Category Archives: Hong Kong

Photo exhibition featuring Hong Kong protest images shut down in Macau

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World Press Photo Foundations says it is unclear why exhibition closed early amid speculation of political pressure over photos

A prestigious international press exhibition, featuring photographs of the Hong Kong protests, has been abruptly taken down in Macau, with organisers refusing to explain why, prompting speculation of political pressure.

The World Press Photo exhibition opened on 25 September and was scheduled to run until 18 October but was closed early. Local media quoted the government-run Macau Foundation denying any political pressure, and an organiser told local radio it was due to “internal management problems”, but declined to elaborate.

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Stolen Mao scroll worth £230m was cut in two by £50 buyer, police say

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Hong Kong police say person who bought scroll thought it was a fake and too long to display

A calligraphy scroll by China’s former leader Mao Zedong, estimated to be worth millions, was cut in half after it was stolen last month in Hong Kong, police have said.

The scroll was found damaged when police arrested a 49-year-old man in late September on suspicion of handling stolen property. The South China Morning Post, quoting an unidentified police source, reported that the scroll was cut in two by a buyer who had purchased it for 500 Hong Kong dollars (about £50) and believed the scroll to be counterfeit.

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Hong Kong primary school teacher banned for talking about independence

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Teacher accused of premeditated violation of the constitution, reportedly involving asking questions such as ‘what is freedom of speech’

A Hong Kong primary school teacher has been de-registered after using pro-independence materials in class, reportedly to teach students about the concepts of freedom of speech and independence.

The education bureau accused the teacher of a premeditated act in violation of Hong Kong’s mini constitution, the Basic Law, by having “spread a message about Hong Kong independence”.

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After Hong Kong: China sets sights on solving ‘the Taiwan problem’

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An invasion may not be imminent but experts say armed forces could have capacity to mount one by the end of the decade

Soon after China imposed the new national security law that effectively ended Hong Kong’s limited autonomy, a hawkish legal academic in Beijing spelt out a warning to Taiwan.

The law was not just about ending a year of protests in Hong Kong, Tian Feilong said in an interview with DW News, it was also sending a message to Taipei – and to Washington, which has recently approved new arms sales and high-level visits by US officials to self-rule Taiwan.

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Letters to Hong Kong: ‘the final victory will belong to us’

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Dissidents and exiles write to Hongkongers to express solidarity and offer hope for the future

Mainland Chinese residents, activists and writers have watched with dismay as Hong Kong – a city that was once a haven of free speech and political expression – becomes more like those across the border as China cracks down on dissent.

Three months on from the launch of Beijing’s national security law, several have shared advice, empathy and thoughts through letters to their counterparts in Hong Kong.

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‘In my dreams I’m there’: the exodus from Hong Kong

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Beijing’s national security law has prompted the exit of people from all walks of life in fear they or their children are at risk

Joe Kwong* loves Hong Kong. But he knows he has to leave.

A university-educated construction worker in his 30s, he is just one of many Hongkongers who have uprooted their lives in recent months – or are now planning to – because of fears over the rapid demise of the rule of law and civil liberties. Hong Kong’s descent into effective Chinese control has been swift, and was cemented in June by the introduction of the national security law, which prohibits acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces.

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Families plead for Hong Kong activists accused of trying to flee by speedboat

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The ‘Hong Kong 12’ - arrested for allegedly trying to flee to Taiwan - have become the latest flashpoint for protesters

The family of a Hong Kong activist detained in China after allegedly attempting to flee to Taiwan by speedboat say they have had no communication from him and are relying on a piece of paper from Chinese authorities as confirmation of his whereabouts.

Andy Li was among 12 people caught by Chinese coastguards on 23 August. He had been arrested earlier that month under Hong Kong’s newly introduced national security law, after which the authorities had confiscated his passport before releasing him on bail.

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‘Resist until the end’: On the ground with Apple Daily, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy newspaper – video

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We follow Oscar, a journalist at the tabloid, who in the shadow of China’s controversial national security law continues to report on - now largely silenced - street protests. When the law came into force three months ago, Apple Daily was raided by police: journalists' desks were searched and its founder was taken away in handcuffs. But journalists at the paper are still working, fighting to tell the people of Hong Kong’s story. 

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How HSBC got caught in a geopolitical storm over Hong Kong security law

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Bank’s future remains uncertain as it finds itself under pressure from Beijing and Washington

HSBC has been a fixture of the Hong Kong economy for more than a century. However, its origins as a financial bridge between Asia and the west have placed it in the centre of a modern day geopolitical storm. Facing pressure to choose sides as Hong Kong is convulsed by the new security law imposed by Beijing and Donald Trump pursues a trade war with China, HSBC is in danger of finding itself without friends in either direction.

Headquartered in London, but dependent on Hong Kong and China for profits, HSBC has been affected by tensions between Washington and Beijing – and shareholder concern over its controversial acceptance of an authoritarian crackdown in its key market.

