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Hong Kong officials have expressed their condolences to the family of a police officer after her body was found on Monday morning. Senior Police Inspector Lam Yuen-yee’s body was found near the coast of Yi O on Lantau island, two days after she fell overboard while on duty near the island of Sha Chau. Lam, […]

Hong Kong’s top court dismissed an appeal on Monday made by former pro-democracy lawmaker “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung, ruling that the court can determine the scope of the legislature’s privilege. The Court of Final Appeal considered the appeal after Leung was charged for allegedly snatching a folder from then under secretary for development Eric Ma’s […]

A Hong Kong man has been sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to stabbing pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho at a street booth in Tuen Mun in 2019. The High Court put 31-year-old Tung Pak-fai behind bars on Monday after he admitted to wounding politician Ho with intent in November 2019. The incident […]

Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy political party has authorised its central committee to handle election matters for December’s legislative race following a special members’ meeting. It comes after months of debate over whether the Democratic Party should participate in the revamped, restrictive poll, amid pressure from the authorities to participate. On Sunday, the party decided to […]

Hong Kong has welcomed Beijing’s compilation of “ironclad evidence” showing that the US meddled in Hong Kong affairs for years, whilst Chief Executive Carrie Lam called the factsheet “indisputable.” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs published the 6,300-word “factsheet” on Friday, which – in over 100 bullet points – detailed how the US had “wantonly” interfered […]

By Laurie Chen and Poornima Weerasekara Every morning, Sam Josti logged on from her US home to teach children halfway around the world, just one of thousands of foreign language tutors giving Chinese students a rare window into Western culture. But tutors like Massachusetts-based Josti have taken a sharp financial hit after Beijing’s harsh crackdown […]

It’s hard to find silver linings in the Chinese Communist Party’s virtual takeover of Hong Kong affairs, but there does appear to be at least one: Has anyone noticed how little the city’s tycoon class has to say these days? Formerly regarded as kingmakers on the Election Committee, their influence was dramatically reduced to that […]

A government-funded streaming news platform launched just three weeks ago aims to tell the world that there’s much more to Taiwan than the threat of war with Beijing – a challenge which other journalists have long faced. The new team of journalists at Taiwan+ (TaiwanPlus) are still trying to find their feet, says deputy news […]

by Beiyi Seow with Don MacKinnon in Vancouver Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou returned to China Saturday shortly after two Canadians released from prison in China also arrived in Calgary, ending a bitter diplomatic row that has poisoned ties for three years. Meng and the two Canadians — former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor — were detained in […]

The group behind Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen Massacre vigil has decided to disband after 32 years following a vote at a special meeting on Saturday. It comes after months of pressure from the authorities and the arrest of the group’s leadership. Founded in the year of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre, the Hong Kong Alliance in […]

Some interesting news is leaking out of local prisons, followed by lurid reactions from officials and their supporters. The actual event occurred in a women’s prison at Lo Wu. The wardens staged a surprise raid on some inmates’ cells, and discovered some “prohibited items”. Sources vary on what the “items” were. It appeared from the […]

Two Canadians imprisoned in what China’s Western critics branded “hostage diplomacy” were headed home Friday after being released, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. The pair — former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor — had “left Chinese airspace, and they’re on their way home,” he told a news conference in Ottawa. Their plane was […]

A Chinese fashion label has pulled a children’s clothing line and apologised after consumer complaints surfaced about prints that contained references to racial violence and suggestive phrases including “let me touch you”. The designs by JNBY, widely shared on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo, prompted outrage and criticism among users who said that the designs were […]

Hongkongers will be able to update their Covid-19 vaccination records to include date of birth, sex, and the manufacturer of the dose from next Wednesday. The changes come after the UK announced new travel regulations as of October 4, requiring a date of birth on records. The updates will be available for both electronic and […]

A Hong Kong court has granted bail to three student leaders accused of a terrorism offence under the national security law over expressions of sympathy for a man who stabbed a police officer. The High Court on Friday granted bail to University of Hong Kong (HKU) students Charles Kwok, Chris Todorovski and Kinson Cheung, who […]

Hong Kong’s Democratic Party has set out a wide-ranging policy programme on the eve of a vote about whether to contest upcoming elections, saying the party will stay relevant to voters whatever its members decide. The Legislative Council polls in December will be held under a Beijing-decreed election overhaul sharply reducing democratic representation. A pro-Beijing […]

A key member of the alliance which organised Hong Kong’s annual Tiananmen Massacre vigil has sent a message from prison objecting to its disbandment after two others linked to the group and also serving jail sentences called for the shutdown. The administrator of Chow Hang-tung’s Facebook page posted a letter from Chow, the vice-chairperson of […]

