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Carrie Lam
Hong KongEducation

Next Hong Kong labour minister faces ‘unpopular’ claims as he seeks better political relations

Founding Democratic Party member deflects charges he is an outsider to new cabinet, highlighting his past roles as lawmaker and government consultant

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Dr Law Chi-kwong resigned from the Democratic Party on Tuesday. Photo: David Wong
Phila SiuandJeffie Lam

Hong Kong’s incoming labour and welfare minister is set to face a bumpy road in forging better relations between the new administration and the pan-democrats, already coming under attack on Wednesday for being “unpopular” and “betraying” the social welfare sector.

Dr Law Chi-kwong, the only new face among Chief Executive-elect Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s team of senior officials, is a founding member of the Democratic Party and a long-time University of Hong Kong social work academic. He will be the second pan-democrat to join the government since Hong Kong’s handover in 1997 from British to Chinese rule, after outgoing transport and housing minister Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung.

“Our whole team will work hard to improve relations between the administration and the legislature,” Law, 63, said. “Some pan-democrats have said it would take more than me alone to improve relations.”

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“In the future, we will continue to keep in touch with both the pro-establishment and pan-democratic camps.”

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He has served on numerous government bodies, including the Commission on Poverty and the Community Care Fund Task Force. He was also a former lawmaker.

But despite all his years working in social work, Law was “highly unpopular” in the field, according to Labour Party lawmaker Dr Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung.

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