The Most Famous
POLITICIANS from Hong Kong
This page contains a list of the greatest Chinese Politicians. The pantheon dataset contains 19,576 Politicians, 6 of which were born in Hong Kong. This makes Hong Kong the birth place of the 175th most number of Politicians behind Andorra, and Eswatini.
Top 9
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Chinese Politicians of all time. This list of famous Chinese Politicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Ma Ying-jeou (b. 1950)
With an HPI of 62.31, Ma Ying-jeou is the most famous Chinese Politician. His biography has been translated into 59 different languages on wikipedia.
Ma Ying-jeou (Chinese: 馬英九; pinyin: Mǎ Yīngjiǔ; born 13 July 1950) is a Taiwanese politician and lawyer who served as the 6th president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as the 14th justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from 1998 to 2006. He served as chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 2005 to 2007 and from 2009 to 2014. Ma was born to a waishengren family in Hong Kong. After serving in the Taiwanese military between 1972 and 1974, he earned a doctorate in law from Harvard University. He returned to Taiwan in 1981, where he started working for President Chiang Ching-kuo, first working at the presidential office. He was later appointed as the chair of the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, then being appointed as Minister of Justice in 1993 until being relieved of his post in 1996. In 1998, he ran against incumbent Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taipei mayoral elections, defeating Chen. Ma was elected as the KMT chairman in 2005, until he resigned in 2007, when he announced his candidacy for the presidential elections of 2008. He was elected president, winning 58.45% of the popular vote and defeating DPP nominee Frank Hsieh. He was sworn into office as president on 20 May 2008, and was again sworn in as the Chairman of the Kuomintang on 17 October 2009. Ma's term as president saw warmer relations with mainland China, including the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2010. He was re-elected in presidential elections 2012 with 51.6% of the vote, defeating DPP nominee Tsai Ing-wen. He resigned as chairman of Kuomintang on 3 December 2014 after poor performance by the party in local elections. In November 2015, Ma met with People's Republic of China paramount leader Xi Jinping in Singapore, the first time the leaders of People's Republic of China and Republic of China have met.
2. Margaret Chan (b. 1947)
With an HPI of 57.01, Margaret Chan is the 2nd most famous Chinese Politician. Her biography has been translated into 34 different languages.
Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun (born 21 August 1947) is a Chinese-Canadian physician, who served as the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) delegating the People's Republic of China from 2006 to 2017. Chan previously served as Director of Health in the Hong Kong Government (1994–2003) and representative of the WHO Director-General for Pandemic Influenza and WHO Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases (2003–2006). In 2014, Forbes ranked her as the 30th most powerful woman in the world. In early 2018 she joined the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). She was widely criticized for her handling of the 1997 H5N1 avian influenza outbreak and the 2003 SARS outbreak in Hong Kong, and for her frequent travels while serving as Director-General of the WHO.
3. Carrie Lam (b. 1957)
With an HPI of 56.97, Carrie Lam is the 3rd most famous Chinese Politician. Her biography has been translated into 49 different languages.
