‘I don’t have to motivate the team against China,’ says manager after 2-1 win in friendly played behind closed doors
Hong Kong have beaten China for the first time in 29 years in a friendly football match in Abu Dhabi.
Hong Kong’s 2-1 victory over China comes as the former British colony prepares to participate in the Asian Cup for the first time since 1968, when the territory was still under British rule.
Continue reading...The 22-year-old says his probation conditions meant he was under surveillance and could not work
One of the youngest people to be jailed under Hong Kong’s national security law has fled to the UK, where he claimed asylum in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Tony Chung, 22, was released from prison in June but was required to meet regularly with Hong Kong’s national security police and abide by certain conditions, which included not leaving the territory without authorisation before June 2024.
Continue reading...Media mogul and pro-democracy activist accused of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and faces life in prison
The media mogul and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai has gone on trial at a heavily guarded Hong Kong court on national security charges that could lead to life imprisonment.
Lai’s trial, expected to last months, is one of the most high-profile prosecutions in the Hong Kong government’s crackdown on opposition, and has been widely condemned by rights groups and other governments.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary’s plea made as publisher faces trial under national security law imposed by China
The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, has called for the release of the British citizen Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy newspaper publisher facing a “politically motivated prosecution” in a high-profile trial in Hong Kong.
In a significant intervention, the former prime minister condemned the charges against Lai, 76, who faces a possible life sentence if convicted under a national security law that China imposed after the 2019 pro-democracy protests.
Continue reading...Territory’s global reputation on the line as media mogul and democracy activist finally tried over alleged national security crimes
Hong Kong’s global reputation will be tested this week when the long-delayed trial of the pro-democracy activist and former media mogul Jimmy Lai gets under way.
Lai, who turned 76 in jail this month, is charged with colluding with foreign forces under the national security law, as well as sedition. If convicted, which experts say is highly likely, the British national faces spending the rest of his life in prison.
Continue reading...US and UK criticise move while one of the five decries ‘transnational repression harassment tactics’
Hong Kong police have offered million-dollar bounties for information leading to the arrest of five overseas-based activists, as part of a crackdown on dissent under a China-imposed national security law.
The move, which adds to a list of eight overseas activists deemed fugitives by authorities in July, triggered criticism from the US and UK governments.
Continue reading...Voters shun district election after pro-democracy candidates were prevented from running
A “patriots only” district election in Hong Kong that barred opposition democrats from the ballot sheet amid a national security crackdown had a record low voter turnout of 27.5% as many voters spurned what was seen as an undemocratic poll.
The sharp slide in turnout since the last such election in 2019 comes after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law that has been used to clamp down on dissent, and overhauled the electoral system to shut out democrats and other liberals.
Continue reading...Newspaper tycoon’s son seeks meeting with foreign secretary as Briton, 76, faces trial and possible life sentence
Foreign secretary David Cameron is being urged to demand the release of newspaper tycoon Jimmy Lai as the British national prepares for a high-profile trial in Hong Kong this month.
Lai, 76, is facing a life sentence, accused of colluding with foreign forces under the draconian national security law introduced by Beijing in 2020 following mass protests.
Continue reading...Chow was one of nine people arrested in 2020 under the new national security law and says her mental health has suffered
Agnes Chow, a high-profile Hong Kong activist who was jailed over the 2019 pro-democracy protests and charged with foreign collusion, has moved to Canada and says she will probably never return to Hong Kong to meet her bail conditions.
In social media posts on Sunday, Chow said she had moved to Canada to study and was suffering mental health impacts as a result of the pressure and restrictions she was under in Hong Kong, awaiting trial on national security charges.
Continue reading...Minnie Chan has reportedly been out of contact since travelling to Xiangshan Forum a month ago
Friends and colleagues of a Hong Kong journalist have raised concerns after she failed to return from a defence and security forum in Beijing a month ago.
Minnie Chan, a reporter for the South China Morning Post, has not been in contact since she went to the Xiangshan Forum, Japan’s Kyodo News reported on Thursday. Chan filed several stories from the forum, the most recent of which was published on 2 November.
Continue reading...Creative director targets east Asia’s luxury market as his preppy streetwear is given a tropical twist
For his first show as men’s creative director of Louis Vuitton in June, Pharrell Williams closed down the Pont Neuf in Paris, and counted mega-celebrities including Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and Rihanna and A$AP Rocky as guests.
His second effort took place in Hong Kong and focused on local stars in the front row. The actors Zhu Yilong and Chow Yun-fat were joined by three members of the Cantopop band Mirror and the rapper Tyson Yoshi. There was also a take on celestial stars, with a light show at the end rendering the Louis Vuitton monogram in twinkling lights across the city’s harbour.
Continue reading...Judge says verdict is ‘tentatively’ three or four months away after 10 months of hearings
The long-running national security trial of a group of pro-democracy figures known as the Hong Kong 47 began hearing closing arguments on Wednesday, more than 1,000 days after the accused were first arrested and after 10 months of hearings.
The trial is Hong Kong’s biggest since authorities introduced the national security law in June 2020. Ten days have been allowed for closing arguments and on Wednesday one of the judges, Andrew Chan, said a verdict was “tentatively” three or four months away.
Continue reading...New curriculum from 2025 part of push to create sense of national identity among schoolchildren
Hong Kong is to introduce “patriotic” education in all primary schools by 2025, in the government’s latest push to “systematically cultivate” a sense of national identity among schoolchildren
Under the new framework, primary school pupils are expected to learn about national security and will also be taught about the opium war and Japan’s invasion of China, two key events in Beijing’s narrative of a “century of humiliation”, which it pushes as a reason for nationalism.
