Topic

Just Sayingi

Yonden Lhatoo started his journalism career in print, covering the far-reaching changes Hong Kong went through before and during the city’s handover to China, as a senior newspaper reporter.

He switched to broadcast journalism after the transfer of sovereignty in 1997 and worked as a television news anchor and editor for nearly two decades. He was the main anchor and editor-in-chief of ATV’s English news department before joining the South China Morning Post as a senior editor and eventually taking up the job of chief news editor. He has publicly written, spoken and taught about Hong Kong issues, but is still trying to figure it all out.

He also enjoys writing this weekly column, which often raises eyebrows or sparks heated discussions because he doesn’t hesitate to tell it like it is.

Advertisement
  • Football star leaves tens of thousands of fans outraged and entire city disappointed after sitting out much-anticipated exhibition match
  • Messi accused of being uncooperative, snubbing officials and refusing invitation to acknowledge fans
videocam

Yonden Lhatoo explains why the British government’s offer to take in those from the city with BN(O) status is a political sham that will only bring grief to unwitting victims who fall for it.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement

Yonden Lhatoo tries to come to terms with the astonishing spectacle of the American president dancing on stage to an old pop song that is widely enjoyed as a gay anthem.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo laments the rampant racism and discrimination that underprivileged members of ethnic minority groups experience when looking for a home to rent in the city.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo is not surprised at the sheer volume of ridicule and hate on social media over the US president’s coronavirus diagnosis, but questions open calls and hopes for his death.

Yonden Lhatoo calls out the Australian government for playing fearmongering politics at the cost of hurting its own citizens by telling them they are not safe in this city.

Yonden Lhatoo calls out US politicians for blatant double standards in seeking to honour the city’s anti-government movement while being conflicted over protests in their own country.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo calls out the Taipei government for promising a safe haven for young anti-Beijing activists fleeing the city and failing to deliver as they risk their lives to reach the self-ruled island.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo says the Trump administration has not only cut off the city’s nose to spite China’s face, it has also shot itself in the foot by killing a reciprocal deal that allowed the transfer of fugitive offenders

Yonden Lhatoo has a hell of a time unboxing the US president’s claim that the city is headed for eternal damnation because he has ‘taken back’ all the privileges that he ‘gave’.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo raises the alarm over the risk of all-out war between the world’s two biggest powers, asking how much more provocation Beijing can absorb or will take before retaliating for real.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo offers a loving little reality check, amid all the political grandstanding and paranoia over the city’s national security law, to remind us how and why we got here.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo warns that the current regime running the US risks plunging the world into war with its hegemonistic belligerence in general and escalating provocation of China in particular.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo laments the complacency that has rolled back the city’s exemplary success against the coronavirus and left it battling a resurgent crisis that threatens to overwhelm the public health care system.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo gets personal while reflecting upon the intolerance and intimidation that goes on unchecked in this city in the name of democracy and the fight for freedom.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo is intrigued by the martial arts motif that keeps surfacing at every political battlefront for China, whether it involves Hong Kong, India or America

Yonden Lhatoo sees the announcement of US sanctions on Chinese officials over Hong Kong as the latest distraction by a government which should be fighting a coronavirus catastrophe on its own home front as a priority.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo tries to make sense of what happened this week at a flash point along China’s disputed Himalayan border with India in the absence of a complete official account from either side.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo breaks down Beijing’s promise that new legislation tailor-made for the city will ensure people ‘can speak the truth on the street without fear of being attacked’.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo says the very people who condemned the slightest move to restore law and order during Hong Kong’s social unrest are now unleashing a massive show of force on Americans protesting against racism

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo compares the outbreak of social unrest across the US with Hong Kong’s protests to highlight the sheer hypocrisy of Washington’s cynical anti-China campaign.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo blames blatant interference by the US for the state of affairs prompting Beijing’s new legislation to protect national security, even as he expresses concerns about its unknown implications for the city.

videocam

Yonden Lhatoo says the chief executive must learn to give as good as she gets from malicious journalists as she fights a losing propaganda war with her many detractors.

videocam

The public relations disaster gripping the police force over the recent arrests of officers has serious implications for tackling social unrest as the coronavirus crisis eases and anti-government protests return.

videocam