April 2015 – 31 March 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Alex Chow |
| Succeeded by | Chan Man-hei |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Luo Guancong (罗冠聪) 13 July 1993 Shenzhen, Guangdong, China |
| Citizenship | Chinese (Hong Kong) |
| Political party | Demosistō (2016–2020) |
| Residence(s) | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Education | HKFEW Wong Cho Bau Secondary School |
| Alma mater | Lingnan University (BA) Yale University (MA) |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Known for | 2014 Hong Kong protests Umbrella Movement Activist in jail |
| Signature | |
| Nathan Law | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 羅冠聰 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 罗冠聪 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
On 4 September 2016, at the age of 23, Law was elected to serve as a legislator for Hong Kong Island, making him the youngest lawmaker in the history of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. Over his controversial oath-taking at the Legislative Council inaugural meeting, his office was challenged by the Hong Kong Government which resulted in his disqualification from the Legislative Council on 14 July 2017.
Following the enactment of the National Security Law on 1 July 2020, Law left for London, United Kingdom and began his self-exile. In April 2021 he was granted political asylum. Hong Kong police had ordered the arrest of Nathan Law for inciting secession and collusion, and issued a HK$1 million bounty for his apprehension in July 2023.
In March 2021, Law was named a Pritzker Fellow at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics. In May 2022, Law received an honorary doctorate from Washington & Jefferson College and was the keynote speaker at the school's 2022 commencement ceremony.
In July 2023, Hong Kong police offered HKD 1 million (USD $127,644; GBP £100,581; 909863 Chinese Yuan) bounties for information leading to the capture of eight prominent democracy activists based abroad including Nathan Law and wanted for national security crimes.