Alex Chow

File:Occupy Central 2 October 2014 - Alex Chow.jpg

Chow was one of the main organisers of the Occupy Central campaign.{{cite web|last1=Makinen|first1=Julie|last2=Law|first2=Violet|title=2 Hong Kong college students emerge as leaders in mass protest|url=http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-hong-kong-leaders-20141006-story.html#page=1|work= Los Angeles Times |accessdate=25 October 2014|date=5 October 2014}}{{cite web|last1=Wen|first1=Philip|title=Hong Kong protests: Key players from Joshua Wong to Leung Chun-ying|url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/hong-kong-protests-key-players-from-joshua-wong-to-leung-chunying-20141001-10ot6j.html|work= The Sydney Morning Herald |accessdate=25 October 2014|date=1 October 2014}} On 1 July 2014, following an annual pro-democracy rally, he organised a sit-in on Chater Road in central Hong Kong which was forcibly dispersed by police.{{cite web|script-title=zh:周永康：佔領遮打道為日後「佔中」姿態 |url=http://singpao.com/xw/yw/201407/t20140702_516380.html |work=Sing Pao Daily News |accessdate=25 October 2014 |language=zh |date=2 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025085556/http://singpao.com/xw/yw/201407/t20140702_516380.html |archivedate=25 October 2014 }}{{cite web|last1=Joyce|first1=Ng|last2=Jesse|first2=Lau|title=Democracy protesters arrested at Chater Road sit-in will refuse to renew their bail|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1562629/democracy-protesters-arrested-chater-road-sit-will-refuse-renew-their?page=all|work= South China Morning Post |accessdate=25 October 2014|date=30 July 2014}} 511 people were arrested. He was quoted as saying at the time that "It’s not enough to repeat the march and the assembly every year. We have to upgrade it to a civil disobedience movement." He later wrote that "In the past 30 years, the democracy movement has been too slow and too painstaking. The power of civil disobedience lies … in the blood and tears of everyone who is behind the struggle."

File:Alex Chow Yong Kang 2014.jpg

In the early stages of the Umbrella Movement, he was an influential organiser and speaker. He was reported as announcing to protesters, "This is not a student movement; this is a Hong Kongers' movement"; he told The New York Times that "residents may occupy various government departments". On 5 October, when the Federation of Students agreed to enter into dialogue with the government, Chow announced that the talks would be called off if attempts were made to forcefully remove protesters. In a speech at the main protest camp, he explained, "A dialogue is not a compromise. We will start arranging talks with the government, because we understand that there are people in both the government and here who want to solve society’s problems. We will not back down."{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/world/asia/hong-kong-protests.html|title=Protesters in Hong Kong Ease Sit-In Near Government Headquarters |work=The New York Times |author=Keith Bradshaw and Chris Buckley|date=5 October 2014|accessdate=2 November 2014}}

Having attempted and failed to organise meetings with officials through local channels,{{cite web|url=http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=151221&sid=43333705&con_type=1&d_str=20141110&fc=1 |title=Students urge NPC deputies to intercede |author=Kenneth Lau |date=10 November 2014 |work=Standard |accessdate=7 June 2017 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110044835/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=151221&sid=43333705&con_type=1&d_str=20141110&fc=1 |archivedate=10 November 2014 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/news/asia/east-asia/story/ex-hong-kong-chief-exec-tung-chee-hwa-says-china-wont-change-mind-democrac|title=Ex-Hong Kong Chief Exec Tung Chee Hwa says China won't change mind on democracy: Paper | work = The Straits Times | date = 9 November 2014 | accessdate = 7 June 2017 }} Chow and two other students were prevented from travelling to China to petition mainland government officials when they attempted to leave on 15 November.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-30067035|title=Hong Kong protest leaders denied Beijing flight|publisher= BBC |date=15 November 2014|accessdate=16 November 2014}} The group, consisting of Chow, Nathan Law and Eason Chung, learned from airline officials that mainland authorities had revoked their Home Return Permits, effectively banning them from boarding the flight for Beijing.{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1640648/occupy-leaders-seeking-travel-beijing-denied-boarding-airport-cathay|title=Beijing bans student leaders from taking trip to mainland to press for democracy|work= South China Morning Post | author1 = Joyce Ng | author2 = Amy Nip | author3 = Stuart Lau | date = 15 November 2014 | accessdate = 7 June 2017 }}

