This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. An independent committee investigating a fire that killed 168 people at a Hong Kong housing estate is holding its third public hearing, with three residents expected to testify after a government lawyer gives an…
Taipei, Taiwan – As thousands of Chinese government officials gathered in Beijing for China’s annual legislative meetings known as the “two sessions” this month, at least a dozen active and retired military officers were absent from the proceedings. Among the absentees was General Zhang Youxia, who has been under investigation since late January for “suspected…
Hong Kong’s anti-graft watchdog has arrested 22 people on suspicion of corruption linked to seven building renovation projects worth more than HK$200 million (US$25.6 million). The suspects – 17 men and five women, aged 36 to 78 – included directors and employees of four project consultancy firms and three contractors, as well as some of…
new video loaded: Toronto Police Officers Charged in Drug and Corruption Investigation transcript Back transcript Toronto Police Officers Charged in Drug and Corruption Investigation Eight Toronto police officers were charged in an investigation, which began after a prison manager was targeted by three hit men. The investigation unraveled a crime network and and revealed a…
Hong Kong authorities will extend the deadline for mandatory building inspection orders to let homeowners vet contractors’ conviction records on a new platform launching later this year, the city’s development chief said. Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho also said on Saturday that the prequalification list on the Urban Renewal Authority’s (URA) electronic platform, currently…
Since taking the helm of the owners’ corporation at her Hong Kong housing estate 12 years ago, Chan Wai-ling has received numerous reports of falling concrete, water leakage and other problems that should have been fixed during multimillion-dollar renovations a decade ago. “Whenever there is a typhoon, water leaks into our homes and damages the…
The public will be allowed to observe the first open meeting of an independent committee investigating the cause of Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, which will set the framework for subsequent hearings. The independent committee, which was set up in the aftermath of the fire at Wang Fuk Court, announced on Tuesday that it…
Recent events in Hong Kong, particularly the tragic blaze at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po last November, have focused society’s attention on reforms to the legal system, especially those concerning building management and maintenance. Corruption and improper practices in the tendering process for large-scale building renovation or maintenance have also become a hot-button issue….
Alongside death and taxes, there are few things more universally certain than corruption in public procurement. That is a reality worth keeping front of mind in Hong Kong as we home in on those we want to blame for the tragic Wang Fuk Court fire that in November killed at least 161 people and left…
Twenty-one people have been arrested in a crackdown by Hong Kong’s anti-graft agency on a triad-linked syndicate accused of manipulating renovation project tenders at two residential estates in Kwun Tong, with one contract valued at about HK$33 million (US$4.2 million). The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said on Friday that 15 men and six women,…