~hong-kong-free-pres | Bookmarks (766)

Taiwan detained a Chinese-crewed cargo ship on Tuesday after a subsea telecoms cable was severed off the island, the coast guard said. It is the latest in a series of Taiwanese undersea cable breakages, with previous incidents blamed on natural causes or Chinese ships. Taiwan‘s Chunghwa Telecom reported the cable between Penghu, a strategic island […]

Hong Kong lawmakers have expressed support for tightening union laws, citing labour groups’ political acts during the “black-clad violence” of the 2019 protests and unrest. Lawmakers discussed the government’s proposed amendments to the Trade Unions Ordinance at a Panel on Manpower meeting at the Legislative Council on Monday. The amendments would bar those convicted of […]

Hong Kong Unison, a non-profit organisation that has served the city’s ethnic minorities for over two decades, is planning to disband, its chairperson has told HKFP. Alice Chong, chair of Unison, said on Monday that the NGO’s executive committee was considering shutting down the organisation and that a general meeting would be held this Friday […]

Hong Kong’s Digital Art Fair 2025 failed to secure the “mega-events” funding, the government has said, following the organisers’ announcement that the March event would be axed. They cited “reasons beyond our control” for the cancellation. The event was originally slated to be held at the West Kowloon Cultural District from March 26 to 30. […]

Take-offs and landings at the city’s airport reached a post-pandemic high in January, the Airport Authority Hong Kong has said. The authority said in a press statement on Monday that flight movements reached around 33,660 in January. The airport handled over 193,000 passengers on a single day on January 25, also a record since the […]

A verdict for Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai’s national security trial is expected in October, a Hong Kong court has heard in a separate proceeding over the newspaper’s winding up. The High Court, which handles liquidation procedures for companies, heard on Monday that a verdict for the jailed media tycoon’s national security trial was expected […]

North Koreans have been forced to work on Chinese-flagged fishing vessels without touching land for as long as a decade, facing verbal and physical abuse as well as harsh conditions, a report said Monday. Nuclear-armed North Korea has long made a fortune from an army of citizens it sends abroad to work, mostly in neighbouring […]

A former construction consultant for McDonald’s in Hong Kong has been charged with bribery, after allegedly accepting a luxury watch from a contractor couple in exchange for awarding them multimillion-dollar projects. The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said on Monday that Ling Mun-tong, 45, was charged last Friday for allegedly taking a bribe from Wardson […]

A quarter of over 130 people treated in public hospitals last year for suspected “space oil” consumption were under 18 – the youngest being 11 years old, the Hospital Authority has said. Public hospitals also saw a quick rise in the number of cases with suspected links to space oil, primarily in the 15-20 and […]

By Kelly Macnamara Representatives of nearly 200 countries gather Monday to continue fraught negotiations on the timing and content of the UN’s next blockbuster assessment of global warming science. The meeting in the Chinese city of Hangzhou comes on the heels of the hottest year on record and rising alarm over the pace of warming. […]

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort has turned a profit for the first time in nine years, while the number of the park’s visitors has soared by over a million, according to a lawmaker. Lawmaker Michael Tien said in a Facebook post on Sunday that he had met with the park’s management recently to understand Hong Kong […]

The European Union has expressed concern over the “further narrowing” of space for civil society in Hong Kong, citing the city’s Democratic Party’s plan to disband and the suspension of research by an independent pollster. “We are aware of pressure put on the Democratic Party to disband, while the independent polling institute [the Hong Kong […]

Hong Kong is facing its toughest fiscal test in three decades following a painful run of mammoth deficits, with experts urging the government to make careful cuts as the economy wobbles. The Chinese finance hub last saw a string of deficits after the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s — but their scale was […]

Hong Kong and Singapore are the front-runners in a push by Asian governments to become cryptocurrency hubs as they look to capitalise on the global resurgence of the sector thanks to the support of US President Donald Trump. Bitcoin recently hit a record of close to US$110,000 while others have also rallied on the back […]

Chloe knew she was in the wrong place at the wrong time when four police officers approached her last November in Lai Chi Kok. She was dizzy from smoking an e-cigarette containing “space oil,” which she had just ordered via WhatsApp and picked up from her dealer. It was her favourite flavour, pineapple, and she […]

Are Hong Kong hotels becoming less reliable, I wonder. Or have we developed a new variation on “cancel culture”? Firstly, forgive a detour… Readers who have been following these diatribes will probably have noticed occasional references to the Scottish bagpipe, an awkward and troublesome instrument which I took up as a post-retirement hobby. In due […]

A Panama court has agreed to review the concession granted to a Hong Kong-based firm to operate ports on either end of the Panama Canal — the source of US President Donald Trump’s concerns for Chinese influence over the waterway. The Supreme Court has agreed to consider a request filed by a lawyer to nullify […]

Hong Kong’s Democratic Party said on Thursday that it would begin steps to disband, citing the political situation. The city’s largest opposition group, the Democratic Party marked its 30th anniversary last year. It counts some of the city’s most well-known opposition figures among its ranks – including its co-founder Martin Lee, nicknamed the “Father of […]

By Allison Jackson, I-Hwa Cheng and Akio Wang Armed with a slingshot, Taiwanese bounty hunter Wu Cheng-hua bends sideways and aims his lethal weapon up at a green iguana, one of tens of thousands in the crosshairs of a government cull. Taiwan’s iguana population has exploded since the spikey-backed giant lizards were introduced from Central […]

Chinese tech companies shrugged off foreign scrutiny of upstart chatbot maker DeepSeek, telling AFP on Friday they were confident the country’s tech startups would make more gains in the global artificial intelligence race. Hangzhou-based DeepSeek’s R1 chatbot stunned industry insiders and became a hero of China’s AI sector last month with its ability to match […]

Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation (MTRC) has denied allegations that a staff member at Tsuen Wan West MTR Station refused to lend its Automated External Defibrillator (AED) to help a man outside the station. In response to media enquiries, the railway company said that last Saturday, a person approached a station maintenance worker for help after […]

Former Hong Kong opposition lawmaker Albert Ho may plead guilty in the subversion case against the now-disbanded group that was behind the city’s Tiananmen crackdown vigil for three decades, a court has heard. Ho’s lawyer, Erik Shum, told three High Court judges on Friday that the veteran pro-democracy politician intended to change his plea and […]

The Hong Kong government may limit the use of the HK$2 public transport fare for elderly residents and other eligible individuals to eight trips per day, local media have reported. Multiple local media outlets, including Ming Pao, HK01 and Cable News, reported on Friday citing sources that the authorities will amend the fare concession scheme […]

Veteran members of Hong Kong’s Democratic Party, which announced on Thursday that it would take initial steps to disband, are split over the decision. Speaking during a Commercial Radio programme on Friday, founding member Fred Li said he was left “with no other choice” but to vote in favour, while former chair Emily Lau said […]