Allen Lee

Allen Lee Peng Fei CBE, JP (李鵬飛) (born April 24, 1940 in Yantai, Shandong) is a veteran Hong Kong politician. Jonathan Dimbleby described him as a "weather vane" in his book "The Last Governor".

Lee was a senior member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, before seats were opened to elections. He was formerly the leader of the Liberal Party.

He was elected a deputy to the National People's Congress in late 1997. On February 19, 2004, he announced his resignation from his seat in the National People's Congress and his job as a radio host, complaining that he was unable to express himself freely.

Biography

His father, who represented General Motors, among other US companies, emigrated to the United States of America in 1948.Fionnuala McHugh, [http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=&art_id=53243&sid=&con_type=1&d_str=19990620&sear_year=1999 The interview: Allen Lee Peng-fei] , The Standard, June 20, 1999]

At the age of 14, he was a leader of the Communist Youth League, and organised marches denouncing the United States because of its involvement in the Korean War. In May 1954, his mother sent him to Macau through Guangzhou, with the hope of getting to Hong Kong. He arrived in Hong Kong waters aboard a Portuguese merchant ship.

At the age of 38, Lee was the youngest appointee to the Legislative Council when he was invited in 1978 by governor, Murray MacLehose. In 1986, he was the first ever person without a British passport to serve on his Executive Council.

Lee Peng-fei was the leader of the Liberal Party until the end of 1998. In 1995, he was elected in the constituency of New Territories North-East (mainly covering the Tai Po District), but on failing to secure his seat in the 1998 election, he resigned the leadership position.

Radio host

Lee had replaced Albert Jing Han Cheng, who resigned a week earlier, as host of "Teacup in the Storm", a popular current affairs programme on Commercial Radio. Cheng resigned because he had been under pressure from pro-Beijing businessmen to stop being critical of the People's Republic of China government. Lee also resigned as the host citing the same reason.

References