Benny Tai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Benny Tai Yiu-ting (Chinese: 戴耀廷; born 1964), MH,[2] is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Hong Kong[3] who received widespread media attention in January 2013, when he initiated the Occupy Central with Love and Peace campaign for universal suffrage in the 2017 Chief Executive election and 2020 Legislative Council Elections.[4][5]

Besides initiating the Occupy Central campaign, Tai is also currently a member of the Panel of Advisers of the Office of the Ombudsman.[6]

Early life[edit]

Tai was born in Hong Kong in 1964 and was graduated from Diocesan Boys' School in 1981.[7] He graduated at the University of Hong Kong and obtained his LL.B. in 1986 and P.C.LL. in 1987.[1]

Tai became a professor Law at the University of Hong Kong in 1991, and he was the Associate Dean of the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law from 2000 to 2008.[8]

Controversies[edit]

Proposing the Occupy Central Movement[edit]

As a result of the Occupy Central campaign, Tai has been accused by members of the pro-Beijing camp, including Legislative Councilor Priscilla Leung, of violating the code of conduct of a legal scholar by calling upon people to intentionally violate the law.[9] In response to this allegation, Tai replied that Occupy Central is a form of civil disobedience, and that civil disobedience does not violate the rule of law.[10] Despite this reply, Tai still received widespread criticism from the pro-Beijing camp, and Tai even received death threats as a result of the Occupy Central Movement.[11]

Denouncing the Anti-Occupy Central Signature Campaign[edit]

On 31 July 2014, Tai publicly denounced the Anti-Occupy Central Signature Campaign held by the Alliance for Peace and Democracy as "a blind imitation with ludicrous affection" (Chinese: 東施效顰), saying that their signature campaign is plagiarized from a civic referendum held by the Occpuy Central earlier in June. Robert Chow, a spokesperson for the Alliance for Peace and Democracy, replied by saying that their signature campaign actually outdoes Tai's civic referendum (Chinese: 青出於藍勝於藍).[12][13]

References[edit]