Lau Kong-wah

{{redirect|Ray Lau|other people named Raymond Lau|Raymond Lau (disambiguation){{!}}Raymond Lau}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Ray Lau Kong-wah

| native_name = {{nobold|劉江華}}

| native_name_lang = zh-hk

| image=Lau Kong-wah 2014.jpg

| honorific-suffix = JP

| office = Secretary for Home Affairs

| term_start=21 July 2015

| term_end=22 April 2020

| 1blankname=Chief Executive

| 1namedata=Leung Chun-ying
Carrie Lam

| predecessor=Tsang Tak-sing

| successor =Caspar Tsui

| office1 = Under Secretary of the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

| term_start1=21 December 2012

| term_end1 = 21 July 2015

| predecessor1=Adeline Wong

| successor1 = Ronald Chan

| 1blankname1=Secretary

| 1namedata1=Raymond Tam

| office3 = Member of the Legislative Council

| term_start3 = 1 July 1998

| term_end3 = 30 September 2012

| predecessor3 = New parliament

| successor3 = Elizabeth Quat

| constituency3 = New Territories East

| office2 = Non-official Member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong

| term_start2 = 14 October 2008

| term_end2 = 30 June 2012

| appointed2 = Donald Tsang

| predecessor2 = Jasper Tsang

| successor2 = Starry Lee

| term_start4 =21 December 1996

| term_end4 = 30 June 1998
(Provisional Legislative Council)

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1957|06|22}}

| birth_place = British Hong Kong

| alma_mater = St. Paul College
Sir Robert Black College of Education
University of Exeter
City Polytechnic of Hong Kong.

| nationality =

| spouse = Muk Fei-man

| party = United Democrats {{small|(1991–93)}}
Civil Force {{small|(1993–present)}}
DAB {{small|(1998–present)}}

| otherparty =

| residence =

| profession =

}}

{{Chinese

|t=劉江華

|s=刘江华

|p=Liú Jiānghuá

|j=Lau⁴ Gong¹-waa⁴

|y=Làuh Gōng-wàh

}}

Ray Lau Kong-wah, JP (born 22 June 1957, Hong Kong),{{cite book |first=Bob |last=Beatty |year=2003 |chapter=The Game's Afoot: Democratic Openings in Hong Kong with Lasting Effect |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vbBFOPMKrAkC&q=ray+lau+kong-wah&pg=PA36 |title=Democracy, Asian Values, and Hong Kong: Evaluating Political Elite Beliefs |publisher=Praeger |location=Westport, Connecticut |page=36 |isbn=9780275976880 |access-date=8 December 2016 |via=Google Books }}{{cite web |url=https://www.scmp.com/article/129076/pro-china-challenge-most-popular-legislator |title = Pro-China challenge to most popular legislator {{!}} South China Morning Post| date=25 August 1995 }} is a former Hong Kong Government official and former member of both the Legislative Council and the Executive Council. Until 2020, he was Secretary for Home Affairs.

Lau was vice-chairman of the pro-Beijing Hong Kong political party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), after founding the similarly aligned Civil Force in 1993. Before that, he was a member of a pro-democracy party, United Democrats of Hong Kong, one of the predecessors of the Democratic Party.

Political career

Lau was a member of the United Democrats of Hong Kong (a predecessor of the Democratic Party). After losing in the 1991 LegCo election, running as 'Ray Lau', he left the party and founded the Civil Force. He subsequently joined the DAB in 1998.Yau, Thomas (25 June 2010) [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=99802&sid=28703160&con_type=1&d_str=20100625&sear_year=2010 "Reluctant James To toes the party line"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010184141/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=99802&sid=28703160&con_type=1&d_str=20100625&sear_year=2010 |date=10 October 2012 }}{{cite news |first1=Sandra |last1=Burton |first2=John |last2=Colmey |first3=Francis |last3=Moriarty |first4=Lulu |last4=Yu |date=18 September 1995 |url=http://www.time.com/time/international/1995/950918/hongkong.html |title=Eleventh-hour Election Fever |magazine=Time |archive-date=28 October 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041028103451/http://www.time.com/time/international/1995/950918/hongkong.html |access-date=8 December 2014 |url-status=dead |via=Internet Archive }}

On 14 October 2008, Chief Executive Donald Tsang appointed Lau a non-official member of the Executive Council, filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Jasper Tsang, a role he held, in parallel with his Legco seat, until June 2012.

In 2012, Lau lost his seat in the 2012 Hong Kong Legislative Council Election.[http://www.sharpdaily.hk/article/news/20120911/132552/劉江華墮馬-市民熱賀/ "劉江華墮馬市民熱賀"][http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20120911/18013414 "劉江華遭自己人扯下馬"]

On 20 December 2012, he was appointed undersecretary for constitutional and mainland affairs by Chief Executive CY Leung, tasked with overseeing political reforms. During the 2014 Occupy movement, as one of five officials representing the government in the televised debate with student representatives, he was mocked for saying not a word, and was then widely represented as hiding inside a typical Hong Kong rubbish bin.{{cite news|title= Hong Kong officials become the butt of online jokes after Occupy crisis talks |work=Hong Kong Government|date=22 Oct 2014|url= https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1622078/carrie-lam-and-hk-officials-become-butt-online-jokes-after-occupy |publisher= SCMP }}

On 21 July 2015, Leung moved Lau to the role of Secretary for Home Affairs, a post he held through into the administration of Carrie Lam. He was removed from the post in a cabinet reshuffle on 22 April 2020.{{cite news|title=Government announces appointment and removal of Principal Officials (with photos)|work=Hong Kong Government|date=20 April 2020|url=https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202004/22/P2020042200459.htm?fontSize=1}}{{cite news|title=New faces Carrie Lam has enlisted to help Hong Kong tackle coronavirus impact|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3081048/new-faces-carrie-lam-has-enlisted-help-hong-kong-tackle|date=20 April 2020|newspaper=South China Morning Post}}