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POLITICS9h agoHong Kong urged to add online safety briefings, penalise no-shows at public gymsHong Kong should make better use of its public gyms by allowing online safety briefings and penalising no-shows, an industry leader and a lawmaker have urged after the ombudsman identified management loopholes. The Office of the Ombudsman launched the inquiry into public gym management on Tuesday, noting that rigid mandatory training requirements combined with a severe shortage of places were creating significant barriers to public participation and leaving facilities underused. The watchdog...South China Morning Post
POLITICS9h agoIn Hong Kong, accountability must be more than a sloganWhen news broke last week that three newly completed housing blocks were to be demolished without ever having been occupied, I suffered an immediate attack of deja vu. In early 1974, I was in the first wave of recruits to the Operations Department of the newly established Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). As luck would have it, my first posting was to the team dealing with the old Public Works Department. That was my introduction to the wide world of corruption and shoddy work in...South China Morning Post
POLITICS1d agoTaiwanese finance minister plans to join Apec meeting in Hong KongTaiwanese Finance Minister Chuang Tsui-yun plans to attend the Apec meeting in Hong Kong, where the Chinese finance chief is due to deliver the opening speech. Chuang’s ministry told Reuters on Tuesday she would attend the meeting “as is customary”. Hong Kong is hosting the Apec Finance Ministers’ Meeting on October 20 and 21, while the Economic Leaders’ Summit will take place in Shenzhen next month. China is the summit host for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum this year. In response...South China Morning Post
POLITICS1d agoHong Kong renews TV station licences with push for ‘telling good stories’Hong Kong authorities have renewed the free-to-air licences of the city’s television broadcasters with conditions to boost local production of English-language national education shows and programmes aimed at “telling good stories” of the city. The Executive Council, the city’s top decision-making body, approved the renewal on Tuesday, extending 12-year licences to all three broadcasters. These licences will run until 2039 for HK Television Entertainment (HKTVE) and TVB, and until 2040 for...South China Morning Post
POLITICS2d agoHong Kong can boost regional prosperity through ‘soft connectivity’, adviser saysHong Kong’s institutional advantages and close ties with mainland China and the wider world can contribute to the Asia-Pacific region’s prosperity, a key adviser to the city’s leader has told a conference. Stephen Wong Yuen-shan, head of the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit, said on Monday that Hong Kong was transforming itself into the region’s institutional “harbour” – where trade from regional markets could converge and take advantage of the city’s “soft connectivity” advantages. He said such...South China Morning Post
POLITICS2d agoEx-US FDA official to lead Hong Kong’s new medical products regulatorA Beijing-educated former official at the US federal drug regulator has been appointed to lead Hong Kong’s new medical products body, tasked with accelerating the clinical use of medicines and medical devices as part of a regulatory overhaul. Li Zili, who previously worked at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), would take up the post of controller for medical products regulation under the Department of Health on a three-year term beginning October 20, the government said on Monday. He...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoHong Kong lawmakers back 5-year plan as firms urged to align with blueprintHong Kong’s legislature has passed motions supporting the city’s first five-year plan and thanking Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu for his latest policy address, while Beijing’s top representative in the city urged mainland Chinese enterprises to align themselves with the government’s blueprint. At the close of a three-day Legislative Council debate on Friday, Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki thanked lawmakers for their suggestions, saying they would help improve governance. “The process of...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoBessent may skip Apec in Hong Kong to focus on Trump’s Shenzhen visit, sources sayUS Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent may skip a meeting of Apec finance ministers in Hong Kong later this month to focus on preparing for President Donald Trump’s historic visit to Shenzhen in November, sources told the South China Morning Post. Bessent is expected to meet Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng in Shenzhen ahead of Trump’s visit – when Trump will again hold talks with President Xi Jinping – as the two sides look to secure a longer extension of the bilateral trade truce, which is due to...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoLegal arguments delay trial over murder of Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi againThe murder trial of Hong Kong socialite Abby Choi Tin-fung has been delayed again while the court addresses legal issues raised by lawyers in the high-profile case. Deputy High Court Judge Brian Keith told the nine-member jury on Friday that the hearing would resume on Monday, once the legal arguments had concluded. Choi’s mother, Cheung Yin-fa, had been expected to face cross-examination by counsel for Choi’s ex-husband, Alex Kwong Kong-chi, on the fifth day of her testimony. He is standing...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoHong Kong needs tougher inspection regime, experts say after CK Asset building fiascoLawmakers and engineering sector leaders have called for a review of Hong Kong’s building inspection mechanism and a blacklist to bar errant contractors from government tenders, after Hong Kong’s first privately built “starter homes” project hit a snag over shoddy steel work. The government should review the inspection regime and increase its supervisory manpower, lawmakers and engineers said on Friday, calling for inspectors to be stationed at construction sites of private-sector-built...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoHong Kong national security police charge man over seditious social media postsHong Kong national security police have charged a man with publishing seditious material on social media, while court proceedings did not reveal details of his posts. The force’s national security department said on Friday it had charged a 52-year-old man for posting seditious material with the intent to provoke hatred towards the central Chinese authorities, the Hong Kong government and the judiciary. The defendant had attended the first hearing on Wednesday afternoon, according to the force’s...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoHong Kong and Shenzhen confirm Huanggang Port to open on MondayThe revamped Huanggang border crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen will open on Monday, after both sides confirmed the facility was ready for service. Confirming an earlier South China Morning Post report, the Hong Kong government said on Friday that the new Huanggang border crossing would commence operations at 6.30am on October 12, replacing the current Lok Ma Chau-Huanggang port as the sole round-the-clock clearance point. “Acceptance inspection of the new port building of the Huanggang...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoHong Kong police to launch international academy, reveal details of new degreeHong Kong’s police have revealed they will launch an academy offering specialised courses for overseas officers and shared new details about the force’s bachelor’s degree programme, with classes expected to start next March. Kelly Cheng Lai-ki, director of the Police College, said establishing the Hong Kong International Academy of Policing would consolidate generations of frontline wisdom handed down within the force into an international exchange hub. “These exchanges can showcase our...South China Morning Post
