Junius Ho

The Honourable Junius Ho Kwan-yiu
何君堯
Member of the Legislative Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 October 2016
Preceded by	Albert Chan
Constituency	New Territories West
Member of the Tuen Mun District Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 January 2016
Preceded by	Albert Ho
Constituency	Lok Tsui
Personal details
Born	(1962-06-04) 4 June 1962 Tuen Mun, Hong Kong
Nationality	Hong Kong Chinese
Children	3
Residence(s)	Ngau Tam Mei, New Territories
Alma mater	Queen's College, Hong Kong Anglia Ruskin University
Occupation	Solicitor politician
Website	www.juniusho.com

Junius Kwan-yiu Ho (Chinese: 何君堯; born 4 June 1962) is a Hong Kong lawyer and politician. He is the former President of the Law Society of Hong Kong and Tuen Mun Rural Committee, and has been an elected member of the Tuen Mun District Council since 2015. In 2016, he was elected to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.

Early life

Ho came from a family of village leaders. He grew up in the old site of Leung Tin Village (Chinese: 良田村) in Tuen Mun. He is a 32nd-generation descendant of his Hakka clan, which can be traced back to the 10th century.

Ho attended Queen's College Hong Kong from 1975 to 1979, after which he went to the United Kingdom, where he enrolled at Chelmer Institute of Higher Education (now Anglia Ruskin University) and obtained his Bachelor of Law's degree in 1984. Ho joined a post-graduate programme at the University of Hong Kong in 1984 and obtained his Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) in 1986. He was bestowed an honorary Doctorate of Laws by Anglia Ruskin University in 2011.

Career

After gaining his qualifications he was admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong in 1988 and claimed to be similarly admitted in Singapore and England and Wales in 1995 and 1997. His qualifications caused controversy in 2017 when it was reportedly that Ho is not admitted in England and Wales, where he claimed to be admitted, according to the Solicitors Regulation Authority. He is the senior partner of a law firm in Hong Kong and a principal representative of a law firm in Guangzhou. His major practice field is civil litigation, specialising in shareholders' disputes and family disputes. He was appointed a China-Appointed Attesting Officer in 2003.

He became the Vice-President (June 2005 – May 2011) and Council Member of the Law Society of Hong Kong (May 2012 – present) and was elected as the President of the Law Society of Hong Kong (May 2011 – May 2012). Ho was appointed an independent director of Hong Kong Football Association.

Political career

Ho first contested in the Legislative Council election in 2008, running against Civic Party's Margaret Ng in the Legal functional constituency. He was defeated, receiving 1,286 votes, about 34 per cent of the vote.

Ho was elected as Chairman of Tuen Mun Rural Committee in 2011, ousting the long-time chairman and most powerful rural leader, chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk Lau Wong-fat. On that capacity he was also an ex officio member of the Tuen Mun District Council. He served as the rural committee chairman until 2015. He has also been a spokesman for the New Territories Concern Group. He was a candidate in the Legislative Council election in New Territories West in September 2012, where he received 10,805 votes, about two per cent of total vote share and was not elected.

He was a leading critic of the legal scholar Benny Tai's Occupy Central with Love and Peace which suggested a full-scale occupation protest in the form of civil disobedience to press the Beijing government to make concession on the electoral reform. He set up an anti-Occupy group called "Protect Central" which he said would resist the "Occupy" campaign. Being a hardcore pro-government figure, Ho was appointed to Lingnan University council by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying in October 2015. Students staged a protest against the appointment over fears of political interference of university governance.

In the 2015 District Council elections, Junius Ho defeated Albert Ho of the Democratic Party in the latter's long-held Lok Tsui seat in a six-way contest by a narrow margin of 277 votes, as the pro-democracy votes were split between Albert Ho and Cheng Chung-tai of Civic Passion. Ho ran again in the 2016 Legislative Council election where he was reportedly backed by the Central People's Government's Liaison Office in Hong Kong. During the election, Ho and his supporters were allegedly involved in Liberal Party candidate Ken Chow Wing-kan's drop-out who claimed he had been intimated. Ho was elected with 35,657 votes, more than three times than the previous election, winning last of the nine seats in the New Territories West.

In May 2017, pro-democracy lawyer Kevin Yam published an article on the media urging solicitors not to vote for Junius Ho in the re-election of the governing council of the Law Society of Hong Kong. Ho issued filed a defamation lawsuit against Yam but eventually failed to be re-elected, securing only 572 votes out of 8,148 from his peers.

