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Hong Kong’s government watchdog has launched an investigation into delays in the recovery of public rental housing flats, citing a case in which refurbishing works took four times longer than expected. The Ombudsman said on Thursday that it would probe the Housing Authority and Housing Society’s arrangements in recovering public rental units in line with […]

A Hong Kong public hospital has identified bedbugs, a tiny brown pest that feed mostly on human blood, on at least 10 beds, with four patients believed to have been bitten while hospitalised. A spokesperson for Kwai Chung Hospital (KCH) said in a statement on Tuesday that they had found bedbugs on a patient’s bed […]

A Hong Kong court has heard contradictory arguments over the role of a detained ex-lawmaker in the Yuen Long mob attack in 2019, with the prosecution claiming he should be blamed for instigating violence. Seven people including Democratic Party former lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting stand accused of rioting during the attack on July 21, 2019. On […]

Hong Kong’s John Lee has rebuffed an invitation to criticise the intimidation of journalists, with his office referring HKFP back to comments Lee made during a press briefing when asked whether the city’s leader condemned the recent spate of harassment. Since Hong Kong’s largest press group announced the “systemic and organised attack” last Friday, it […]

A Hong Kong man charged under Hong Kong’s new security law has been sentenced to 10 months in jail after pleading guilty over writing “seditious” graffiti on bus seats. Chung Man-kit appeared before Chief Magistrate Victor So at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday, where he entered a guilty plea for three counts of […]

The first person convicted under Hong Kong’s new security legislation has been jailed for 14 months, after pleading guilty on Monday to sedition over wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan on it. Chu Kai-pong, 27, was convicted on Monday after he pleaded guilty to one count of “doing with a seditious intention an act […]

A Japanese boy stabbed on his way to school in China died on Thursday, Tokyo’s foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa said, an incident that has inflamed tensions between the neighbouring countries. “I can’t help but feel deep sorrow, having been informed that the child passed away before dawn,” she told reporters, slamming the act as “despicable”. […]

An elderly Hong Kong activist who recently completed a jail term for a sedition offence has vowed to continue protesting, including on China’s upcoming National Day. Koo Sze-yiu and other activists protested outside the Japanese consulate on Wednesday, which marked the 93rd anniversary of the Mukden incident, which preceded Japan’s invasion of China in 1931. […]

US lawmakers on Wednesday vowed to keep up pressure to free Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, whose son warned that time was running out. Lai, the founder of the now-shuttered popular Chinese-language tabloid Apple Daily which supported mass pro-democracy protests, was detained in 2020 and is standing trial on charges including sedition and […]

A Taiwanese court on Wednesday sentenced a former Chinese naval captain to eight months in prison for illegally entering the self-governing island by boat. China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has in recent years ramped up military and political pressures on the island. The ex-naval captain, Ruan Fangyong, was one of […]

Hong Kong experienced its hottest Mid-Autumn Festival since records began in 1884 with temperatures hitting 35.7 degrees Celsius, the city’s weather service said Tuesday. The Hong Kong Observatory said Tuesday was also the hottest day of 2024 and urged the public to take precautions such as drinking more water and avoiding vigorous outdoor activities. “Until […]

On the evening of Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls each year on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, villagers from Pok Fu Lam Village on the southwestern edge of Hong Kong Island parage through the narrow lanes with a fire dragon to pray for well-being. Though not as well known […]

For decades, free-wheeling Hong Kong was reputed as an open Asian economic base, travel hub and place to do business, with a liberal border regime. But, in recent years, the city has taken a stricter, or more discretionary, approach to whom it is allowing in – particularly when it comes to political figures. Earlier this […]

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee has condemned a US bill that could close Hong Kong’s trade office in the US, calling the move “shameless and ugly.” Lee said on Tuesday morning, during a weekly press conference, that the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) Certification Act is a means to “suppress” the development […]

Colourful lanterns and festive installations illuminated Hong Kong on the eve of Mid-Autumn Festival on Monday. At Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, children and their families danced under the glow of the bright lights. At another side of the park, people posed for photos next to a giant barbeque pork rice bowl and nostalgic shopfronts […]

A Hong Kong court has sentenced the last eight protesters who were charged with rioting near the Polytechnic University when it was under police siege in 2019. They were handed up to four-and-a-half years in jail, with a police officer in charge of the prosecution calling the case “unprecedented.” The PolyU campus siege in November […]

Taiwan’s premier said Monday the government will promptly review several incidents of Chinese nationals illegally entering the self-ruled island by boat, vowing to ensure its security. Cho Jung-tai’s comments came after a Chinese man was found in a rubber dinghy in waters near northern New Taipei City on Saturday, following a similar incident in June. […]

The Philippines insisted on Monday that it had not given up a South China Sea reef, two days after it pulled out a ship stationed there following a months-long standoff with rival claimant China. Manila had deployed the coast guard flagship BRP Teresa Magbanua to Sabina Shoal in April to stop Beijing from building an […]

Hong Kong’s premier music and arts festival, Clockenflap, is to return this November, with organisers revealing the first acts. American guitarist Jack White, UK DJ/producer Jamie xx, French electronic duo Air, critically acclaimed US singer-songwriter St. Vincent, and British psychedelic pop-rockers Glass Animals are set to play the Central Harbourfront on November 29-December 1, 2024. The […]

A Hong Kong social worker who was removed from an industry licensing body after an overhaul aimed at “protecting” national security has filed a complaint to the government watchdog. In a letter to the Ombudsman on Saturday, Eddie Tse said the Social Workers Registration Board did not explain why he had been axed from the […]

Movie tickets will be half-price this National Day, with MTR fares for most routes at 25 per cent off, Chief Executive John Lee has said, two weeks ahead of the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. To mark the anniversary, posters and banners have been put up, creating a “warm atmosphere” for the […]

Hong Kong has verified 47 applications under a new investment visa scheme launched six months ago, each one having already made an investment of HK$30 million in the city. Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), a government department focused on foreign direct investment, announced on Monday that a total of 500 applications have been received under the investment visa […]

Hong Kong’s police chief has vowed to investigate reports of harassment and intimidation “without bias,” after a local press union claimed that reporters from at least 13 media outlets in the city had been targeted in a “systematic” online and offline attack. As of last Friday, police had received two reports of alleged harassment and intimidation involving […]

A Hong Kong appeals court has reduced the “obviously excessive” sentences given to four former student leaders who praised a knife-attack on police in July 2021, trimming their jail terms to 15 months. Kinson Cheung, Charles Kwok, Chris Todorovski and Anthony Yung, who were members of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) Students’ Union Council, […]