IJF24 is taking place during Jimmy Lai's trial in Hong Kong under the much criticised National Security Law, imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing in 2020. Jimmy Lai, the renowned publisher, writer, pro-dem...
Samuel Chu
Samuel Chu is the founder and President of The Campaign for Hong Kong. He is also a founding member of the advisory board of the Axel Springer Freedom Foundation in Berlin (Germany) and a trainer for Midwest Academy, a training school for community organizers in the US. Samuel is a frequent presenter and speaker at convenings, including Forum 2000, Oslo Freedom Forum, and RightsCon, and for organizations such as Jewish World Watch, Pacific Council on International Policy, Freedom House, etc. He regularly testifies before the United States Congress and Parliaments across Europe. Since 2019, he has successfully advocated for landmark US legislation such as the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, economic sanctions and visa bans on Chinese and Hong Kong officials, and humanitarian protection such as Deferred Enforcement Deportation (DED) for Hong Kongers residing in the US. In direct response, Hong Kong authorities issued arrest warrants against Samuel in July 2020, making him the first foreign citizen to be targeted under the National Security Law (NSL). In July 2021, he was sanctioned by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs under its new anti-sanctions law.
Samuel holds a BA in political science from UC San Diego and an M.Div. in Ethics from Fuller Theological Seminary. A first-generation immigrant from Hong Kong, Samuel is the son of the Rev. Chu Yiu Ming, co-founder of Occupy Central, which led to the Umbrella Movement in 2014. The elder Chu was later tried, convicted, and sentenced on protest-related charges in 2019.