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor (née Cheng; Chinese: 林鄭月娥; Cantonese Yale: Làhm Jehng Yuht-ngòh; born 13 May 1957) is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the fourth Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022, after serving as Chief Secretary for Administration for five years. After graduating from the University of Hong Kong, Lam joined the British Hong Kong civil service in 1980 and served in various government agencies, including as Director of Social Welfare from 2000 to 2004 and Director General of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London from 2004 to 2006. She became a key official in 2007 when she was appointed Secretary for Development. During her tenure, she earned the nickname "tough fighter" for her role in the controversial demolition of the Queen's Pier in 2008. Lam became Chief Secretary for Administration under the Leung Chun-ying administration in 2012. From 2013 to 2015 Lam headed the task force on the 2014 electoral reform and held talks with student and opposition leaders during the widespread protests. In the 2017 Chief Executive selection process, Lam obtained 777 votes from the 1,194-member appointed Election Committee as the Beijing-favoured candidate and became the first female Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Lam's administration had been marred with a series of controversies and thus relatively unpopular since inauguration. Her government was also criticised for raising the qualification age for social security, the proposed cross-harbour tunnel toll plan, and the historic ban on the pro-independence National Party, among other policies. In mid-2019, Lam pushed for the controversial extradition bill which received widespread domestic and international opposition. Massive protests broke out and persisted throughout the latter half of the year, from demanding the withdrawal of the bill to Lam's resignation among five key demands. Despite suspending the bill in June and eventually withdrawing the bill in September, Lam stood firmly against the other demands including an independent inquiry into police conduct and universal suffrage for legislative and leadership elections. Escalating clashes between protesters and police resulted in at least 10,000 arrests, and would only die down as COVID-19 hit the city. After the pro-government camp suffered a landslide defeat in the 2019 local elections, Lam's popularity further plunged to a record low due to the mishandling of the pandemic. Lam also saw the Chinese Government imposing the national security law in July 2020, criticised for shrinking freedom in the city and silencing the dissidents. Opposition activists are tried and jailed while pro-democracy media were forced to close. In April 2022, Lam announced that she would not seek a second term as Chief Executive, giving her wish to devote more time with her family as an explanation. She was succeeded on 1 July 2022 by hardliner John Lee.
4. John Lee Ka-chiu (b. 1957)
With an HPI of 53.61, John Lee Ka-chiu is the 4th most famous Chinese Politician. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.
John Lee Ka-chiu (Chinese: 李家超; born 7 December 1957) is a Hong Kong politician and former police officer who is the fifth and current chief executive of Hong Kong. Originally a police officer, Lee served as the deputy commissioner of the Hong Kong Police Force from 2010 till 2012, when he was appointed as under secretary of security under the Leung government. After Carrie Lam became chief executive in 2017, Lee was promoted to secretary for security. In 2021, he succeeded Matthew Cheung as chief secretary for administration, a post he served until 2022. Lee was the sole candidate approved by China in the 2022 Hong Kong Chief Executive election. He was subsequently chosen to succeed Carrie Lam, taking office on 1 July 2022. His selection was seen as a move by the Chinese government to focus further on security and further integrate Hong Kong with mainland China. A pro-Beijing politician, Lee is known as being a hardliner against the pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong, having played a key role in the crackdown of the opposition. He signed the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance into law in 2024.
5. Leung Chun-ying (b. 1954)
With an HPI of 52.45, Leung Chun-ying is the 5th most famous Chinese Politician. His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.
Leung Chun-ying (Chinese: 梁振英; born 12 August 1954), also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since March 2017. He was previously the third Chief Executive of Hong Kong between 2012 and 2017. A surveyor by profession, Leung entered politics when he joined the Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee (HKBLCC) in 1985 and became its secretary-general in 1988. In 1999, he was appointed the convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, a position he held until 2011, when he resigned to run in the 2012 Chief Executive election. Initially regarded as the underdog, Leung ran a successful campaign against front-runner Henry Tang, receiving 689 votes from the Election Committee and with the support of the Liaison Office. At the beginning of his administration, Leung faced the anti-Moral and National Education protests and the Hong Kong Television Network protests. In 2014, Leung's government faced widespread civil disobedience targeting the government's constitutional reform proposals; the movement gained global attention as the "Umbrella Revolution". After the 2014 protests, Leung's government had to deal with the 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest. During his election campaign and governance, Leung also faced allegations related to his receipt of HK$50 million payment by UGL (see Leung Chun-ying–UGL agreement), which prompted initial investigations by Parliament in Australia. Leung's tenure coincided with the rise of social instability, localism in Hong Kong, and an independence movement for Hong Kong's separation from Chinese sovereignty. In December 2016, Leung announced he would not seek a second term, becoming the first Chief Executive not to do so.
