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

By Adrien Simorre Hopeful parents accompanied their teenage children to the gates of a busy Beijing test centre on Saturday, among millions of high school students across China sitting their first day of the highly competitive university entrance exam. Nationwide, 13.35 million students have registered for the multi-subject “gaokao” series this year, according to the […]

When Wang Zengyi, 41, and Song Jihan, 29, first met at a friend’s dinner party in China, it was love at first sight. “I thought he was handsome and pure,” says Wang. “Our love has deepened over time.” Nearly three years later, the gay Chinese couple are getting married in Thailand, which became Asia’s largest […]

When Japanese photographer Miyuki Kume moved to Hong Kong in late 1993, she fell in love with the city. It was the delicious Cantonese cuisine that first captured her heart, but what kept her in the city for more than three decades was her passion for collecting Made in Hong Kong goods. It all began […]

Fed-up Chinese football fans and pundits expressed dismay Friday after the country’s World Cup dreams were torpedoed following a crushing qualifying defeat in Indonesia. President Xi Jinping has said he wanted China to win the World Cup one day but the latest flop means they have only ever played there once, in 2002, when they […]

The Hong Kong government has hailed “overwhelming support” from scholars, athletes, and youth groups for its plan to legalise basketball betting in the city, following the conclusion of a one-month public consultation last month. Ninety-four per cent of the 1,063 submissions received by the government between April and May “expressed support or positive views” on […]

Jailed Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong has been charged with conspiring to collude with foreign forces under the Beijing-imposed national security law. The 28-year-old activist, who was jailed under the national security law for four years and eight months last year over an unofficial primary election, was brought to the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on […]

A Hong Kong graffiti artist who was previously convicted for tagging the word “Freedom” across the city has been remanded in custody after being charged with criminal damage for the third time. Appearing before Magistrate Gary Chu at the West Kowloon Law Courts on Thursday, 42-year-old Chan King-fai was taken into remand after he was again […]

Safeguarding national security should become a “culture” in Hong Kong, Chief Executive John Lee has said, vowing to strengthen public education and train officers to counter “state-level” threats. In an interview with the Beijing-backed newspaper Wen Wei Po, published on Friday, Lee said the government’s effort to safeguard national security was still at its “starting […]

US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke Thursday, with both sides agreeing to talks to prevent an all-out trade war over tariffs and global rare earth supplies. Trump said the call reached a “very positive conclusion” and that they agreed to meet in person — but Beijing issued a more muted readout […]

Asphalt and resin were found in the drinking water at two Fanling housing estates, the Hong Kong government has said after conducting tests following residents’ complaints about black particles in their water supply. The Water Supplies Department (WSD) and the Housing Department held a press conference on Thursday to discuss findings related to water quality […]

President Donald Trump ramped up his campaign against top US universities Wednesday, banning visas for all foreign students coming to attend Harvard and threatening to strip Columbia of its academic accreditation. Trump is seeking to bring the universities to heel with claims their international students pose a national security threat, and that they ignored anti-Semitism […]

Hong Kong activists and the diaspora attended candlelight vigils and other events around the world on Wednesday to mark the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, amid the city’s ongoing ban on public commemorations of the event. Hong Kong, once the only location on Chinese soil to host large-scale Tiananmen memorial vigils, has not held […]

Nine people who were jailed for storming Hong Kong’s legislature during the city’s pro-democracy protests in 2019 are seeking to overturn their convictions and sentences, according to court records. Among those seeking to appeal after being jailed on rioting charges last year are children’s rights activist and former student leader Althea Suen and actor Gregory […]

A New Zealand judge has been appointed as a justice of Hong Kong’s top court, after a years-long exodus of overseas jurists following Beijing’s imposition of a sweeping security law on the finance hub. Hong Kong’s lawmakers on Wednesday approved the appointment of William Young, 73, to join five other overseas non-permanent justices from the […]

Four former and current students’ union members at Lingnan University in Hong Kong have been arrested for allegedly stealing HK$1.3 million from their organisation’s funds for personal expenses, according to police. Police Chief Inspector Au Yeung Tak said on Thursday that the four suspects – three men and one woman, aged 21 to 24 – […]

Hong Kong cinema chain Golden Harvest has announced that it will close its branch in the Kowloon Bay shopping mall MegaBox on Monday due to “the end of the tenancy.” It will be the sixth cinema to shut down in the city this year. In a post shared on Facebook and Instagram on Wednesday, Golden […]

Hong Kong police have said they arrested two people and took away 10 others on Wednesday, the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown – the youngest being a 15-year-old. In Wan Chai and Eastern District, five men and five women aged between 15 and 69 were taken to police stations for investigation on suspicion […]

A 35-year-old man has been charged with four counts of making hoax bomb threats, two days after his arrest by the national security police. Zhang Kejia, a Chinese national who claimed to be self-employed, appeared at Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday afternoon. He was denied bail and will be remanded in custody, according to […]

The owner of a sports car with the licence plate “US 8964” has said that he shipped his vehicle abroad ahead of the 36th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown after receiving harassment. Anthony Chiu, whose Porsche bears the licence plate “US 8964,” told HKFP on Wednesday that his vehicle was sent out of […]

By Beiyi Seow with Ali Bekhtaoui in Paris Donald Trump said on Wednesday that it was “extremely hard” to reach a deal with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but the EU touted progress in its own trade talks with Washington even though the US president doubled global metal tariffs. Trump’s latest trade moves came as OECD […]

Police have deployed an armoured vehicle in Hong Kong’s commercial heart, amidst an ongoing heavy security presence on the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The “Sabertooth” armoured vehicle was spotted on Great George Street in Causeway Bay on Wednesday afternoon, as groups of uniformed officers patrolled areas near Victoria Park, the former site […]

Four diplomatic missions in Hong Kong – the consulates general of Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US – have taken to social media to commemorate the 36th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing. The US, Canadian, and Australian consulates general shared photos of candles on Facebook on Wednesday. In a caption accompanying […]

Beijing hit back Wednesday at US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for saying that the world will “never forget” the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, describing his remarks as an “attack” on China. Chinese troops and tanks forcibly cleared peaceful protesters from Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, after weeks-long demonstrations demanding greater political freedoms. […]

Hong Kong customs officers inspected ex-district councillor Katrina Chan’s incense shop for hours on the eve of the Tiananmen crackdown anniversary, accusing her of failing to comply with product safety regulations. Two plainclothes officers, who later introduced themselves as Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) personnel, visited Chan’s shop, Heung Together, in Dragon Centre in Sham […]