The chairman of Hong Kong’s Ocean Park has said its Water World facility lost about HK$200 million (US$25.7 million) in the last financial year, as he was grilled in the legislature over the state of his organisation’s finances despite a five-year high in attendance numbers. The tourism minister on Tuesday rejected calls for authorities to…
Hong Kong authorities pledged to seriously follow up on complaints of forced removal of tenants from subdivided flats, as a two-month consultation on a regulatory regime to wipe out poor quality housing started on Monday. The government earlier proposed drafting new laws that would only allow registered subdivided flats – known as “basic housing units”…
Hong Kong’s deficit will more than double to HK$100 billion (US$12.8 billion) in the 2024-25 financial year from the HK$48 billion forecast the previous year, the finance chief has said, with the city feeling the pinch from a property slump and weakened corporate performance. At a meeting of the Legislative Council’s financial affairs panel on…
Hong Kong’s main opposition party has re-elected chairman Lo Kin-hei, who has said it is undecided on whether to run in next year’s Legislative Council election. The Democratic Party’s Lo said on Sunday some members faced ongoing harassment from unknown people, while he voiced worries over the party’s dwindling funds. But he pledged that the…
Hong Kong’s Audit Commission has vowed to step up its scrutiny of expenses incurred by government-backed institutions and social welfare groups to stop staff from “seeking personal gain”, after finding an executive overspent on business travel. Nelson Lam Chi-yuen, director of the commission, on Sunday addressed its latest report which revealed the then CEO of…
A senior Beijing official’s remarks that the “Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong” guiding principle implies oversight by central authorities are a reminder that the city has never been an “independent political entity”, political analysts have said. They also argued that Zhang Yong, vice-chairman of the Basic Law Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC)…
National security cases, criminal trials and Juvenile Court proceedings will be excluded from remote hearings in Hong Kong, under a bill entering the legislative process next month. The Courts (Remote Hearing) Bill, gazetted by the government on Friday, will also introduce new offences under which those who record, publish or broadcast proceedings without authorisation will…
Former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has revealed he had access to “internal” US government information but denied a former top aide’s allegation he had pressured his now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid to draft a sanctions list for Washington after Hong Kong adopted the 2020 national security law. Lai, 76, returned to the witness box on…
The central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong has voiced its “firm support” for the jailing of 45 opposition figures for trying to overthrow the government and has condemned the US and other countries for “attacks” against the city’s judicial system. The comments came two days after a court sentenced the opposition figures for conspiring…
Hong Kong lawmakers have urged the government to hire more disabled workers and impose key performance indicators to ensure the target is met after authorities revealed such employees made up 1.5 per cent of civil servants. The Labour and Welfare Bureau revealed in a Legislative Council panel meeting on Monday that 2,513 serving civil servants…