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Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai told an American think tank in 2019 that the US should use its moral authority, which was a “vital weapon” that China lacked, his national security trial has heard. Lai appeared at the West Kowloon Law Courts Building on Wednesday as his high-profile trial, originally slated to last […]

China set an ambitious annual growth target of around five percent on Wednesday, vowing to make domestic demand its main economic driver as an escalating trade war with the United States hit Beijing’s exports. Beijing also announced a rare hike in fiscal funding, allowing its budget deficit to reach four percent this year as it […]

A Hong Kong street artist who was previously convicted for tagging the word “Freedom” across the city has been charged again for spray-painting the same Chinese characters on 20 occasions early this year. Appearing before Principal Magistrate Don So at the Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday, Chan King-fai, 41, was granted bail with a bond […]

Hong Kong tourists may be able to use the Octopus app in Japan later this year as the payment platform plans to expand its service overseas, the company has announced. Octopus Holding Ltd, currently in discussion with Japanese e-payment platforms, hopes that Hong Kong tourists can start using the Octopus app in Japan by the […]

Organisers of the World Grand Prix have apologised after kicking dozens of snooker fans out of Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Sports Park facility before a match concluded on Tuesday night. Spectators were told to leave the Kai Tak Arena on late Tuesday night, midway through the match between English snooker players Kyren Wilson and Matthew […]

Under fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump, Hong Kong firm Hutchison said Tuesday it had agreed to sell its lucrative Panama Canal ports to a US-led consortium. CK Hutchison Holdings said it would offload a 90-percent stake in the Panama Ports Company (PPC) and sell a slew of other non-Chinese ports to a group led […]

Hong Kong’s labour minister has taken to Facebook to defend the city’s talent admission schemes following concerns raised by a former leader. Chris Sun, the secretary for labour and welfare, published a post titled, “Debunking myths about Hong Kong’s talent admission schemes,” on the bureau’s Facebook page on Monday night, after former chief executive Leung […]

The latest US tariff hike targeting China will have a “limited” impact on Hong Kong as local businesses have adapted to years of the trade war by shifting their supply chains elsewhere, the city’s commerce chief has said. US President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order to increase a previously imposed 10 per […]

A Hong Kong prisoner whose legal fees for a failed legal challenge of the city’s local security law were waived after a judge said it was in the public’s interest has been ordered to pay half the costs following the Correctional Services Department’s successful petition. Ma Chun-man, a former food delivery worker who was jailed […]

A Hong Kong court has dismissed an appeal by a former student leader challenging the city’s election law after he was handed a suspended sentence for inciting blank or invalid votes in the 2021 legislative election. The appeal lodged by Jacky So, former president of a students’ union at the Chinese University of Hong Kong […]

By Beiyi Seow with Marion Thibaut in Montreal and Matthew Walsh in Beijing Mounting trade wars between the United States and its largest economic partners deepened on Tuesday as US tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China kicked in, sparking swift retaliation from Beijing and Ottawa. Stinging US tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods came into […]

Hong Kong’s only drinks carton recycler Mil Mill has cancelled an open day, citing a “complaint” received by the government. Co-founder Nigel Lo told HKFP on Tuesday that they called off the event after the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) told him that holding the open day without a permit could constitute a breach […]

Hongkongers thronged to North Point’s historic Sunbeam Theatre on Monday as the cultural landmark shut its doors after operating in the city for 52 years. The building on King’s Road was surrounded by hundreds of people on Monday evening as the theatre hosted its final show about late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, written by feng […]

By Isabel Kua and Peter Catterall China’s leadership is gathering at the largest political event of the year on Tuesday, seeking a response to US President Donald Trump’s latest salvo of tariffs targeting an already sluggish Chinese economy. The closed-door meetings, known as the “Two Sessions”, are concurrent gatherings of China’s rubber-stamp parliament and a […]

A labour rights group has urged Deliveroo not to order a former driver to pay HK$280,000 in legal fees after the driver’s court case for injury compensation was thrown out. The Riders’ Rights Concern Group’s calls come after Gurung, who was a Deliveroo driver, saw his claim for compensation under the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance rejected […]

More than 3,500 new taxis operated by five companies will start hitting the streets of Hong Kong this month, the government has said. Mable Chan, the secretary for transport and logistics, said on Monday that the first taxi fleet, operated by Tai Wo Management, would commence its service by the end of March, while the […]

Jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has denied at his national security trial that he requested Washington, via a senior US adviser, to sanction China after the Beijing-imposed security law came into effect five years ago. Lai, 77, on Monday also pushed back against the allegation that he sought the United States to engage […]

By Beiyi Seow In doubling down on tariffs targeting Canada, Mexico and China, US President Donald Trump cites a lack of progress on tackling fentanyl, but analysts say the drug crisis is just one of his political goals. “He needs a legal justification” for his tariffs, said Joshua Meltzer, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. […]

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) has launched a new track allowing graduate students to complete the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme in four years, citing a shortage of healthcare professionals in the city. The HKU Faculty of Medicine announced on Monday that it would admit up to 25 students to […]

Over one-third of women in Hong Kong said they experienced sexual harassment at work, a survey has found, with a majority of them staying silent about their experiences. Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) lawmaker Elizabeth Quat announced the results of the survey at a press conference on Sunday, ahead […]

The founder of Unison, an NGO serving the city’s ethnic minorities, has said she supports the board’s decision to wind up the organisation after its former executive director slammed the decision as “irresponsible.” Fermi Wong, a registered social worker who founded Unison in 2001 and left in 2013, said in a Facebook post on Saturday […]

Hong Kong launched a sprawling sports complex on Saturday, with officials and celebrities opening the HK$30 billion ($3.86 billion) Kai Tak Sports Park at its centrepiece 50,000-seat stadium. The 28-hectare sports park has transformed the Kai Tak neighbourhood, once the site of Hong Kong’s airport which sat amidst dense urban development at the harbour’s edge […]

Although solar power makes up less than 0.1 per cent of the city’s energy mix, there is room to grow. According to research by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), solar panels can be installed on the rooftops of three-quarters of buildings in Hong Kong, potentially generating around 10 per cent of the city’s energy […]

Sitting outside a wet market in Sham Shui Po, a 73-year-old retiree questioned why the government decided to limit the elderly’s transport subsidy, but not cut civil servants’ salaries in their bid to control government spending. “With their coffers in the red, the government should take the lead. How much can be cut from the […]