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Co-founders of Hong Kong’s Liberal Party quit over move to strip them of honorary posts

  • Veteran politicians James Tien, Selina Chow and Miriam Lau submit resignation letters to Liberal Party in protest over plans to abolish honorary chair posts
  • Political analyst says move indicates party’s efforts to win back trust from Beijing and distance itself from Tien’s controversial role in pro-establishment bloc

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Former Liberal Party members Miriam Lau Kin-yee (left), James Tien and Selina Chow. Photo: Sam Tsang

Three veterans of Hong Kong’s pro-business Liberal Party have quit the political organisation they co-founded some 30 years ago in protest over a move by the current leadership to strip them of their posts as honorary chairs.

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Party leader Tommy Cheung Yu-yan on Wednesday said he had received resignation letters from former Executive Council member James Tien Pei-chun, as well as ex-lawmakers Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee and Miriam Lau Kin-yee.

“The Liberal Party leadership expresses regret and the chairman is trying to persuade them to stay,” Cheung said in a statement.

The trio’s departure was triggered by the party’s proposal to strip them of their roles as honorary chairs, a position created to recognise past leaders for their past contributions. According to the party’s website, there are four such office holders – Tien, Chow, Lau and former legislator Vincent Fang Kang.

Later on Wednesday, the party’s central committee unanimously voted to formally abolish the post of honorary chair, issuing a statement on social media and thanking the office holders for their past work.

A political analyst earlier described the party’s decision as a means of distancing itself from Tien, a controversial figure in the city’s pro-establishment bloc, and winning back Beijing’s trust.

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