Chris Lau

Donald Trump’s earlier moves to sanction Hong Kong officials and end the city’s special trade status are unlikely to be rolled back, even if his challenger Joe Biden secures the US presidency, political watchers say. But while Biden was expected to press on with tough policies against China – especially in relation to technology and the economy – he was less likely to use Hong Kong as a pawn than his predecessor, and would be more inclined to return to diplomatic norms in the United States’ ongoing tussles with China, they added. “Biden will still have to deal with some of Trump’s legacies,” said Wilson Chan Wai-shun, secretary general of the Global Studies Institute (Hong Kong) think tank,

Four Hong Kong activists entered the US consulate on Tuesday afternoon in a dramatic bid for asylum. The drama took place just hours after the city’s police national security unit arrested the former leader of a pro-independence group as he was planning a similar move at the diplomatic mission. A South China Morning Post reporter saw the four running toward the consulate and talking to security guards at the entrance before they were allowed into the compound. It is understood that they were later rejected, but there was no official confirmation. Sources said mainland Chinese officials in Hong Kong were aware of their attempt and closely monitoring what could have erupted into a major diplo

Special passports held by some Hong Kongers may no longer be recognised in the mainland, Beijing threatened on Thursday. China’s reaction did not dampen the resolve of some Hong Kong residents to emigrate. Scholars, advocates and immigration consultants described the UK offer for British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) passport holders as more generous than expected, and Beijing’s comeback as largely symbolic. BN(O) passports were granted to Hong Kong residents born before Britain returned the former Chinese rule in 1997.   The British Home Secretary Priti Patel on Wednesday revealed that Hongkongers with BN(O) papers wishing to move to the UK would be exempt from its income threshold requireme

The coronavirus that sparked the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to have come from bats found in Asia, according to a new study by researchers in Hong Kong. University of Hong Kong microbiologists created a group of cells that resembled the intestine of the Chinese horseshoe bat, a species found in countries including China, India, Nepal and Vietnam. They were able to infect the cell structure with the coronavirus, known as Sars-CoV-2. Previous research had found that the bat species carried a virus like the one that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and which was similar to the new coronavirus. Taken together, the findings meant that “the Chinese horseshoe bat may really be the or

The Hong Kong activist attacked with hammers and spanners is a veteran democracy campaigner and openly gay LGBT rights activist. Jimmy Sham, 31, was attacked on Wednesday night for the second time in less than two months, just days before the organization he leads organized another mass anti-government rally.  Sham is the convener of the Civil Human Rights Front, which has organized some of the largest democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong’s history.  Although Sham is not leading the entire anti-government movement, currently in its 19th week, he is seen as a representative voice of the city’s peaceful protesters, colloquially called “peaceniks.”  In August, Sham and a colleague were beaten

A lawyer at French bank BNP Paribas in Hong Kong has quit after expressing support for anti-government protests in the city and mocking pro-Chinese supporters on his personal Facebook account. The Facebook post by Jason Ng, who served as legal head of BNP’s debt capital markets, had triggered calls on Chinese social media for a boycott of the bank The resignation of Ng, confirmed by a source with knowledge of the matter, followed an earlier apology from the French bank, saying the remarks “did not reflect the view of BNP Paribas.” Ng declined to comment on his former employer and said it was a private matter. It’s unclear whether he volunteered to quit or was fired. BNP Paribas also decline

A Shanghai man who flew to Hong Kong to pursue a cyber-romance was jailed for 10 months on Tuesday after his supposedly 22-year-old girlfriend turned out to be 12. Interior designer Lu Wei, 28, came to the city last year to meet the girl, whom he had met playing games online, a Hong Kong court heard. Only after things had turned intimate did he learn that the girl, who had told him she was 22, was actually a decade younger. The District Court heard he decided to stay in the city and accept his punishment, despite having already bought a ticket home. He was sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty earlier to two counts of unlawful sex with a girl under 13, which carries a maximum sentence o

Four pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong were sentenced on Wednesday to up to 16 months in prison for their roles in the biggest civil disobedience movement in the city’s history. The sentencing marked the end of years of prosecutions brought against leaders and participants who took part in the 79-day protest in 2014, also known as the Umbrella Movement, that called for political change in the city. Two leaders of the movement, academics Benny Tai Yiu-ting, 54 and Dr Chan Kin-man, 60, received the longest prison terms, 16 months. The protests, which began on September 28 that year in the Central business district of Hong Kong, were sparked by frustration with restrictions Beijing had set

Nine organizers of the largest civil disobedience movement in Hong Kong’s history have been found guilty over their roles in the 2014 protests. They were the final group of protesters to go on trial over the 79-day Occupy Central protests, also known as the Umbrella Movement, which exposed clashing visions for the future of the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. China resumed control of the former British colony in 1997, promising the city a high degree of autonomy and eventual democratic elections. But a restrictive proposal Beijing issued in 2014 for what would have been the first-ever popular election of Hong Kong’s leader prompted thousands to occupy the city’s streets in protest. Concl

Nine key figures from Hong Kong’s massive Occupy protests in 2014 have pleaded not guilty to public nuisance charges, for their part in the civil disobedience movement for universal suffrage that shut down parts of the city for 79 days. The nine – including the movement’s three co-founders – chanted thundering slogans with hundreds of their supporters on Monday ahead of the trial. “We want true universal suffrage,” they yelled in unison, with an intensity that shook West Kowloon Court, where the nine are set to appear. The three co-founders – academics Benny Tai Yiu-ting and Dr Chan Kin-man, and Reverend Chu Yiu-ming – face one count of conspiracy to cause public nuisance, inciting others t