When Law Yin-ping moved into a village house in Yick Yuen Tsuen, Hung Shui Kiu, in northwest Hong Kong more than a decade ago with her granddaughters, it never crossed her mind that they could one day be homeless – and forcibly separated. The Tuen Mun village falls within the government’s planned Hung Shui Kiu/Ha…
The Hong Kong Bar Association has proposed criminalising bid-rigging by introducing a “double-track” approach to the Competition Ordinance, describing it as a quick fix to increase deterrence and encourage more whistle-blowers to expose industry malpractice following the city’s deadliest fire in decades. Under the current civil regime established in 2015, the ordinance only punishes individuals…
Congratulations to Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po for getting the city’s budget to sail through the Legislative Council. It wasn’t always such smooth sailing and Chan would do well to acknowledge as much. When Chan was first given the keys to the city’s coffers, they were full. Successive financial secretaries faced political pressure of a…
Hong Kong authorities expect students as young as six to “feel proud to be Chinese” and to have a basic understanding of national affairs, according to a revamped guide on values education stressing patriotism. The 2026 Values Education Curriculum Framework, published by the Education Bureau on Thursday, applies to all government, aided, special and private…
Macau’s finance minister has resigned over “personal reasons,” prompting the city’s chief executive to temporarily assume his duties until a new candidate is appointed. The cabinet change took effect on Thursday after China’s State Council approved the removal of Tai Kin-ip from the post of secretary for economy and finance, in accordance with Macau’s Basic…
The sentencing of Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has been cited by several Western officials and media outlets as further evidence that Hong Kong’s legal system is in decline. Lai, the founder of the now-closed Apple Daily newspaper, faced multiple charges, including two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiracy to…
Hong Kong authorities have defended legal changes that have made it illegal to withhold smartphone passwords from police in national security investigations, after the United States sent a new alert to its citizens travelling to the city. The government on Friday also expressed “strong dissatisfaction with misleading information and sweepingly generalised descriptions” by foreign organisations…
Hongkongers who refuse to provide passwords for smartphones or other electronic devices during national security investigations face up to a year in jail under legal changes that also allow police to question organisations if they have reasonable belief that they are overseas political groups or agents of foreign forces. The government said the new rules…
In my experience, most people misunderstand the concept of “separation of powers”, and so I would not be at all surprised if most people also misunderstand the term “executive-led government”. In the case of separation of powers, the confusion usually arises from the use of the word “separation”. It connotes a meaning of absolute independence…
A former Hong Kong lawmaker on trial for allegedly inciting subversion has denied abetting criminal activity by supporting mainland Chinese dissidents, accusing Beijing of levelling false charges against them. Prosecutors on Wednesday challenged Lee Cheuk-yan’s claim that he had no intention to incite others to overthrow the mainland’s communist rule when he called for an…