Chow and two other prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy student leaders, Nathan Law and Joshua Wong, were convicted on 21 July 2016 of unlawful assembly (incitement in Chow's case) at the Civic Square, Central Government Complex at Tamar, during a protest that triggered the 79-day Occupy sit-ins of 2014.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hongkong-protests-verdict/teenage-hong-kong-protest-leader-found-guilty-of-unlawful-assembly-idUSKCN1010BB?il=0|title=Teenage Hong Kong protest leader found guilty of unlawful assembly|date=21 July 2016|work=Reuters|last1=Long|first1=Lindsy|last2=Poon|first2=Hera|access-date=28 October 2017}} He was initially sentenced to three weeks of imprisonment over a suspended sentence on 15 August. A year later, his term was increased to seven months following an appeal to the High Court by the government.{{cite news|url=https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/09/01/democracy-activist-alex-chow-files-appeal-jail-sentence/|title=Hong Kong democracy activist Alex Chow files appeal over jail sentence|date=1 September 2017|newspaper=Hong Kong Free Press|last=Pang|first=Jun|access-date=28 October 2017}} The appeal by the government drew condemnation from overseas politicians and rights campaigners, who called the three "political prisoners".{{cite news |last1=Hollingsworth |first1=Julia |title=London School of Economics 'concerned' for jailed Alex Chow |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2111358/london-school-economics-concerned-its-student-alex-chow |accessdate=18 August 2019 |work=South China Morning Post |date=15 September 2017 |language=en}} Chris Patten, former governor of Hong Kong, said their names would be remembered "long after nobody can remember who I was, and perhaps nobody can remember who President Xi Jinping was". The conviction, if not overturned on appeal, would result in Chow's disqualification from standing for election to the Legislative Council until July 2021.{{cite web|url=http://www.hklii.org/eng/hk/legis/ord/542/s39.html|title=CAP 542 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ORDINANCE Section 39 When person is disqualified from being nominated as a candidate and from being elected as a Member|website=Hong Kong Legal Information Institute|access-date=28 October 2017}}

In February 2018, Chow, Law and Wong won an appeal at the Court of Final Appeal to overturn their jail sentences, after a five-judge panel said those sentences applied a new standard "retroactively". The trio was previously given lighter sentences, with Wong and Law completing community service and Chow receiving a suspended prison term.{{cite news |last1=Haas |first1=Benjamin |title=Hong Kong activists have jail sentences overturned |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/06/hong-kong-activists-have-jail-sentences-overturned |accessdate=18 August 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=6 February 2018}} Human rights researcher Maya Wang said the Hong Kong government used this case to see how far it could go in pursuing political prosecutions and "redoubled efforts to weaken pro-democracy voices", adding that "no one should be prosecuted for a peaceful protest".

At the time of Chow's imprisonment, the London School of Economics, at which Chow had been studying, reached out to both the UK and the Hong Kong government to seek reassurances over Chow's well-being after a petition gathered close to 5,000 signatures. Chow was about to go to the University of California, Berkeley to start a doctoral program when he was unexpectedly imprisoned in August 2016.{{cite news|date=22 January 2018|title=Hong Kong Democracy Battle Now Waged in Courts|language=en|publisher=Voice of America|url=https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/hong-kong-democracy-battle-now-waged-courts|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818214133/https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/hong-kong-democracy-battle-now-waged-courts|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 August 2019|accessdate=18 August 2019}} Chow began a master's degree at the London School of Economics in 2016, followed by a doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/14/hong-kong-student-alex-chow-fears-uk-visa-denied-umbrella-protest|title=Hong Kong student fears UK visa may be denied over protest conviction |date=14 September 2016|newspaper=The Guardian|last=Phillips|first=Tom|access-date=28 October 2017}}{{Cite web|title=Alex Chow {{!}} Geography|url=https://geography.berkeley.edu/alex-chow|access-date=2020-07-31|website=geography.berkeley.edu}}

{{commons category|Alex Chow}}

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{{S-bef|before=Eddie Chan}}

{{s-ttl|title=Secretary General of Hong Kong Federation of Students|years=2014–2015}}

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{{Portal bar|Hong Kong|Biography|Politics}}

{{Umbrella Movement}}

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Category:Alumni of the University of Hong Kong

Category:Hong Kong democracy activists

Category:1990 births

Category:Living people

Category:HKFS people

Category:Hong Kong expatriates in the United States

Category:UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni