A student leader who was one of the faces of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement in 2014 was denied entry to Macau yesterday because authorities said she was a threat to public security.
Campus TV, the student TV station at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), posted on Facebook last night that Yvonne Leung Lai-kwok was refused entry into Macau at noon and returned to Hong Kong immediately.
Macau’s public security police force cited Article 17, Section 1 of Macau’s Internal Security Law, saying there were strong signs that Leung would participate in events that posed a threat to public order in the city. Article 17, Section 1 states that non-Macau residents can be barred from entry if they are considered personae non grata, threats to internal security, or are suspected to have links to cross-border crimes such as international terrorism.
Leung had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.
Leung was the former president of the University of Hong Kong’s Students’ Union (HKUSU) during the pro-democracy Umbrella protests, and was also the spokesperson for the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS), one of the student organizations at the front lines of the movement.
She became well-known during the Umbrella Movement protests for her debating skills after she and four other student leaders squared off with five members of the government during a live televised debate on constitutional matters in a bid to resolve the issues that triggered the protests.
The debate also featured Nathan Law, one of six lawmakers who were booted out of the city’s legislature for improper oath-taking in 2017; and Chief Executive Carrie Lam, who at the time was the number two to Hong Kong’s then-leader C.Y. Leung.
According to the website Stand News, Yvonne Leung is currently working full time at a local law firm and studying part time for her Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) at HKU. She was also a member of legal teams representing pro-democracy activists being prosecuted by the government for their roles in the Umbrella Movement, and in the 2016 Lunar New Year riot in Mong Kok known as the “Fishball Revolution.”
Leung is also a legal fellow for the NGO Justice Without Borders and a part-time research and communications officer with PEN Hong Kong.
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