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China said Sunday it “firmly opposed” US President Joe Biden’s approval of US$571.3 million in defence assistance for Taiwan. The White House said Friday that Biden had authorised the drawdown “of up to $571.3 million in defence articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Taiwan”. […]

From a plot of land that she has occupied for 38 years while farming fish in Hong Kong’s San Tin area, Lai Kam-dai has watched as Shenzhen grew into a major city across the Sham Chun River.  “This is new,” Lai said in Cantonese, pointing at the skyline across the border from Hong Kong. Shenzhen’s […]

By Joe Jackson As Britain’s new Labour government bids to reset long-fraught ties with China amid a suspected spy scandal, another issue could mar relations: Beijing’s controversial plans to open the largest embassy in the UK. China has for several years been trying to relocate its embassy, currently in the British capital’s upmarket Marylebone district, […]

What, I wonder, is a mega event? This question arises from a Legislative Council answer provided by our newly minted Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law. Law gave a glowing report on her branch’s efforts to boost tourism. You might even wonder, reading her update on the situation, what her predecessor did wrong. […]

US President Joe Biden on Friday approved US$571.3 million in defence assistance for Taiwan, the White House said, as the Democrat prepares to leave office ahead of the January inauguration of Donald Trump. The United States does not official recognize Taiwan diplomatically, but it is the self-ruled island’s strategic ally and largest supplier of weapons. […]

Innocent Mutanga only had a few books, some money and clothes when he fled from Zimbabwe to Hong Kong in 2013 to escape political persecution. He had chosen this destination mainly for its visa-free entry, and as he described it, it was “Jackie Chan’s place.” Hong Kong was not an entirely foreign land to the […]

By Holmes Chan A decade ago, the elegant cobblestone streets of Macau’s Tap Seac Square were jam-packed with people clamouring for change and government accountability — the high-water mark for the former Portuguese colony’s political awakening. Now, as Macau marked the 25th anniversary of its handover to China this week, the city’s democracy movement is […]

The president of Hong Kong’s legislature has denied that lawmakers wasted time by tabling “empty” motions in 2024, as he praised them for passing almost 50 per cent more bills in the first three years of their term than their predecessors did in the same period. Andrew Leung on Thursday also said it was “too […]

Police have arrested 39 people over allegedly staging traffic accidents to fraudulently claim subsidies from a government assistance scheme. The Social Welfare Department (SWD) said on Friday the 39 were arrested for fraud and conspiracy to defraud. They were suspected of obtaining payments from the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance (TAVA) scheme, which provides funds for […]

Public hospitals in Hong Kong have adopted new guidelines to “clarify facts” and inform affected patients before disclosing medical blunders. But a patients’ concern group said the mechanism may “rationalise” the withholding or delayed release of information. The Hospital Authority (HA) would no longer announce medical mishaps first, instead following a new “three-step” mechanism that […]

China has lifted a ban on imports of Australian live rock lobsters, Canberra said Friday, demolishing the final barrier in a broader, multibillion-dollar trade war between the countries. Beijing has banned or slapped retaliatory tariffs on more than US$12 billion worth of Australian exports, from wine to timber, during years of soured ties with Canberra. […]