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By Joy Chiang and Amber Wang A Chinese aircraft carrier group sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, Taiwan’s defence minister said, a day after Beijing held a live-fire exercise near the self-ruled island. China considers Taiwan to be part of its territory and has ramped up military activity around the island in recent years […]

The Hong Kong Observatory has said that it would issue the T1 storm warning when Tropical Cyclone Trami enters within 800 metres of the city late on Thursday night or early on Friday morning. “Trami is forecast to move west in the general direction to the vicinity of Hainan Island and intensify gradually,” the Observatory […]

New restrictions barring the use of cloud storage and instant messaging services including WhatsApp Web, WeChat, and Google Drive on Hong Kong civil servants’ work computers will take effect by the end of October. Hong Kong technology minister Sun Dong told RTHK in Mandarin on Tuesday that the measures were being introduced in response to […]

A 12th monkey kept at a zoological garden in central Hong Kong has died, with a necropsy underway to determine whether it succumbed to the same bacterial infection that killed 11 monkeys from the same zoo. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), which manages the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens where the primates […]

The first person denied early release from jail under Hong Kong’s new security law has argued in court that the treatment was unfair as he was not properly informed about the decision by the city’s corrections authorities. The High Court on Tuesday heard the first legal challenge against the newly enacted Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, […]

Hongkongers have been urged to remain vigilant to possible poaching activities while hiking in country parks or remote areas, with a conservation and education centre warning that poachers posed a threat to the city’s rich biodiversity. “Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG) has learned that our native biodiversity is once again under threat from poaching […]

Landlords of subdivided units will have to renew their registrations every five years as part of a proposed law aimed at phasing out “substandard” homes, Hong Kong’s housing minister has said. The government is planning to have landlords of subdivided dwellings register their name, address, as well as the size of the subdivided units, Secretary […]

A Hong Kong court has rejected a man’s attempt to appeal his conviction and six-year prison term for attempting to seize a police officer’s gun during a protest in 2019. Woo Tsz-kin’s leave to appeal application was turned down by three judges from the Court of Appeal on Tuesday, with the panel said there was […]

China said Tuesday it had agreed to extend for four years a deal with the Vatican concerning the appointment of bishops. The Vatican and Beijing’s Communist leadership signed the secretive agreement on the thorny issue in 2018, giving both sides a say in the naming of bishops in China. The historic accord was last renewed […]

China’s military began a live-fire exercise near Taiwan on Tuesday, maintaining pressure on the self-ruled island after staging large-scale drills and President Xi Jinping called for troops to prepare for war. China’s Communist Party has never ruled the island, but it claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will not renounce […]

Hong Kong’s labour minister has said using a poverty line to measure inequality was “inadequate,” after pausing the publication of statistics after 2020 despite opposition from NGOs. Sun instead touted the importance of “targeted” poverty alleviation that focuses on demographics including the elderly and subdivided housing tenants. His comments came after Chief Executive John Lee […]

Hong Kong’s courts are independent and proceedings are conducted in accordance with the evidence presented, the government has said after a former top court judge said the Judiciary was “too partial” to the authorities. The government’s comments came after former non-permanent Court of Final Appeal judge Lord Jonathan Sumption explained in a podcast earlier this […]

A group of Kwai Chung subdivided unit tenants have called on the government to resettle those displaced when the authorities begin phasing out “substandard” subdivided housing. The Kwai Chung Subdivided Units Kai Fong Association, a group of tenants and housing activists based around the industrial district, on Monday made their demands, calling for rent caps […]

Hong Kong is considering relaxing the age limit for attending horse races following calls from the city’s leader to develop “horse racing tourism,” the culture chief has said. Secretary for Culture, Sports, and Tourism Kevin Yeung on Monday told an RTHK programme that the government was in talks with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the […]

The Hong Kong government dismissed 51 civil servants in the financial year of 2023-24, which exceeded the yearly average from the past five years, an official document has revealed. A total of 1,072 members of the civil service were penalised with formal disciplinary action for serious misconduct or criminal conviction between the 2019-20 and 2023-24 […]

China said Monday it had lodged a protest with Myanmar authorities after Beijing’s consulate in the city of Mandalay was attacked with an explosive device. “China expresses its deep shock at the attack and sternly condemns it,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said of the incident that occurred Friday. “China has made stern representations to […]

By Peter Catterall China’s central bank on Monday said it had cut two key interest rates to historic lows, in the latest move by Beijing to boost sluggish spending and kickstart the world’s second-largest economy. The cuts come just days after the country posted its slowest quarterly growth in a year and a half, underlining […]

Around 20 local residents and florists from Hong Kong’s century-old Flower Market district have joined forces to advocate against a controversial redevelopment project of the area. Ada Lee, a member of the concern group who has lived in the neighbourhood since 1999, told HKFP last Friday that many residents and florists opposed the proposed redevelopment, which will […]

Hong Kong’s environmental authorities have reminded businesses to comply with a ban on single-use plastics as a six-month grace period came to an end on Monday. Businesses that have not phased out plastics, including disposable plastic cutlery and straws, were reminded to “take action as soon as possible to comply with the legal requirements,” the […]

An 11th monkey from the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens was found dead on Sunday whilst under quarantine, the government has said. In a statement issued on Sunday evening, the government said a common squirrel monkey died while being placed under isolated surveillance. It followed the death of another monkey of its kind the […]

Chinese President Xi Jinping called this week for troops to strengthen their preparedness for war, state media reported on Saturday, just days after Beijing staged large-scale military drills around Taiwan. Xi made his comments while visiting a brigade of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force on Thursday, according to state-run broadcaster CCTV. Xi said the […]

I have been complaining for many years – it’s not particularly fun but someone has to do it – about the lamentable speed with which prosecutions proceed in Hong Kong. You will notice that a sentencing involving 2014 Umbrella Movement democrats predated both Covid-19 and the 2019 “arrestfest.” I will not repeat the details. Suffice […]

60-year-old cleaner Kei pays HK$2,200 for a bedbug-infested partition measuring some 20 square feet in a Mong Kok flat shared with 14 other tenants. He makes about HK$500 a day as a janitor, about the same amount he spends monthly on his cross-harbour commute. Kei’s bedspace is known colloquially as a “coffin home” – a […]

British foreign minister David Lammy on Saturday called for a resumption of dialogue between London and Beijing, urging the two sides to engage in “more diplomacy” as he concluded a rare diplomatic visit to China. China and Britain are seeking to reset ties frayed in recent years by Beijing’s security crackdown in Hong Kong and […]