Who is Patrick Ho?

Born and raised in Hong Kong to a middle-class family, Patrick Ho was a talented violinist in his youth.

He went to the US to study music at college, but ended up switching to medicine, training in eye surgery and ultimately becoming a fellow at Harvard Medical School.

After 16 years in the US, he returned to Hong Kong to take up a university teaching post, before leaving to go into private practice.

At the same time, he got into politics: it was widely believed that Ho got a boost after performing eye surgery for Chinese state leaders.

For 20 years, he served as a Hong Kong delegate to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference – the nation’s top advisory body. He also made headlines for his marriage to Taiwanese actress Sibelle Hu, who retired after they wed.

Appointed secretary for home affairs in 2002, an official familiar with Ho said he was a man with creative ideas who was willing to bypass bureaucratic red-tape.

“But some officials had reservations about the way he worked because it was inconsistent with established rules of the administration,” said the official, who preferred not to be named.

Ho quit the government in 2007. Three years later he became deputy chairman and secretary general of the China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC), a think tank fully funded by CEFC China Energy.

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