District councillors from Kowloon have sworn an oath of allegiance to the Hong Kong government under a new rule to ensure that only “patriots” hold office, with just one councillor refusing to do so. The ceremony for 55 councillors took place at the North Point Community Hall on Friday morning, just as the government officially […]

A group of British lawmakers are launching a “full international inquiry” into British banks in Hong Kong to establish whether some may have contributed to “suppression” in the city. The inquiry aims to investigate whether any UK banks operating in the city have contributed to “suppression by the Hong Kong government, its police and its […]

China’s central bank on Friday said all financial transactions involving cryptocurrencies are illegal, sounding the death knell for digital currencies in China after a crackdown on the volatile trade. The global values of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin have massively fluctuated over the past year partly due to Chinese regulations, which have sought to prevent speculation and money laundering. […]

China voiced opposition on Thursday to Taiwan joining a major trans-Pacific trade deal as it flew 24 planes including two nuclear-capable bombers into the self-ruled island’s air defence zone, the biggest incursion in weeks, Taiwanese officials said. Last week Beijing submitted its own application to become a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for […]

Dozens of Hong Kong pro-democracy figures facing national security charges will spend several more months in custody, after a proceeding to commit the case to a higher court was adjourned to late November. The 47 defendants, most of whom have been detained for close to seven months, returned to West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday. […]

A Hong Kong court has denied bail to a student leader after she was accused of conspiring to incite subversion under the Beijing-imposed national security law. The spokesperson for activist group Student Politicism, Alice Wong, appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts in front of Acting Chief Magistrate Peter Law on Thursday. Wong stands accused […]

Do not attempt to separate Taiwan from China or commit secession on “Double Ten Day,” Hong Kong’s head of the Security Bureau warned in an interview published on Thursday. Secretary for Security Chris Tang said in a Singtao Daily interview that he was aware that there might be “serious violations of the law” on October […]

A Hong Kong group which supported human rights lawyers in mainland China has announced it is in the process of disbanding after it received a police data request at the end of last month. The China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group (CHRLCG) is the latest civil society group to fold in recent months, amid increased […]

A prominent rights campaigner said Thursday Britain had warned him and other Beijing critics to avoid travel to countries that have an extradition agreement with China because of Hong Kong’s national security law. China is remoulding Hong Kong in its own authoritarian image, armed with a national security law that has outlawed much dissent and […]

By Poornima Weerasekara China’s pledge to stop funding overseas coal has been welcomed as a climate landmark that could dry up funding for smoke-billowing plants in poor countries.  But the world’s top polluter has not set out a timeline for when it will take effect, and it is not clear whether funders will be forced […]

Perched at the foot of Hong Kong’s Lion Rock for about half a century, Hong Kong broadcaster RTHK’s Educational Television Centre (ETV Centre) will soon be demolished following its sale to private developers. Built in 1971 by famed architect Eric Cumine, the studio produced programmes for the city’s now-defunct ETV channel. The channel kept generations […]

Giving farce a bad name is rarely a good idea, and it gets a lot worse when the farce is designed to give legitimacy to a process designed to achieve representative government. Sunday’s election to fill less just over a quarter of the seats for membership of the Election Committee, there were just 4,380 voters […]

Fourteen months after Beijing imposed sweeping national security legislation on Hong Kong, the city’s government and pro-establishment lawmakers are planning several new laws to plug what they see as loopholes in the Basic Law, or constitution. Chief Executive Carrie Lam said her government could make “bold proposals” because the legislature had largely returned to normal […]

By Su Xinqi and Yan Zhao Once renowned for world-class cinema, Hong Kong’s film industry was already struggling before the latest hurdle — Chinese mainland-style censorship as authorities take their purge of dissent into the cultural sphere. Filmmaker Mok Kwan-ling’s heart sank when the email from the government censors dropped. In June, authorities announced all […]

A “patriot” who is critical of the Hong Kong government will not be barred from standing in local elections, Chief Executive Carrie Lam has said. Her remarks came after only one non-pro-establishment candidate was elected in Sunday’s small-circle election committee race. The Hong Kong leader was met with questions on Tuesday about the first-ever polls […]

RTHK has refused to comment on the whereabouts of its English-language radio presenter Hugh Chiverton after he disappeared from the airwaves without explanation over two weeks ago. He last hosted the Backchat morning show on RTHK 3 on September 3. However, the episode remains missing from the online archive. The topic of the programme was […]

