Finn Lau joins Hong Kong Watch as Advisor in UK

Today, Hong Kong Watch is pleased to announce the appointment of Finn Lau as a new Advisor in the UK.

Finn Lau is a Hong Kong-born policy and human rights activist who has been targeted by the Chinese Communist Party with an arrest warrant and HK$1 million (£102,300) bounty on his life for advocating for democracy. As one of the 10,000 political arrests in Hong Kong during the 2019 pro-democracy protest movement, Mr Lau was a key leader and strategist on the ground.

Since relocating to the UK in 2019, Mr Lau notably co-organised the first UK-Hong Kong Symposium for the Hong Kong diaspora in 2023. The Symposium is a large-scale, not-for-profit three-day conference in London designed to equip members of the Hong Kong diaspora to advocate for Hong Kong-related issues in the UK context. The first two symposiums in 2023 and 2024 were successful in gathering an average of 180 participants and 60 Hong Kong civil society organisations to strategise on how to best sustain advocacy efforts among the Hong Kong diaspora in Britain. Mr Lau looks forward to the third annual Symposium this year.

In addition to founding the Symposium, Mr Lau has advocated for Hong Kong and China-related policies in over eight parliaments around the world. Mr Lau also practises as a chartered professional in the infrastructure sector fostering him to strike a balance between pragmatism and idealism in campaigning. Mr Lau earned his MSc in Infrastructure Investment and Finance from University College London (UCL) with distinction, and his academic research was on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Hong Kong Watch established our Advisory Group in September 2021, to strengthen and enhance our advocacy work around the world. Our Advisors are based in our key advocacy arenas, including the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, and Europe, and include both Hong Kongers and non-Hong Kongers, appointed on the strength of their advocacy expertise and knowledge of Hong Kong. Our Advisors provide strategic advice and ideas on policy proposals and advocacy activities and to facilitate introductions for Hong Kong Watch’s advocacy team to key contacts in legislatures, governments, think-tanks, academia, NGOs and the media. Our Advisory Group works in an entirely voluntary, pro bono way, and its members do not represent or speak for Hong Kong Watch but work in close co-ordination with our advocacy team.

We look forward to working with and warmly welcome Finn Lau as we begin our advocacy work in 2025.

劉祖廸加入成為香港監察英國顧問

今天，香港監察很高興宣布委任Finn Lau 劉祖廸為新英國顧問。

Finn Lau是香港出生的政策及人權活動人士，因倡議民主而被中國共產黨懸紅100萬港元（102,300英鎊）通緝。他是2019年香港「反送中」運動期間的關鍵領袖和策士 ，是被政治拘捕的萬人之一。

Finn Lau自2019年移居英國後，特別在2023年與其他組織者籌辦了第一屆為海外港人社群而設的「英港座談會」（UK-Hong Kong Symposium）。這場座談會是一連三日在倫敦舉行的大型非牟利會議，旨在裝備海外港人在英國倡議香港相關議題。2023年和2024年舉行的首兩屆座談會成功聚集了平均180位參加者和60個香港民間組織，就居英港人如何維持倡議工作制訂策略。Finn期待今年舉行第三屆年度座談會。

除了創立有關座談會外，Finn Lau還曾在全球超過八個議會倡議香港及中國相關政策。Finn亦是特許測量師，這讓他在運動倡議中能夠掌握實際與理想之間的平衡。他以優異成績獲得倫敦大學學院基建投資及金融碩士學位，學術研究主題為中國「一帶一路」倡議。

香港監察在2021年9月成立顧問小組，銳意加強我們的全球倡議工作。香港監察顧問常駐我們的主要倡議地區，包括英國、美國、加拿大、澳洲和歐洲，當中有香港人，也有非香港人，基於倡議專業知識和對香港的了解而獲委任。香港監察顧問就政策專案和倡議活動提供策略建議和見解，並協助向立法機關、政府、智庫、學術界、非政府組織和傳媒的重要人士介紹香港監察倡議團隊。香港監察顧問小組以完全志願且不收取報酬的方式運作，顧問成員不代表香港監察，也並非香港監察發言人，但與香港監察倡議團隊密切合作。

開展2025倡議工作之際，香港監察期待與Finn Lau合作，並熱烈歡迎他擔任我們的顧問。