Leaving her family behind is the toughest part for Hong Kong’s first astronaut as she blasted off on Sunday for her six-month mission, according to her elder sister. Lai Ka-man recalled that when her sister, 43-year-old Hong Kong police superintendent Lai Ka-ying, was selected as a payload specialist in 2024, Ka-ying’s three children were still…
Lai Ka-ying suffers from motion sickness, cannot stand hot weather, was not a top student and did not speak Mandarin – all of which made the 43-year-old mother of three an unlikely pick as Hong Kong’s first astronaut. But the Hong Kong-born payload specialist on China’s Shenzhou-23 mission, which is expected to blast off on…
A new scheme that allows private cars from Guangdong province to enter Hong Kong’s urban areas has brought business opportunities for some, with users of a popular online platform selling courses on how to drive in the city or one-stop application services for mainland Chinese motorists. Local businesses are also offering perks to drivers using…
Around this time of the year, there is one very important day for Chinese families around the world, not unlike Thanksgiving in North America. The winter solstice – dung zi in Cantonese, dongzhi in Mandarin – marks the shortest day and longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. In Chinese culture, dung zi…
A bipartisan commission focused on the rule of law and human rights in China is recommending that the US Congress scale up immersion programmes for Mandarin and other languages spoken on the mainland in American high schools and universities. The recommendation, made as part of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China’s (CECC) annual report, comes as…
China reviewed two legislative proposals on Monday as the country ramps up a drive to promote further ethnic integration through the use of standard Mandarin – both the spoken and written language – among minorities. The draft “Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress”, submitted to China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress (NPC)…
The many benefits of learning a foreign language are well established. In Hong Kong, English is an official language along with Chinese. Children strive to master both, with many learning Mandarin, the official national language, on top of their native Cantonese dialect. The development of bilingual or trilingual talent provides the city with one of…
Beijing has called on the new US consul general to Hong Kong to uphold the principle of non-interference and respect the city’s rule of law, following the announcement that Julie Eadeh has taken up the role after receiving the central government’s approval. Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said on Thursday that…
The visit by Xi Jinping to Lhasa for the 60th anniversary of the Tibet autonomous region’s founding, making him the first Chinese president to attend the once-in-a-decade celebration, marks a new stage of national development that presents unprecedented challenges and opportunities. To face and grasp them, Xi told local authorities to focus on four key…
Police have launched an investigation after a driver on a mainland Chinese ride-hailing platform purportedly told a passenger he was not a Hong Kong identity card holder, while the Immigration Department has also expressed worries about illegal employment activities. In a reply to the Post, the force said on Tuesday that it had received a…