~hong-kong-free-pres | Bookmarks (740)

Hong Kong’s cruise arrivals are expected to reach pre-Covid levels in 2026, the head of the city’s cruise terminal operator has said, as the government highlighted cruise tourism in a five-year sector development blueprint. Jeff Bent, the managing director of Worldwide Cruise Terminals, which operates Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, said on Tuesday that […]

Hong Kong has appointed a new customs chief to replace former department head Louise Ho, who went on pre-retirement leave on Tuesday. The government named Chan Tsz-tat as commissioner of customs and excise on Tuesday after the central government accepted Chief Executive John Lee’s recommendation that Chan lead the department he has worked with for […]

Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to promote “world peace” in a New Year’s message to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, state media reported on Tuesday. “No matter how the international situation changes, China will remain steadfast in further comprehensively deepening reform… and promoting world peace and development,” Xi said, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Since […]

The government is seeking to overturn a legal challenge against a large-scale housing project on part of a golf club popular among Hong Kong’s elites, saying the ruling would make it “impossible” to conduct future development projects normally. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) – which oversees the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Fanling golf […]

A man charged under a Hong Kong security law over allegedly publishing “seditious” posts online has had his case adjourned to await the verdict of a landmark appeal at the top court. Chow Kim-ho appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Monday. The part-time handyman stands accused of publishing seditious posts on Facebook, Instagram […]

The US Treasury Department said Monday that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach resulting in access to some of its workstations, according to a letter to Congress seen by AFP. The incident happened earlier this month, when the actor compromised a third-party cybersecurity service provider and was able to remotely access the […]

The Hong Kong government has unveiled a five-year development blueprint for the city’s tourism industry, with the goal of boosting its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) to around 5 cent by 2029. Hong Kong will implement 133 measures in the next five years to develop tourism products and projects with local and international […]

A social worker and activist who was jailed over an offence linked to the protests in 2019 has had his social work license suspended for five years, the longest revocation yet under new laws meant to protect national security. Lau Ka-tung said on Facebook and Instagram on Sunday that his social work license had been […]

A Chinese court sentenced a teenage boy to life in prison on Monday for murdering his classmate, capping a case that sparked a national debate over the treatment of juvenile offenders. Three suspects, all aged under 14 at the time of the murder, were accused in April of bullying a 13-year-old classmate surnamed Wang over a […]

Hong Kong will focus on “retaining talent” after multiple admission schemes brought around 175,000 people to the city over the past two years, including two top snooker players and a former NBA star, the labour chief has said. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun also said on Monday that the government had no plans […]

Calls from newly-activated prepaid SIM cards will come with a voice alert from Tuesday, Hong Kong’s communications watchdog has announced in a move aimed to notify the public of suspicious calls. Under the new measure, a voice alert message will play, stating, “This call is made from a new pre-paid SIM card,” before the call […]

China on Monday expressed “deep condolences” following the death of former US president Jimmy Carter, who died aged 100. Washington forged diplomatic links with the People’s Republic of China in January 1979 — midway through Carter’s term in office — breaking with the Nationalist government in Taiwan that was a staunch US ally throughout the […]

A leading epidemiologist has said that levels of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) remained low in Hong Kong amid an outbreak of the respiratory virus in mainland China. David Hui, a professor of respiratory medicine at the Faculty of Medicine at Chinese University of Hong Kong, told TVB on Sunday that while HMPV infections had risen in […]

Legislating Hong Kong’s homegrown national security law was the biggest challenge of his career, the city’s security chief has said. In a Facebook video shared on Sunday, Secretary for Security Chris Tang recapped a year he described as being “filled with challenges and opportunities.” Tang said he and the team “poured countless effort and time” […]

Hong Kong’s Labour Department has launched a probe into a fatal industrial accident involving a construction worker who died after being crushed by a falling glass panel. The Labour Department said on Sunday that it was saddened by the death of a 53-year-old male worker, who was killed on Monday after a glass panel of […]

A Jeju Air plane flying from Bangkok to South Korea with 181 people on board crashed on landing Sunday, leaving all but two people plucked from the wreckage feared dead. Here’s what we know so far. What happened? A Boeing 737-800 aircraft belonging to low-cost carrier Jeju Air, flying from Bangkok to Muan airport, was […]

Olympic table tennis star Fan Zhendong said Sunday he had never been “officially informed” he would be fined for not competing on the world tour despite officials saying the rules were “consistent, not new”. Fan, who took the men’s singles title in Paris this year, announced on Friday he was quitting the WTT World Tour, […]

Quentin Lau knows his job as a taxi driver makes him an object of derision. When he comes across online news articles on the taxi industry, like those about new ride-hailing apps entering the market or yet another altercation between a driver and a passenger, he rarely reads the comments. “Sometimes, the comments are quite […]

China’s commerce ministry on Friday launched an investigation into imported beef at the request of representatives from its struggling domestic industry, it said. The local price of beef in China has trended downwards in recent years, with analysts blaming oversupply and a lack of demand as the world’s second largest economy has slowed. At the […]

The top diplomats of China and Iran agreed Saturday that the Middle East is “not a battleground for the big powers” and should not be an arena of geopolitical competition between countries outside the region. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed that “the international community should respect the sovereignty, security, […]

Hong Kong’s national security police on Tuesday issued a fresh round of arrest warrants for six people living overseas, with bounties worth HK$1 million offered for information leading to their arrests. The six stand accused of committing national security offences including inciting secession and collusion with foreign forces. Including them, there are now 19 people […]

More than 20 Hong Kong police officers have been deployed to a neighbourhood where a week-long independent book fair was underway. Some attendees had their IDs and bags checked by the police, a book store staffer told HKFP’s journalist on the scene. Uniform and plainclothes police officers were on patrol around Tai Ping Shan Streetin […]

Hong Kong residents were more dissatisfied about the city’s development in 2024 than satisfied, a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) has found. Residents largely expected next year’s situation to be worse, it also found. On Friday, PORI released the results of a year-end survey about residents’ views on Hong […]

The future operation of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI) “will not be affected” by a police bounty on its former deputy chief over national security allegations, its CEO has said. Robert Chung, CEO of PORI, said on Friday that his independent polling institute was not approached by the authorities about the issuance […]