Outgoing Hong Kong lawmaker Albert Ho a tireless fighter for the oppressed who sticks to his core values

The city’s stagnant democratic development might be frustrating enough, but Albert Ho Chun-yan’s biggest regret in his 20-year stint as a lawmaker is to see how a growing number of Hongkongers have chosen to turn a blind eye to the ordeals of the oppressed across the border.

The Democrat is also quick to offer a firm answer over his ethnic identity, an increasingly tough question for politicians to address amid the rise of localist sentiments.

“I am a Chinese living in Hong Kong, as simple as that,” the outgoing veteran lawmaker told thePost.

Ho, 64, has spared no effort in backing human rights movements on mainland China and set up the China Human Rights Concern Group in 2006. He also backs Chinese sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands – or Senkaku Islands, as Japan calls them. And he wants redress for victims of Japanese aggression in China – what appears to be the least debated cause in today’s Hong Kong.

“The change is regrettable… In the past, it was regarded as a credit if you cared about the human rights situation on the mainland – but now you would be accused of betraying Hong Kong if you fight for China’s democracy,” he said. “But I do not need to please anybody. I do it not for Hongkongers but for the most vulnerable group of people in China.”