Emily Lau

Emily Wai-hing Lau has dedicated her entire political career to promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Her goal is a democratically elected government in Hong Kong and China. Because of her pro-democracy activism, she has been barred from traveling to mainland China for more than 20 years. Lau served as a member of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council from 1991 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2016, becoming the first woman ever directly elected to the body. From 2012 to 2016 she chaired the Democratic Party. She sits on the board of the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group and is an individual member of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats. Lau earned her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California in 1976 and her master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1982.