6. Martin Lee (b. 1938)
With an HPI of 48.01, Martin Lee is the 6th most famous Chinese Politician. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Martin Lee Chu-ming (Chinese: 李柱銘; born 8 June 1938) is a Hong Kong politician and barrister. He is the founding chairman of the United Democrats of Hong Kong and its successor, the Democratic Party, Hong Kong's flagship pro-democracy party. He was also a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong from 1985 to 1997 and from 1998 to 2008. Nicknamed the "Father of Democracy" in Hong Kong, he is recognised as one of the most prominent advocates for democracy and human rights in Hong Kong and China. A barrister by profession, Lee served as the chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association from 1980 to 1983. In 1985 he was elected to the Legislative Council, where he advocated strongly for the protection of human rights and democratic reform. He became involved in discussions over Hong Kong's handover to China, and in 1985 he joined the Hong Kong Basic Law Drafting Committee to assist in the drafting of Hong Kong's Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution post-handover. He was, however, expelled from the body in 1989 in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen square crackdown, due to his condemnation of the Beijing government's role in the incident and his vocal support for the student protestors. In 1990, he became the founding chairman of the first pro-democracy party in Hong Kong, the United Democrats of Hong Kong, and later its successor, the Democratic Party. Under his leadership, the party won two landslide victories in the direct elections of 1991 and 1995, and emerged as one of the largest political parties in Hong Kong. He worked closely with the last Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten in an attempt to push forward constitutional reform in relation to democratic elections, attracting strong criticism from the Beijing government. In June 1997, he was forced to step down from his office when the colonial legislature was dissolved, alongside a number of other legislators; they later won back their seats in the Legislative Council in 1998. He resigned as the chairman of the Democratic Party in December 2002, and in 2008 he retired as a member of the Legislative Council. Prior to July 2020 he remained active in advocating and lobbying for the democratic cause both locally and internationally. This ended with the passage of the Hong Kong National Security Law on 1 July 2020.
7. He Xiangning (1878 - 1972)
With an HPI of 47.65, He Xiangning is the 7th most famous Chinese Politician. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
He Xiangning (Chinese: 何香凝; Wade–Giles: Ho Hsiang-ning; 27 June 1878 – 1 September 1972) was a Chinese revolutionary, feminist, politician, painter, and poet. Together with her husband Liao Zhongkai, she was one of the earliest members of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary movement Tongmenghui. As Minister for Women's Affairs in Sun's Nationalist government in Guangzhou (Canton), she advocated equal rights for women and organized China's first rally for International Women's Day in 1924. After her husband's assassination in 1925 and Chiang Kai-shek's persecution of the Communists in 1927, she stayed away from party politics for two decades, but actively worked to organize resistance against the Japanese invasion of China. In 1948, she cofounded the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang. She served in many high-ranking positions after the foundation of the People's Republic of China, including Vice Chairwoman of the CPPCC (1954–64), Vice Chairwoman of the National People's Congress (1959–72), Chairwoman of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (1960–72), and Honorary Chairwoman of the All-China Women's Federation. He Xiangning was a renowned painter of the Lingnan School of Chinese art and served as Chairwoman of the China Artists Association in the 1960s. The National He Xiangning Art Museum was opened in Shenzhen in 1997, and her paintings have been featured on Chinese stamps.
8. Agnes Chow (b. 1996)
With an HPI of 38.88, Agnes Chow is the 8th most famous Chinese Politician. Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages.
Agnes Chow Ting (Chinese: 周庭; born 3 December 1996) is a Hong Kong politician and social activist. She is a former member of the Standing Committee of Demosisto and former spokesperson of Scholarism. Her candidacy for the 2018 Hong Kong Island by-election, supported by the pro-democracy camp, was blocked by authorities, due to her party's advocacy of self-determination for Hong Kong. She was arrested in August 2019, during the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, for her role in a protest at police headquarters two months earlier, and sentenced to 10 months in jail in December 2020. She was again arrested for the National Security charge of 'collusion with foreign forces' in August 2020, albeit released on bail the day after. After her early release in June 2021, she made no public announcements until December 2023, when she wrote on social media that she had already moved to Canada in September that year to study for a master's degree at a university in Toronto, and decided to go into exile.