In April 2018, Ho became the only legislator to vote against the appointments of foreign judges Brenda Hale and Beverley McLachlin to the Court of Final Appeal over their support of same-sex rights, claimed the two opposed traditional "family values".

Controversies

Homophobic remarks

Ho has made several controversial homophobic statements. In late April 2017, following a lawsuit on government benefits for civil workers who are in a same-sex relationship, Ho said that legalisation of same-sex marriage in Hong Kong would lead to acceptance of bestiality and incest.

Fellow LegCo member Raymond Chan Chi-chuen, who is openly gay, condemned Ho's comments, and said those who sincerely hold such thoughts should seek professional help. Holden Chow, also a member of LegCo, also criticised Ho's remarks, stating that he did not need to be so extreme in his comments. Prominent lawyer, Kevin Yam, criticised Ho's linking of bestiality with homosexuality as "a vile form of homophobia", while Ho riposted that his remarks were taken out of context and that criticism was a personal attack on him because of his political views.

In May 2017, Ho said that a ruling granting marriage benefits to a gay civil servant could lead to "chaos in society" and co-signed a petition asking the government to appeal the decision.

Views on the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre

On June 2017, Junius Ho became the only pro-establishment lawmaker to vote in favour of a motion to "never forget" the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre at the Legislative Council. He expressed sympathy for the Chinese students before the People’s Liberation Army crackdown.

Demanding the removal of Benny Tai

In August 2017, Ho called for the removal of Occupy Central co-founder Benny Tai, who as of 2017, is facing charges of inciting others to create public nuisance, from working at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) for the social unrest and pro-independence sentiment, but rejected by the HKU Vice-Chancellor Peter Mathieson and HKU Council chairman Arthur Li. Ho submitted a petition with over 80,000 signatures urging the University of Hong Kong to investigate Tai and organise a rally on September 17 calling for his removal. Ho himself acknowledges that the number of online-signatures is unverifiable. As to the legality of the rally, Ronny Tong Ka-wah pointed out that the Public Order Ordinance could have been violated.

Interview of Junius Ho by pro-establishment media Speak Out HK, HKG Pao and Silent Majority for Hong Kong

Advocating for the killing of Hong Kong independence supporters

In September 2017, Ho said supporters of Hong Kong independence need to be "killed mercilessly". He made the comments at a rally which he organised to demand that the University of Hong Kong fire Benny Tai. He stated that it was "not big deal to kill pigs or dogs", and also appeared on a Commercial Radio programme, where he said of pro-independence activists, "why shouldn’t these people be killed?" Faced with criticism, Ho responded, "If we’re talking about Hong Kong independence, that means war. What’s wrong with killing enemies in a war?" Ho's remarks were condemned by figures on all sides of the political spectrum. Senior Counsel Ronny Tong said that Ho's comments may have violated the Public Order Ordinance. Chief executive Carrie Lam, who is anti-independence, alluded to Ho's comments after she stated on 19 September that "unacceptably cruel, insulting and intimidating comments" had no place in a civilised society. Executive Council member Regina Ip called Ho's remarks "stupid", and continued, "It will do our country no good to have stupid 'patriots', including possibly quite a few hired to become 'patriots'." The 22 lawmakers from the pro-democracy camp issued a joint statement condemning Ho’s remarks, which read in part: "Ho, as a legislator and lawyer, expressed hate speech involving murder at a public event, crossing the bottom lines of free speech and morality and severely breaching professional conduct."

Ho maintained that he was expressing his contempt towards the evil of the pro-independence movement, and said that the journalists should not take his words out of context.

False qualification allegation

In September 2017 during the controversy caused by Ho's "killed mercilessly" comment, there are reports concerning his legal qualifications in England and Wales and Singapore, as a letter responding to a complainant regarding to Ho's controversial remarks as a solicitor by the Solicitors Regulation Authority writes that Ho's name does not exist in the authority's record. “According to our records, Mr Ho is not a solicitor and is not admitted in England and Wales." Ho stated in his election pamphlet for the Legislative Council election in 2016 that he was a "solicitor in Singapore, England and Wales".

Ho responded to that by explaining that he had obtained the right to practise but did not practise in the UK.. However, the U.K's Solicitors Regulation Authority is the only authority in the U.K. who admit solicitors, and Ho does not appear in their records.

