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By Oliver Hotham China rolled out the red carpet on Monday for leaders from across Africa, seeking to deepen ties with the resource-rich continent it has furnished with billions in loans for infrastructure and development. Beijing has said this week’s China-Africa forum will be its largest diplomatic event since the Covid-19 pandemic, with more than […]

The Hong Kong Observatory may issue its No.1 typhoon signal on Tuesday afternoon as Tropical Cyclone Yagi is expected to enter within 800 kilometres of the city. The Observatory said on Monday that it would consider hoisting the standby signal between Tuesday afternoon and Tuesday night, as forecasts showed Yagi edging closer to the coast […]

One in four Hong Kong secondary school students said they suffered from moderate to severe depression, a survey conducted by an NGO has found, urging the city to foster a more positive culture for teenagers and include youngsters when planning mental health policies. Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service surveyed 1,646 students in local secondary schools […]

Swimmer Jasmine Ng has clinched bronze in the women’s 100-metre breaststroke, securing Hong Kong’s second medal at the Paris Paralympics. The 14-year-old finished third with a time of 1:34.15 on Sunday afternoon in Paris, making her Hong Kong’s youngest Paralympic medallist. Ng touched the wall just under three seconds behind Britain’s Maisie Summers-Newton, who took […]

Hong Kong police conducted stop-and-search around Prince Edward on Saturday, the fifth anniversary of an incident inside the district’s MTR station during the 2019 protests. One man was taken away by officers. On Saturday evening, police deployed in large numbers outside the MTR station. Officers stopped and searched multiple people, including a man wearing black […]

Sweet, milky and colourful — bubble tea is wildly popular in China, where people sipping through straws from large plastic cups is a common sight in high streets and shopping malls across the country. But there’s fresh competition brewing in the vast market, characterised by ultra-cheap products that are striking a chord with China’s increasingly […]

In August, 50 months since Beijing imposed a security law on Hong Kong, two former editors of shuttered online media Stand News became the first journalists found guilty of sedition in the city since it was returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Additionally, people charged with sedition under Hong Kong’s new security law appeared in […]

When sedition charges against Hong Kong news editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam were first read out in court, former employees of the now-shuttered Stand News broke down in tears in the public gallery. The courtroom in the landmark trial became a battleground for debate about the merits and limits of press freedom in Hong […]

Security chief Chris Tang has repeatedly hit out the city’s embattled press union, the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA). In 2021, he claimed it was “breaching professional ethics,” casting doubt over its representativeness and credibility, weeks after the state-backed press labelled it an amoral “anti-government political organisation.” On the eve of the HKJA’s executive committee […]

A joint declaration by Pacific leaders was reissued Saturday morning with mentions of Taiwan removed after China slammed an earlier version as a “mistake” that “must be corrected”. After five days of talks in Tonga, a “cleared” communique was released Friday that reaffirmed a 30-year-old agreement allowing Taiwan to take part in the Pacific Islands […]

Hong Kong police have arrested two people under the new national security law over alleged “seditious intentions.” According to local media, police apprehended a 41-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman on Friday. Officers reportedly searched their residences and confiscated their electronic devices. The case was reportedly related to the apparent suicide of a City University […]

While on trial for sedition, Hong Kong editor Chung Pui-kuen became the defiant face of the city’s media over his leadership of Stand News, a now-shuttered news outlet accused of inciting hatred against Beijing. The 54-year-old served as editor-in-chief of the popular online news portal, which gained prominence for its coverage of Hong Kong’s democracy […]

Ten members of pro-democracy party the League of Social Democrats (LSD) accused of unlicensed fundraising are considering how to plead to the charges laid against them, a Hong Kong court has heard. They will rely on two precedent cases for their pleas, including a recent appellate court ruling that upheld LSD chair Chan Po-ying’s conviction […]

A woman who pleaded guilty to possessing firearms and bullets without a license in a case linked to a thwarted bomb plot in 2019 has been sentenced to seven years and four months in jail. Chung Suet-ying, 33, appeared at High Court on Friday for sentencing. She earlier pleaded guilty to one count of “possession […]

Press freedom is no excuse for breaking the law, China’s foreign ministry has said after two ex-editors at the defunct Hong Kong news outlet Stand News were found guilty of sedition. Spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry Lin Jian said in a press conference in Beijing on Friday that “some countries and organisations” had used the […]

A team of maternity and paediatric care experts at Hong Kong’s Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) has said it successfully raised the survival rate of premature infants by devising treatment and emergency care strategies with parents ahead of delivery. Premature babies born at 23 weeks of pregnancy in QMH between 2021 and 2023 had a 50 […]

By Steven Trask Pacific leaders wrapped up a key summit in Tonga on Friday, endorsing a major joint policing initiative and rebuffing moves from China’s regional allies to sideline long-term partner Taiwan. Leaders trickled back to capital Nuku’alofa after an overnight island retreat, using the tranquil surroundings to try to chart a course through increasingly […]

Hong Kong has won its first medal at the Paralympics in Paris, with swimmer Chan Yui-lam clinching silver in the women’s 100-metre butterfly event. Chan, 20, came in second place with a time of 1:03.70, a personal best for the swimmer, on Thursday. The UK’s Poppy Maskill won the gold medal, while Russian swimmer Valeria […]

Hong Kong’s Drainage Services Department is celebrating its 35th anniversary with a manhole cover design competition, inviting the public to submit their illustrations inspired by a district of their choosing. In a press release, the department said it had seen a strong response when it first held a similar competition five years ago, receiving over […]

The Hong Kong government has hailed the conviction of ex-Stand News editors Chung Pui-kuen and Patrick Lam after they and their now-defunct news outlet were found guilty on Thursday of publishing 11 “seditious” items. Multiple NGOs, a press union and the EU have slammed the guilty verdicts, saying they demonstrate the city’s decline in press […]

Nearly 40 per cent of workers reported that their employers had not provided them with any measures to help prevent heat stress, an NGO has found, more than a year after guidelines to help stop heat stroke at work were introduced. The Association for the Rights of Industrial Accident Victims interviewed 470 frontline workers from […]

Two former chief editors of defunct outlet Stand News have been found guilty of sedition, marking the first such conviction of journalists in Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Stand News’ former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen, 54, appeared in front of judge Kwok Wai-kin at Wan Chai’s District Court […]

One man has been convicted over an alleged bomb plot to kill police officers during the 2019 protests and unrest. The remaining six defendants were found not guilty by the nine-member jury. Lai Chun-pong was found guilty of the alternative charge of conspiracy to cause explosion with intent to endanger life or property. He was found […]

The conviction of two former editors of defunct Hong Kong outlet Stand News shows the “necessity and lawfulness” of their arrests almost three years ago, a top national security police officer has said hours after the pair were found guilty of sedition. Steve Li, the chief superintendent of the National Security Department of the police, […]