9. Rory Stewart (b. 1973)
With an HPI of 30.03, Rory Stewart is the 9th most famous Chinese Politician. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
Roderick James Nugent Stewart (born 3 January 1973) is a British academic, broadcaster, writer, and former diplomat and politician. He has taught at Harvard University and at Yale University where he is the Brady-Johnson Professor of the Practice of Grand Strategy at Yale University's Jackson School of Global Affairs. Stewart served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Penrith and The Border between 2010 and 2019, representing the Conservative Party. Stewart served in the UK Government as Minister of State for Environment (2015–16), International Development (2015–16), Africa (2016–18) and Prisons (2018–19) and then as Secretary of State for International Development (2019). In 2019, Stewart stood for Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister following the resignation of Theresa May. Since 2022, Stewart has co-hosted The Rest Is Politics podcast with Alastair Campbell, the inaugural Prime Minister's Official Spokesperson under Tony Blair. Born in Hong Kong, Stewart was educated at the Dragon School, Eton College, and the University of Oxford as an undergraduate student of Balliol College, Oxford. Stewart worked for Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service as a diplomat in Indonesia and as British Representative to Montenegro. He left the diplomatic service to undertake a two-year walk across Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. He later wrote a best-selling book, The Places in Between, about his experiences. He subsequently served as Deputy Governor in Maysan and Dhi Qar for the Coalition Provisional Authority following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and wrote a second book covering this period, Occupational Hazards or The Prince of the Marshes. In 2005, he moved to Kabul to establish and run the Turquoise Mountain Foundation. He was the Ryan Family Professor of Human Rights and the director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University from 2008 to 2010. In 2010, Stewart was elected to the House of Commons and in 2014 was elected chair of the Defence Select Committee. He served under David Cameron as Minister for the Environment from 2015 to 2016. He was a minister throughout Theresa May's government: as Minister of State for International Development, Minister of State for Africa, and Minister of State for Prisons. He ultimately joined the Cabinet and National Security Council as Secretary of State for International Development. After May resigned, Stewart stood as a candidate to be Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the 2019 leadership contest. His campaign was defined by his unorthodox use of social media and opposition to a no-deal Brexit. He stated at the beginning of his campaign that he would not serve under Boris Johnson. When Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, Stewart resigned from the cabinet. On 3 September 2019, Stewart had the Conservative Whip removed after voting to back a motion paving the way for a law seeking to delay the UK's exit date from the European Union. On 3 October 2019, Stewart announced he had resigned from the Conservative Party and that he would stand down as an MP at the 2019 general election. He initially announced that he would stand as an independent candidate in the London mayoral election but withdrew on 6 May 2020 on the grounds of the election being postponed a year to 2021 on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 his book, Politics on the Edge, was published by Jonathan Cape. Stewart was the president of GiveDirectly from 2022 to 2023 and was a visiting fellow at Yale Jackson from 2020 to 2022, teaching politics and international relations. In March 2022, Stewart and Alastair Campbell launched The Rest Is Politics podcast.
People
Pantheon has 9 people classified as Chinese politicians born between 1878 and 1996. Of these 9, 8 (88.89%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Chinese politicians include Ma Ying-jeou, Margaret Chan, and Carrie Lam. The most famous deceased Chinese politicians include He Xiangning. As of April 2024, 3 new Chinese politicians have been added to Pantheon including John Lee Ka-chiu, Martin Lee, and He Xiangning.
Living Chinese Politicians
Go to all Rankings
Ma Ying-jeou
1950 - Present
HPI: 62.31
Margaret Chan
1947 - Present
HPI: 57.01
Carrie Lam
1957 - Present
HPI: 56.97
John Lee Ka-chiu
1957 - Present
HPI: 53.61
Leung Chun-ying
1954 - Present
HPI: 52.45
Martin Lee
1938 - Present
HPI: 48.01
Agnes Chow
1996 - Present
HPI: 38.88
Rory Stewart
1973 - Present
HPI: 30.03
Deceased Chinese Politicians
Go to all RankingsNewly Added Chinese Politicians (2024)
Go to all RankingsJohn Lee Ka-chiu
1957 - Present
HPI: 53.61
Martin Lee
1938 - Present
HPI: 48.01
He Xiangning
1878 - 1972
HPI: 47.65