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Protests and Covid leave Hong Kong stuck in recession

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Political unrest hit tourism and retail, and coronavirus response has delayed recovery

Hong Kong’s economy was already in recession when the pandemic hit in January. Six months of running battles between pro-democracy campaigners and local government had deterred many of the visitors who fuel the lucrative tourism industry, while the threat of violence on the streets and closures of shops had sent retail sales down nearly a quarter on the previous year.

With much of Asia shut down by coronavirus restrictions during the winter months, there was little expectation of a recovery until the spring, when the level of infections fell to almost zero across mainland China and most of the rest of the region, and the measures could be eased.

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Big tech firms may be handing Hong Kong user data to China

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Allegation follows new law that lets Hong Kong ask for sensitive data if deemed to threaten national security

Big technology companies may already be complying with secret Chinese requests for user information held in Hong Kong and ought to “come clean” about the vulnerability of the data they hold there, a senior US state department official has said.

The allegation of possible secret cooperation between major companies and Hong Kong authorities follows the implementation of a sweeping and controversial new national security law that allows Hong Kong authorities to demand sensitive user data from companies if it is deemed to threaten national security.

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The new centre of dissent: Britain becomes hub for Hong Kong activists

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Longstanding cultural ties and a newly welcoming government have led to prominent exiles choosing London as their base

The UK has become an international hub for Hong Kong dissidents as China’s harsh new security law leads to an exodus of pro-democracy politicians, campaigners and protesters, who now face jail terms for their activism.

Longstanding cultural ties, a newly welcoming government and Covid-era travel restrictions that have in effect closed off other potential destinations, such as Canada and Australia, have boosted the number of new arrivals to Britain.

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Demoralised but defiant, Hong Kong’s spirit of resistance endures

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Security law has largely stamped out anti-government protests, but the opposition is finding new ways to fight

Tony Chung spends his days in fear and solitude. For the 19-year-old activist, who became the first political figure to be arrested under Hong Kong’s national security law, the spectre of prison looms large.

Chung was arrested in late July with three other former members of the pro-independence group Studentlocalism – which he founded at the age of 15 – on suspicion of inciting secession under the law.

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‘We swam to Hong Kong for freedom half a century ago. What now?’ – video

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Hon Man Po is a freedom swimmer who fled China for Hong Kong. He arrived in 1968 after years of trying. 

Two years prior he swam for five hours in the dark from the mainland to Macau, where he made enough money to take an illegal boat journey to Hong Kong. He was one of hundreds of thousands who followed that route between 1950 and 1980. 

More than 50 years ago, Hon risked his life in search of liberty, but now – with the implementation of a new national security law by China – he sees that same fear he was escaping invading his life again

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‘Back where we were’: history repeats for Hong Kong’s freedom swimmers

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They risked their lives in search of liberty in the British colony - now the system they were desperate to escape is at the door

They came one by one, dragging themselves from the sea on to the shores of Hong Kong over oyster beds, their bodies bleeding. Some had swum for miles, braving choppy, treacherous seas, tied together by ropes. Others made the desperate journey in makeshift boats.

They were known as freedom swimmers – hundreds of thousands of young men and women who fled mainland China and risked their lives in search of freedom in the British colony amid the oppressive political movements in China between 1950 and 1980, which targeted “class enemies”.

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Who runs Hong Kong: party faithful shipped in to carry out Beijing’s will

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Hardliners and allies of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, are remaking the semi-autonomous territory

A senior communist party operative whose only previous experience in Hong Kong is a business trip two years ago; a former Guangdong mayor who oversaw the mass arrests of villagers protesting against land seizures; a former provincial party secretary best known for tearing down hundreds of churches and crosses in eastern China.

These are China’s top officials charged with Hong Kong affairs, hardliners and allies of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, who are remaking the semi-autonomous territory into a city that is directly under Beijing’s control in all but name.

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Trump cuts aid for pro-democracy groups in Belarus, Hong Kong and Iran

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Open Technology Fund, which helped activists evade state surveillance and sidestep web censorship, sees $20m grant pulled

The Trump administration has stopped vital technical assistance to pro-democracy groups in Belarus, Hong Kong and Iran, which had helped activists evade state surveillance and sidestep internet censorship.

Related: Trump memo on Comey firing was 'tinfoil helmet material', Mueller prosecutor says

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Hong Kong police tighten control on media with new accreditation rules

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Experts say new policy enables government to decide who is a journalist and curbs power of student and online journalism

Hong Kong authorities have moved to further constrain the city’s free press with an announcement by police that they would no longer recognise certain types of media accreditation.

Critics accused the police force of infringing the constitutionally enshrined free press, by attempting to create a government licensing system and reduce independent monitoring of their activities.

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Dolphin numbers up in Hong Kong after Covid crisis halts ferries

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Revival prompts calls to divert boats to help protect native Indo-Pacific humpbacks

Large numbers of dolphins returned to Hong Kong waters within weeks of the Covid-19 crisis shutting down high-speed ferries, and researchers are now calling for protections before the ferries resume.

Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, also known as Chinese white dolphins and pink dolphins, are native to the Pearl River estuary, but typically avoided the waters between Hong Kong and Macau because of the high volume of high-speed boats.

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