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Mass arrests raise question of what, if anything, dissenting politicians are actually allowed to doWednesday’s sweeping arrests of more than 50 pro-democracy activists, pollsters, politicians and fundraisers in Hong Kong seemed to all but criminalise opposition politics in the city.Those arrested face charges of subversion for their role in unofficial primary elections held last summer that aimed to maximise the pro-democracy bloc’s performance in...

Church describes act as ‘political retaliation’ by authorities over support of pro-democracy protestors and comes as eight more arrested The pastor of a Hong Kong church says HSBC has frozen bank accounts belonging to him, his wife and the church’s charity.Ray Chan said the freezing was an act of “political retaliation” on the part of authorities for assistance provided by his church to young...

Carrie Lam says she is paid in cash and calls US sanctions imposed over security crackdown ‘unjustifiable’Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has said she keeps “piles of cash” at home because she has no bank account after the United States imposed sanctions on her in response to the crackdown on free speech and political freedoms in the city.Lam was targeted, along with 14 other...

Citizens urged to report suspected breaches of controversial security lawHong Kong police have received more than 2,500 tip-offs since the launch of a hotline for people to report suspected breaches of the city’s sweeping national security law.The multi-platform hotline, which opened on Thursday, allows Hong Kongers to report information directly to national security police via text message, email, or WeChat. Continue reading...

Carrie Lam to consult Beijing in attempt to protect city’s status as major finance hubHong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, has postponed a major annual policy address scheduled for Wednesday, claiming she must consult Beijing on some of her proposals.The unprecedented delay to the speech was also attributed to plans by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to visit Shenzhen to mark the 40th anniversary...

Health officials to perform coronavirus testing, the first time a mainland team has been part of city’s pandemic responseCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSeven Chinese health officials arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday, the first members of a 60-person team that will carry out widespread Covid-19 testing in the territory as it races to halt another wave of illness.The initiative marks the...

The Hong Kong chief executive, Carrie Lam, announced on Friday that she had invoked colonial-era emergency regulations to delay the upcoming elections for one year, citing the growing coronavirus outbreak in the region. Lam said the decision had the full backing of the Chinese central government, but the news has prompted immediate accusations that the pandemic is being used as a pretext to suppress...

City’s leader announces investigation into vote that has been seen as an act of opposition to new security laws China has declared primaries held by Hong Kong’s pro-democratic parties on the weekend “illegal” and the city’s leader has announced an investigation, saying that the candidates’ intention to vote against government legislation could break national security laws.The primary polls, while not a formal part of...

Leader says ‘one country, two systems’ deal could continue if city shows loyalty to ChinaHong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, has said the “one country, two systems” framework under which the city is meant to enjoy autonomy from China could be extended beyond 2047 if loyalty to Beijing is upheld.In her first appearance at the Legislative Council since October, Lam answered a question from a...

Sea of protesters pour on to streets calling for elections and inquiry into police tacticsHundreds of thousands of protesters have filled the streets of Hong Kong in a mass show of support for an anti-government movement that shows no signs of flagging as it enters a seventh month.The march on Sunday was mostly peaceful, in a rare break from the escalating violent scenes of...

Overwhelming victory for pro-democratic candidates leaves Beijing scrambling to respond Chinese authorities and Hong Kong’s leader have suggested they have little intention of compromise with the city’s protest movement, despite a landslide victory for pro-democracy campaigners in local elections that served as a proxy referendum on six months of unrest.The city has enjoyed a few days of relative calm, as protestors held off turning...

I witnessed the determined solidarity of the protesters, even while police stormed their university campusOver the weekend, defiant young activists in Hong Kong demonstrated their capacity to look after themselves in the campus of Polytechnic University. I was there, and witnessed how the students worked together to build brick barricades, took over the canteen to feed hundreds and set up first-aid stations. This all...

600 protesters surrendered to authorities at Polytechnic University overnight, says Carrie LamAbout 100 protesters remain holed up at a university surrounded by police in Hong Kong, on the third day of the most prolonged and tense confrontation in more than five months of conflict in the semi-autonomous city.Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam said about 600 protesters surrendered to authorities at the Polytechnic University...

Brutal treatment of protesters and a government that will not listen have inflamed a dangerous situationHong Kong is unrecognisable. In less than six months a global financial centre known for its efficiency and pragmatism has become consumed by rage and violence. On Tuesday, as police stormed a university campus to arrest students, and their teargas and rubber bullets were met by petrol bombs, parts...

Beijing issues strongly-worded warning it will not tolerate ‘any actions that split the country’China has issued unusually tough warnings for Hong Kong, signalling a desire to bring the semi-autonomous city under tighter control, and “perfect” its governance of the territory, after five months of increasingly violent protests.China’s Communist party, in a statement issued after a meeting of key leaders, said national interest should take...

Protesters plan more action after violent night that saw attack on state-owned Xinhua agencyChina’s state-owned news agency, Xinhua, has denounced the attack on its Hong Kong office by pro-democracy protesters as “barbaric”.In a brief statement late on Saturday, Xinhua strongly condemned the “barbaric acts of mobs” that had vandalised and set fire to the lobby of its Asia-Pacific office building in the city’s Wan...

Beijing would reportedly appoint interim chief executive but only once protests die downChina plans to replace Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam with an “interim” chief executive, the Financial Times reported, citing people briefed on the deliberations, which would bring to a close Lam’s rule after months of pro-democracy protests.Lam has become a lightning rod for sweeping protests over fears that Beijing is tightening its...

Carrie Lam abandons chamber again after lawmakers decry assault on protest leader The Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam, has again been forced from the legislative chamber because of protests by opposition members after a violent attack on a leader of the nearly five-month-old protest movement.Pro-democracy lawmakers shouted and waved placards depicting Lam with bloodied hands, prompting their removal by guards and the suspension of...