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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday questioned China’s sincerity in seeking peace in Ukraine as he directly pressed his counterpart over exports that boost Russia’s military. Blinken met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the latest talks as the two powers look to dial down once-soaring […]

Concern groups have called for a stronger sentence on a man who was fined HK$5,000 for splashing semen-laced water onto a woman at a university, saying the penalty sent a message that sexual violence has “no real consequences.” Through an Instagram page called Pissed Us Off, which was set up to bring attention to similar […]

China on Friday said it wanted to improve ties with Japan, after the country’s ruling party chose former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba as its new leader. “The long-term, sound and steady development of China-Japan relations serves the fundamental interests of the two peoples,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said. “It’s the only appropriate choice,” Lin […]

The Chinese University of Hong Kong has approved renowned molecular biologist Dennis Lo as its new vice-chancellor and president. The university council on Friday unanimously approved the appointment of Lo, currently the associate research dean of the institution’s medical faculty. The decision came after a search committee recommended Lo as the sole candidate. Lo will […]

A Hong Kong doctor who was jailed for rioting during the 2019 extradition bill protests has received a suspended order striking his name off the professional register. The Medical Council of Hong Kong on Friday ordered the registration of Dr Tse Tat-chi, who was jailed for four years in March last year, to be suspended […]

By James Edgar China on Friday cut the amount banks must hold in reserve, releasing an estimated US$142.6 billion in liquidity into the financial market as leaders embark on one of their biggest drives in years to kickstart growth. The move by the People’s Bank of China comes a day after President Xi Jinping and […]

The Hong Kong government has hailed the sentencing of two former top editors of Stand News in a landmark sedition case, saying that the now-defunct media outlet had “sided with the protesters against the government,” while media groups described the case as a blow to press freedom. The ideology of Stand News was “localism which […]

Tickets for Hong Kong’s premier music and arts festival, Clockenflap, have gone on sale, as English rock band Suede join the 2024 line-up. The UK band will perform a special, extended 90-minute set this November – their first show in Hong Kong since 2016. Earlier this month, they played in Shenzhen, Chengdu and Fuyang. Clockenflap will […]

Hong Kong has been urged to enact new legislation to ensure bird-friendly building designs, after an NGO found that more than 280 birds had died in window collisions between 2022 and 2023. High-rises with extensive glass may pose “fatal traps” for migrating birds, the Hong Kong Bird Watching Society (HKBWS) said on Thursday in its […]

The former chief editor of independent Hong Kong media outlet Stand News has been jailed for one year and nine months over publishing “seditious” materials, in a landmark case. A second editor from the outlet was allowed to walk free after being handed a sentence that allowed for his immediate release. Stand News’ former editor-in-chief […]

A union of Hong Kong speech therapists whose board members were jailed for sedition two years ago has been ordered to hand over HK$116,000 in assets after the city’s justice department said the union’s funds had been used to endanger national security. High Court judge Andrew Chan, one of the judges hand-picked to preside over […]

Hong Kong property behemoth New World Development announced Thursday that its chief executive officer Adrian Cheng has been replaced, as the firm reported an annual loss of over US$2.5 billion. Share trading in property giant New World Development had already been suspended in Hong Kong earlier Thursday ahead of the announcement, as well as trading […]

An international rights NGO has invited Hong Kong’s government to clarify what it called “fabricated content” in a report published by the NGO that noted there had been a “severe decline” in academic freedom in Hong Kong since the enactment of a security law in 2020. The report released by Human Rights Watch and Hong Kong […]

The world’s largest war and humanitarian crisis has been unfolding in Sudan. Most United Nations aid agencies have pulled their staff out of the country due to the extreme danger they could face. But Beatrice Lau, from Hong Kong, remained on site as Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF) chief negotiator.  Her mission: to negotiate with the warring parties […]

China’s top leaders, including President Xi Jinping, admitted Thursday that the economy was facing new “problems” and vowed to resolve a long-running housing sector crisis, state media said. Beijing this week unveiled a raft of new measures aimed at boosting its ailing economy, which the leadership aims to grow by five percent in 2024 — […]

Two former editors of defunct independent Hong Kong media outlet Stand News face sentencing on Thursday afternoon, as the city’s first sedition trial of journalists since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997 comes to a close. Stand News’ former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, 54, and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam, 36, are […]

A PhD student has been fined HK$5,000 for splashing liquid containing his own semen onto a woman’s buttocks at a local university. Lai Changwei, a 26-year-old PhD student in neuroscience at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts to be sentenced before Magistrate Li Chi-ho on Tuesday. Lai, […]

China said it test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday, firing it into the Pacific Ocean in its first such exercise in decades. The launch sparked protests from other countries in the region, with China’s neighbour Japan saying it had not been given advance notice and expressing “serious concern” about Beijing’s military build-up. Beijing has […]

A Hong Kong woman has been remanded into custody pending sentencing, after she pleaded guilty to breaching confidentiality rules by leaking a university entrance examination paper on social media. Lau Kwun-hei, 23, pleaded guilty to one count of “breach of secrecy” under the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority Ordinance on Wednesday at Eastern Magistrates’ […]

China’s central bank on Wednesday said it would slash another key interest rate, a day after it unveiled a raft of new measures aimed at boosting its ailing economy. The medium-term lending facility — the interest for one-year loans to financial institutions — was cut from 2.3 percent to 2.0 percent, the People’s Bank of […]

Hong Kong’s health minister has called on the public not to label people with psychiatric disorders, saying that violent incidents involving psych patients were “isolated cases.” Hong Kong should adopt a more inclusive attitude towards psychiatric patients and do its best to help them recover, Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau told the press on Tuesday. […]

Hong Kong’s High Court will determine in three months whether it was unlawful for the government to impose new rules on the media’s access to the city’s vehicle registry. The rules were deemed “restrictive” by a local press group. The rules were tightened after the city’s apex court overturned journalist Bao Choy’s conviction last June […]

A former Hong Kong student leader jailed over praising a knife attack on police in 2021 has been denied early release following a decision by the city’s national security committee, a court has heard. The High Court on Tuesday also dismissed an application filed by the former chair of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) […]

China on Tuesday condemned “lies and smears” and defended its three-year detention of former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig after he alleged psychological torture during his imprisonment in the country. Canadians Michael Spavor and Kovrig, who became known as “the two Michaels”, were detained by Beijing in December 2018 in apparent retaliation for the arrest in […]