Google has blocked Hong Kong users from accessing pro-democracy protest song Glory to Hong Kong on YouTube following a court order. It comes days after Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said the government was “anxious” for the tech company’s response to the ruling. Last Wednesday, a court banned people from “broadcasting, performing, printing, publishing, selling, […]
By Rod Parkes “Tell good stories about Hong Kong,” the government constantly exhorts the media and the public in the face of much perceived criticism of the territory. In the archetypal “good story about Hong Kong” the protagonist – typically from humble beginnings – seizes the opportunities the city offers, through talent and hard work, […]
By Beiyi Seow The United States is hiking tariffs on US$18 billion worth of imports from China, targeting strategic sectors like electric vehicles, batteries, steel and critical minerals, the White House said Tuesday. The decision comes as President Joe Biden gears up for a re-run of his 2020 contest with Republican rival Donald Trump in […]
The defence should be allowed to call a witness to the stand for a second time “in the interests of justice,” the lawyer for jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai has argued at the landmark national security trial. But his submission drew the ire of the three judges presiding over the case, who questioned the defence’s […]
The licensing body for Hong Kong’s social workers will be overhauled to allow government appointees to command a majority, after the welfare chief said changes were needed to “better protect national security.” The Executive Council, the government advisory body, approved on Tuesday to adjust the composition of the Social Workers Registration Board, which currently has […]
The UK government said on Tuesday it had summoned China’s ambassador Zheng Zeguang, a day after three people were charged in the latest Beijing-linked alleged espionage case. The foreign ministry was “unequivocal in setting out that the recent pattern of behaviour directed by China against the UK, including cyber-attacks, reports of espionage links and the […]
By James Edgar Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China this week on the invitation of leader Xi Jinping, Beijing’s foreign ministry said Tuesday. Putin will be in Beijing from Thursday to Friday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, in the Russian leader’s second visit to China in just over six months. It will be […]
Hong Kong’s leader John Lee has dismissed “unwarranted accusations” that the city funded the surveillance of overseas activists wanted by national security police, after a government employee was charged by UK authorities over alleged spying activities. The chief executive on Tuesday also urged Britain to “fairly handle” the case, which involves an employee at the […]
A group of current, and former, foreign politicians say they have demanded to be called as witnesses in the landmark national security trial of media mogul Jimmy Lai. Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, who come from nine countries, include Japan’s former defence minister Gen Nakatani and Iain Duncan Smith – a former UK […]
Hong Kong welcomed almost 3.4 million visitors in April, according to provisional figures from the Tourism Board. Though it represents a 17.3 per cent increase in visitors compared to last April, the number of arrivals still lags behind the figures seen before the city enacted prolonged Covid-19 travel restrictions in 2020. The city saw 3,391,381 […]
The Tourism Board will give HK$200 vouchers to visitors from eight Chinese cities who will soon be able to come to Hong Kong under an expanded solo travel scheme, allowing them to experience the city’s “extraordinary charm.” Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee said the vouchers could be spent at “many different types […]
Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog has charged two women for allegedly bribing a HSBC counter service officer with an unspecified amount of money in connection to a bank account opening. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Monday said the two women – Yu Hui, 26, and Wang Jinyu, 37 – jointly face one count of […]