鄧蓮如

繁體中文

鄧蓮如（Lydia Dunn, Baroness Dunn，1940–　）1940年2月29日在香港出生，自1970年代末至1990年代初活躍於香港政壇，先後獲委任為立法局及行政局議員，1988至1995年出任行政局首席非官守議員，係港府最高諮詢機構嘅首位華人女性主持者，在殖民地政府內舉足輕重。任內她十分關注香港前途與代議政制發展，曾訪問北京並獲鄧小平接見，又多次前往英國討論香港前途問題，並大力爭取英國賦予香港人居英權。1989年她獲授DBE勳銜，成為首位取得英國爵級勳銜嘅華人女性；1990年再獲冊封為終身女男爵，成為首位取得英國終身貴族身份嘅華人，晉身英國上議院。1995年、即主權移交前兩年，她宣布退休，1996年初遷居英國，其後主要出席上議院會議；2010年6月她為免繳納更多稅項，與另外四名貴族放棄上議院議席，引來傳媒猛烈批評。政壇以外，她1964年加入太古集團，其後出任英國太古集團執行董事，並在1992至2008年間出任滙豐控股副主席；1983至1991年任貿易發展局主席，向外推廣香港貿易。

English

Lydia Dunn, Baroness Dunn (born 29 February 1940), was born in Hong Kong and was active in its public life from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, being appointed to both the Legislative Council and the Executive Council and serving as Senior Unofficial Member of the Executive Council from 1988 to 1995 — the first Chinese woman to lead the government's top advisory body, and a figure of real weight in the colonial administration. She took a close interest in Hong Kong's future and the development of representative government, meeting Deng Xiaoping in Beijing, travelling repeatedly to London for talks on Hong Kong's future and campaigning hard for the right of abode in Britain for Hong Kong people. Created a DBE in 1989, she became the first Chinese woman to hold a British knighthood, and in 1990 was made a life peer — the first Chinese to receive a British life peerage — taking her seat in the House of Lords. She retired in 1995, two years before the handover, moved to Britain in early 1996 and thereafter sat mainly in the Lords; in June 2010 she and four other peers gave up their seats to avoid higher tax liabilities, drawing heavy press criticism. Outside politics she joined the Swire group in 1964 and became an executive director of John Swire & Sons, and was vice-chairman of HSBC Holdings from 1992 to 2008; from 1983 to 1991 she chaired the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, promoting the territory's trade overseas.