Hong Kong national security law (NSL)

The biggest mass arrests under the national security law in Hong Kong took place on Wednesday morning as 53 former opposition lawmakers and activists were rounded up for their roles in a primary election run-off last July. Inkstone looks at the controversial democratic primary and why it triggered Beijing’s ire. What was the opposition’s primary about? The 35-plus strategy was drafted by Benny Tai Yiu-ting in March last year. Tai was an organizer of the Occupy Central protests that ground the city to a halt for 79 days in 2014.  The primaries were organized to ensure those with the best chance could win votes and achieve a majority in the 70-seat legislature (or, 35-plus). This was to preve

The South China Morning Post, the parent company of Inkstone, is releasing a comprehensive new documentary about Hong Kong’s tumultuous anti-government protests of 2019, marking a year since a climactic showdown at a university campus. The hour-long production, titled China’s Rebel City, combines the access, expertise and on-the-ground reporting of award-winning Post journalists to deliver a no-holds-barred account of the events that pushed the city to the brink and reshaped its political landscape. The documentary, a companion piece to the book Rebel City: Hong Kong’s Year of Water and Fire, published in June, is being released in four parts. The first installment comes today on platform

Four Hong Kong opposition lawmakers have been disqualified with immediate effect after China’s top legislative body passed a resolution giving local authorities the power to unseat politicians without having to go through the city’s judicial system. The legislators unseated on Wednesday were Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, Dennis Kwok, Kenneth Leung and Kwok Ka-ki, all members of the pro-democracy bloc. They had previously been banned from running in the 2020 legislative elections before the polls were postponed for one year because of the coronavirus pandemic.  A stipulation from China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), said that lawmakers would immedia

Greta Thunberg, the high-profile global environmental activist, has waded into sensitive Chinese politics by demanding the release of 12 Hong Kong fugitives detained in mainland China after being arrested at sea while fleeing to Taiwan.  The Swedish environmentalist shared on Twitter a picture of her holding a whiteboard bearing the message “#SAVE12HKYOUTHS” in response to a direct appeal to back the cause from Joshua Wong Chi-fung, the poster boy of Hong Kong’s protest movement. She also wrote, “12 is more than just a number” and called on three other environmental activists to join her in the cause. The arrest of 12 Hong Kong activists in August has made international headlines and turned

Reverend Jayson Tam was upset when a remark he made about mainland China in an online sermon in early June drew a four-page letter of complaint. The Hong Kong pastor had mentioned a policy that banned children under 18 from going to church, but the complainant said it was not fair to single out the mainland when the United States also had rules regarding religious activities in public schools. Tam took to Facebook to express astonishment at the complaint, saying he feared that worship gatherings were being monitored by the authorities. The 46-year-old pastor from a 10,000-strong megachurch deleted his post shortly after Beijing introduced a tailor-made national security law for Hong Kong, a

The recent capture at sea of 17 young Hong Kong activists as they attempted to escape to Taiwan was an all-too-familiar tale for older Hongkongers who risked life and limb in perilous journeys into or out of the city by water, but for three men, the story was deeply personal. Memories of their own brushes with danger came flooding back for Cai Chongguo, Lew Mon-hung and Tsang Kin-shing when news emerged on Wednesday that the mainland Chinese coastguard had arrested 12 local activists allegedly en route to Taiwan. Wednesday’s arrests came just days before Taiwanese media reported that five other Hong Kong activists had been intercepted by marine authorities from the self-ruled island late las

Political books about Hong Kong’s democratic movement, gossip about Chinese leaders, and rumors about politics on the Chinese mainland were once readily available at newsstands and convenience stores across the city. But many books considered to be "sensitive" have disappeared from the shelves after Beijing imposed a national security law for Hong Kong in July 2020. The change is a worry for many in Hong Kong, including an independent bookstore owner who fears the new law could eventually have a serious impact on his business

Cherie Wong was utterly consumed by the protest movement that swept Hong Kong last summer. “I didn’t sleep properly for days, for weeks, really,” she said. She watched the protests obsessively, then became an activist herself. Wong, 24, tried to discuss her beliefs with older family members who included former members of the Hong Kong Police Force. “It ended up in conflict, it was awkward,” she said. But her activities were cheered by her grandmother, in her mid-80s, who was “incredibly pro-protester. We’d just go into a private chat to talk about it.” But Wong, a freelance writer and policy researcher, was not in Hong Kong. She was more than 7,450 miles away in Ottawa, Canada, watching even

Nearly four in 10 members of an influential American business group are considering relocating from Hong Kong due to the city’s national security law, an indication of rising corporate fears over the sweeping new legislation, a recent poll revealed. Of the 154 firms surveyed by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AmCham), 39% said they had plans to move capital, assets or operations out of the city after more details were revealed about the law, a rise from 35.5% of businesses polled in July. The remaining 61% said they had no plans to exit the city. On a personal level, 53% of respondents said they were considering leaving Hong Kong, while 46% said they had no plans to quit the c

Hong Kong police arrested Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai under the national security law as part of an investigation into an online group that canvassed foreign countries to sanction the city and received more than HK$1 million ($129,000) from overseas bank accounts, the South China Morning Post has learned. Former student activist Agnes Chow and two others arrested were also allegedly involved in the group. Sources said the group is called “I want laam caau,” a Cantonese expression meaning “embrace and fry.” It sums up the popular protest slogan, “If we burn, you burn with us,” used by participants in the anti-government unrest that roiled the former British colony last year. Officers from t