POLITICS5d agoHong Kong rejects US downgrade to lowest tier in human trafficking reportThe United States has downgraded Hong Kong to the lowest tier in its annual human trafficking report, citing shortcomings in prosecutions and victim identification, an assessment the city’s government rejected as “entirely unfounded”. The US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, released on Thursday, moved Hong Kong from the Tier 2 Watch List, where it had been listed for two consecutive years, to Tier 3. That places the city alongside mainland China and Macau among 20...South China Morning Post
POLITICS6d agoTrump urged Xi to mend ties with Japan, lift export controls: Hong Kong mediaU.S. President Donald Trump urged his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to repair ties with Japan and lift Beijing's export curbs on Tokyo during their talks in September in…Japan Today
POLITICSOct 7More than 300 hopefuls sign up for Hong Kong’s Election Committee pollMore than 300 people signed up for Hong Kong’s Election Committee poll as the nomination period opened on Wednesday, vying for seats on the body that chooses the city’s leader. The nomination period for committee subsectors for the November 22 election will run until October 20. The 1,500-member body will select Hong Kong’s next chief executive in March next year. The Registration and Electoral Office received 305 nominations for candidacy on Wednesday. It also received two nominations from...South China Morning Post
POLITICSOct 7Why do Hong Kong’s Election Committee polls matter as nominations open?The nomination period opened on Wednesday for elections to the 1,500-member body responsible for choosing Hong Kong’s next chief executive and 40 lawmakers. Hopefuls from at least four subsectors submitted their nomination forms on the first day. The South China Morning Post explains the significance of the Election Committee polls, who signed up on the first day and what to watch for. What is the Election Committee and why is it important? Wednesday marked the start of a two-week nomination...South China Morning Post
POLITICSOct 6Hong Kong approves average fee hikes of up to 4.75 per cent for non-public schoolsHong Kong’s private, semi-private and international schools have been given the green light to raise tuition fees by an average of 4.75 per cent, 4.07 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively. The Education Bureau said on Tuesday it had received applications from 185 schools as of August 31 to adjust tuition fees for the 2026-27 academic year. They comprised 49 semi-private schools under the government’s Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS), 74 private schools and 62 international ones. One application from...South China Morning Post
POLITICSOct 6House China committee chair urges Fed to review Hong Kong’s access to dollar lifelineRep. John Moolenaar wants the Fed to rethink Hong Kong’s access to a dollar-liquidity facility as China promotes the renminbi as a global currency.CNBC
POLITICSOct 6Hong Kong prepares reforms, accountability measures ahead of Tai Po fire reportHong Kong authorities have made “a series of preparations” to implement reforms and pursue accountability ahead of the Tai Po fire inquiry panel’s final report due later this month, the city’s leader said, pledging to act “as soon as possible”. The government reportedly established a dedicated task force under the Public Service Commission, led by former commissioner for sports George Tsoi Kin-pan and former deputy secretary for security Benjamin Mok Kwan-yu, to investigate alleged official...South China Morning Post
POLITICSOct 6Hong Kong leader pledges tougher rules, penalties to deter construction violationsHong Kong will strengthen its regulatory regime and impose stiffer penalties to ensure strong deterrence against building violations, the city leader has pledged, following a series of substandard construction scandals including the latest controversy involving a luxury residential development in Stanley. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu vowed to safeguard the high professional standards of the city’s construction industry on Tuesday in the wake of a debacle involving a house at One Stanley,...South China Morning Post
POLITICSOct 5Hong Kong must scrap housing plan and preserve golf courseThe hotly contested court battle over government plans to build 12,000 public flats on Hong Kong’s oldest golf course has played its final round. The government decided not to appeal against a ruling that held its approval of an environmental impact assessment (EIA) report on the project to be unlawful. This is better than pursuing a further attempt to persuade the courts to uphold a fatally flawed process. Now, a broader review of the plans can be undertaken in light of the Court of Appeal’s...South China Morning Post
POLITICSOct 5Bid to turn 14 subsidised Hong Kong sale flats into subdivided homes raises abuse concernsThe owners of 14 subsidised sale flats have applied for a grace period to comply with Hong Kong’s new regulatory regime for subdivided homes, the housing minister has revealed, raising concerns that public resources were being abused. The cases were disclosed on Monday at a Legislative Council housing panel meeting when lawmaker Mark Chong Ho-fung asked Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin about the use of subsidised sale flats as subdivided units for renting. Chong said flats sold under the...South China Morning Post
POLITICSOct 5Hong Kong lawmakers say 5-year tax incentive too short to entice major innovative firmsHong Kong lawmakers have backed the government’s proposed tax incentives for large innovative companies, but many said on Monday that the planned five-year concession period is too short to attract major firms to establish headquarters or expand operations in the city. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in his policy address last month said the government planned to submit a bill introducing preferential profits tax rates of either 5 per cent or 8.25 per cent, which was half of the city’s standard...South China Morning Post
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