Yuen Long violence

See also: 2019 Yuen Long violence and 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests § Yuen Long pro-Beijing attacks

On 21 July 2019, against the backdrop of protests against the China extradition bill on Hong Kong Island, hundreds of men dressed in white t-shirts stormed through Yuen Long. Allegedly triad gangs, they entered Yuen Long station and attacked railway passengers with sticks and other weapons. On the same night, Ho was filmed reportedly supporting and congratulating members of these gangs, commenting, "all of you are my heroes" and giving a thumbs-up gesture. Ho claimed that he was simply greeting one of his supporters, and said it was "normal". He also praised the gangs for "safeguarding" their district who should be "pardoned for defending their homes". On 22 July 2019 Ho's constituency shopfront in Tsuen Fung Centre, Tsuen Wan was turned into a Lennon Wall before being ransacked later in the day. The following day his Tuen Mun office also attracted protests.

On 23 July 2019, Ho appeared on an RTHK televised forum alongside fellow New Territories West constituency representative Eddie Chu. Ho said he did not regret shaking hands with those dressed in white. He called the victims of the Yuen Long attacks "rioters" and claimed they had instigated the violence. He said the mobs were merely "Yuen Long residents" seeking to "protect their homeland". After Chu stated that protesters could not remain calm if the government continued to ignore their requests (e.g. to formally withdraw the extradition bill), Ho called Chu "scum" who "did not deserve to be a lawmaker" while storming offstage, ending the interview. Later when Ho's parents graves were vandalized, Ho blamed Chu and his supporters for the damage and warned Chu has the option of being on "a path of being alive, one is a path of not being alive." Chu dismissed the 'death threat' and stated that Ho is "trying to mislead his supporters into believing that I am behind the damage to his parents' tomb to incite further political hatred and violence."

Over 2,300 teachers, alumni and students from Ho's alma mater Queen's College participated in a signature campaign condemning Ho's alleged involvement in the attack. They urged LegCo members to impeach Ho, and requested Queen's College Old Boys' Association to suspend his membership. Similarly, Lingnan University students have started a petition calling for Ho to be removed from the institution's governing council. Over 100,000 people signed another petition requesting that the United States bar Ho from entering the U.S. or acquiring U.S. citizenship.

Sexism and cyber bullying

In August 2019 Hong Kong, Junius Ho offend a lady with controversial remarks on Facebook. Junius Ho suggested that female dissidents should just "Masturbation", then the Hong Kong media and netizens condemned his sexism. He cleaned up the posts but never apologised to the victim, simply saying "No apology". Ex-singer Tommy Yuen (阮民安) responded "go to hell (Puk gaai)" to Junius Ho in regards to Ho's sexual harassment and abusive words.

Legco election

In the 2016 Legco election, Ho's campaign team was alleged to have involved in intimidation of another election candidate.

Current positions

Business

• Committee member of Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in China – Guangdong
• Arbitrator of Wuhan International Arbitration Court and Zhengzhou Arbitration Commission
• Consultant of Guangzhou Municipal Board for International Investment

Charity

• Chairman of Yan Oi Tong (1996–1997)
• Advisory board member of Yan Oi Tong (1997 to present)
• Member of Concerted Efforts Resource Centre
• Honorary President of 2011–2012 Tuen Mun West District, New Territories Region, Scout Association of Hong Kong
• Vice-President of 2009–2012 Yuen Long Western District, New Territories Region, Scout Association of Hong Kong

Community

• Chairman of the Mainland Legal Affairs of the Law Society of Hong Kong
• Chairman of Product Eco-responsibility Appeal Board Panel
• Rotated Chairman of Duty Lawyer Service Council in 2005 and 2007
• Founder of Butterflyers Association Ltd in Tuen Mun in 2011

Political

• Indigenous Village Representative of Leung Tin Tsuen
• Chairman of Tuen Mun Rural Committee
• Founded the Protect Central Group in September 2014 in opposition to Occupy Central with Love and Peace.

Personal life

Ho married Cecilia Chen (陳浩明), they've 2 sons and 1 daughter, total three children. Ho Father and mother has dead, Mr Ho and Miss Li. Ho's family are the "Landlord" and got the benefit from Small House Policy. Ho has two horse, ALEX FLYER (天祿) and HONG KONG BET (青山之寶) in The Hong Kong Jockey Club.

See also

• Chinese nationalism