Two jailed pro-democracy figures linked to the embattled group behind the annual Tiananmen Massacre vigils have urged its members to vote to disband at a special meeting this Saturday. Identical, typed letters separately signed by veteran activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho Chun-yan were disclosed on Monday by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of […]

The majority of civil servants in Hong Kong have been vaccinated against Covid-19, with just six per cent who have yet to receive their first jab, according to the civil service chief. However, a pro-establishment lawmaker said the government should consider making vaccination a requirement for promotion in order to further boost vaccination rates. Secretary […]

Hong Kong’s property tycoons have been “more willing to cooperate” with the government’s housing development policies, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday. “In fact, if you ask for my personal experience over the recent years, as I was Secretary for Development – and also had dealt with developers – I think nowadays they are […]

A democrat charged under the national security law was denied bail after prosecutors alleged that he “persistently reiterated” his stance against the Hong Kong government, the police and the national security law, court documents reveal. The judiciary on Monday published the reasons why High Court Judge Esther Toh denied bail to Roy Tam, one of […]

With the future of Evergrande hanging in the balance, global markets have plunged on fears that one of China’s biggest developers could collapse and cause a contagion throughout the world’s number two economy and beyond. Talk of a “Lehman moment” has rung loud this week as worried investors try to ascertain whether the crisis could […]

Three Hong Kong student leaders, aged 18 to 20, have been arrested under the national security law for allegedly conspiring to incite subversion, partly because they allegedly attempted to recruit “like-minded people” in prison by providing gifts such as chocolate. The three members of Student Politicism, including convenor Wong Yat-chin and secretary general Chan Chi-sum, […]

Vote counting in Hong Kong’s small-circle election committee race closed at 7.30 a.m. on Monday, over 13 hours after polls closed due to “human errors” and glitches. Sunday’s polls were the first since Beijing imposed an electoral revamp in March. A total of 4,380 of the city’s 4,800 eligible elites cast their ballot, whilst over […]

Hong Kong is to offer same-day Covid-19 vaccination appointments with no advance booking in an attempt to boost the take-up rate. From Wednesday 21 community vaccination centres (CVCs) across the city will distribute tickets to Hongkongers wishing to receive their jabs that day at a designated time slot. “Under the new arrangement, members of the […]

Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy union coalition says it will disband because of threats to members’ safety, the latest civil society organisation to shut down in the city in the wake of the national security law. Members of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) had received messages in recent days making them feel they […]

By Danny McCord Fears of a contagion from the potential collapse of battered Chinese real estate giant Evergrande sent property shares plunging in Hong Kong on Monday, with the firm expected to default on upcoming interest payments this week. The firm, one of the country’s biggest developers, is on the brink of collapse as it […]

A Hong Kong cartoonist has apologised to police for a satirical comic strip which linked the Junior Police Call (JPC) organisation to a controversy over the city’s leading press group. His apology followed a letter of complaint from the police, who are embroiled in a separate dispute with the Hong Kong Journalists Association over its […]

Hong Kong national security police have arrested at least two leaders of a pro-democracy student group, amid a major crackdown on opposition groups. Student Politicism said on Monday that its convenor Wong Yat-chin and secretary general Chan Chi-sum were detained by officers from the police national security unit at 6.40 a.m. The group told HKFP […]

The group which for decades helped Hongkongers remember the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre is on the verge of disbanding as its leaders face trial on national security charges. But as recently as two years ago, the city’s leader was citing the candlelight vigil – which it organised – as a symbol of Hong Kong’s enduring freedoms. […]

by Yan Zhao and Su Xinqi Hong Kong’s political elite began selecting a powerful committee on Sunday which will choose the city’s next leader and nearly half the legislature under a new “patriots only” system imposed by Beijing. The financial hub has never been a democracy — the source of years of protests — but […]

By Amber Wang and AFP reporters In an industrial unit on the outskirts of Taipei chefs are plating meals that will never be served in a restaurant: welcome to the world of “ghost kitchens”. Even before the pandemic sent an earthquake through the global restaurant trade, the “Amazonification” of commercial kitchens was well underway, but […]

Hong Kong, for now, is a tale of two cities. In one part of town, demolition work has moved into high gear as the police and the courts proceed to dismantle the old order with its democracy movement counter-current. The old order can now be defined as the first two decades of post-colonial rule, when […]

Hong Kong artists can still find ways to express themselves despite the challenges posed by growing political censorship, leading Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei believes. After years of delay, the city is set to open its M+ museum, touted as Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture, on November 12 as part of the […]