Students will also learn about significant Chinese historical figures and national achievements under the leadership of the Chinese Community party.
“The enrichment aims to keep pace with the times and systematically cultivate students’ sense of belonging to our country, national sentiments and sense of national identity from an early age for the implementation of patriotic education,” an official document reads.
The education bureau said the changes were made in line with national-level legislation that called for strengthening patriotic education in China. Mainland China maintains separate governing and economic system in Hong Kong but has gradually increased its control.
On Thursday, the education bureau announced the existing general studies curriculum in primary schools would be replaced with a new humanities curriculum by 2025. While the curriculum would contain general studies elements, such as health, citizenship and community, it would emphasise patriotic education, with new modules on national identity, national history and national security.
Paul Lee Kin-wan, an education official overseeing curriculum development, said that patriotic values existed in the previous curriculum, and students should know about China’s achievements. “It wouldn’t be right if students know nothing about their country after six years of education,” Lee said.
Students are expected to spend 93 hours – about 7% of their time in primary school – on the new curriculum.
Most of the suggested learning material came from government departments, including a short video about the legislative process of Hong Kong’s national security law, with no mention of the mass protest movement that preceded its enactment.
One veteran educator, who wished not to be named, said the curriculum seemed to emphasise national education over other components. “At that age, it is important to nurture good lifestyle and habits and students’ curiosity about their surroundings,” the educator said, adding that modules on students’ relationships with their family, friends and neighbours took up far less space.
While the curriculum highlights China’s achievements, the educator said the government should make it clearer whether more sensitive topics, such as China’s societal issues, could be discussed in class. “China has historical problems and existing ones. We need to face up to them for the country to progress.”
For more than a decade, the Hong Kong government had been trying to incorporate national and patriotic education into school curriculums. In 2012, a plan to introduce moral and national education in primary and secondary schools provoked mass class boycotts and protests, leading to it being temporary shelved.
Despite historical high demand for homes due to the territory’s size, the economic downturn has resulted in a glut of unsold flats
Hong Kong’s once-lucrative land market looks to be in trouble after a series of unsuccessful tenders for government plots cast a shadow over the city’s finances.
Earlier this month, Hong Kong’s largest public transport company, the MTR Corporation, revealed that it had received no proposals for a joint development project in Tung Chung, a residential town next to Hong Kong airport.
Continue reading...Timothy Owen, who in May was blocked from representing the activist Jimmy Lai, was due to give a talk on law and democracy
A lecture in Hong Kong by the British barrister embroiled in a legal battle over whether he can represent the pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai has been cancelled without explanation, raising concerns about the diminishing space for free speech in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
Timothy Owen KC was due to give a talk entitled “Judges, Democracy and the Criminal Law” at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on 17 November. But on Tuesday, the lecture was cancelled without explanation, with the university citing “unforeseen circumstances”. The website for the law faculty appears to be offline.
Continue reading...Activists have secured a string of legal victories in Hong Kong but it is a very different story on the mainland
After months of pandemic-related delays, Asia’s first Gay Games was held in Hong Kong last week, with nearly 2,400 athletes competing. At the opening ceremony, Regina Ip, the convenor of Hong Kong’s executive council, said the competition represented the city’s commitment to “equal opportunity and non-discrimination”, and praised Hong Kong’s courts for the “numerous judgments” handed down in favour of the LGBTQ+ community in the past decade.
This was met with bemusement by activists and lawyers, who pointed out that Ip’s government has opposed each of those judgments, losing in nearly every single case. Since 2018, there have been at least seven cases relating to LGBTQ+ rights heard by Hong Kong’s courts, with many reaching the Court of Final Appeal, the city’s highest bench. “Why are they still wasting taxpayers’ money fighting these tooth-and-nail litigations when they’re recycling the same arguments and losing?” said Mark Daly, a human rights lawyer who has worked on a number of the cases.
Continue reading...More than 10,000 arrests and nearly 3,000 prosecutions, with 82% given jail including ‘extraordinary high’ proportion of children
Protesters involved in the 2019-2020 pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong have been treated extraordinarily harshly by the criminal justice system compared with local and international norms, a report has found.
The surge in arrests, detentions and charges in the wake of the anti-extradition bill protests that saw millions of Hongkongers taking to the streets to oppose closer ties with mainland China meant that the criminal justice system was put under “extreme stress”, according to Jun Chan, Eric Yan-ho Lai and Thomas E Kellogg at the Center for Asian Law of Georgetown University.
Continue reading...The Democratic party, the city’s largest pro-democracy party, failed to secure enough nominations under new rules introduced by authorities
Hong Kong’s leader has defended the rules for upcoming local elections as open and fair, even though an electoral overhaul means the city’s remaining pro-democracy activists won’t be part of the race.
The city’s largest pro-democracy party, the Democratic party, will be absent in December’s district council election for the first time since its establishment in 1994.
Continue reading...Forms have been sent out requiring names, positions, residential addresses and identity document numbers of locally employed staff
China has given foreign consulates in Hong Kong a month to submit the names, home addresses and job descriptions of their local staff, according to diplomatic sources and documents seen by several media outlets on Tuesday.
The documents include a letter in English and Chinese bearing Monday’s date from Beijing’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (OCMFA), as well as two forms for consulates to fill in with their local staff details.
Continue reading...Activists call for reassurances to be given to those who gave information to parliamentarians
Finn Lau’s meeting with a Westminster researcher who was later arrested on suspicion of spying for China lasted just 20 minutes. Nearly a year later he is mulling the potential consequences.
Lau, an exiled Hong Kong pro-democracy activist with a £100,000 bounty on his head, has a lingering suspicion that some of his ideas for putting more pressure on China appear not to have made it beyond their meeting.
Continue reading...