Chen Yungen

Horace Chin Wan-kan (English: Horace Chin Wan-kan; November 8, 1961 -), pen name Chen Yun, is a Hong Kong scholar and writer. He studied for a master's degree in comparative literature from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a doctorate in folklore from the University of Göttingen in Germany (with a minor in ethnology and sinology). Chen Yungen is a city-state politician who advocates and promotes Hong Kong city-state autonomy. He was once the chairman of the Hong Kong Autonomy Movement and is currently the chairman and founder of the Hong Kong Renaissance Association. In 1997, Chan joined the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute, chaired by Ip Kwok-wah, special advisor to the then Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Tung Chee-hwa. He met Ho Chi-ping and followed him to work at the Arts Development Bureau and Home Affairs Bureau. Before joining the Home Affairs Bureau, Chan served as a part-time lecturer at City University, teaching cultural policy. Later, he served as the planning and research director of the Arts Development Bureau from 1997 to 2002, where he was responsible for arts planning and management to promote government cultural programs. After Ho Chi-ping was appointed as the Director of Home Affairs by the then Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa in July 2002, he decided to recruit a Research Director through internal funding in September of the same year. Chen Yungen was finally hired as the Research Director of the Home Affairs Bureau through an open recruitment process. Chen Yungen's research group was disbanded at the end of June 2007 with the departure of Ho Zhiping. Chen Yungen once served as an assistant professor in the Chinese Department of Lingnan University. His main works include the "Hong Kong City-State" series. "The Theory of Hong Kong City-State" won the fifth Hong Kong Book Award of Radio Television Hong Kong. In 2008, he won the Best Artist of the Year Award (Art Criticism) at the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards. Most of the remaining books and newspaper columns focus on Hong Kong customs, Hong Kong culture, Chinese language and current affairs commentary. On August 15, 2016, Lingnan University decided not to renew his contract and ended his seven-year teaching career. On July 27, 2016, on behalf of the Hong Kong Renaissance Association, Chen Yungen joined forces with the Passionate Citizens and the Popular Politics Academy to form the Rep City Election Alliance. He participated in the Hong Kong Legislative Council election for the first time. He formed a list with Li Juexi, a member of the Passionate Citizens, to run in the New Territories East Constituency. They used the "Sustainable Basic Law" as their campaign platform. In the end, they received more than 23,000 votes and failed to be elected. After losing the election, Chen Yungen announced his withdrawal from the social movement on September 7, 2016. In March 2020, Chen Yungen announced that he had no intention to run for the Legislative Council general election that year. On March 1, 2021, Chen Yungen and a group of young Hong Kong people established a new political party, the Hong Kong Civic Party.