Yonden Lhatoo

Hong Kong

Yonden Lhatoo

Chief News Editor

Yonden Lhatoo is the Chief News Editor at the Post. He had worked as a television news anchor and editor in Hong Kong for nearly two decades before joining the SCMP in 2015.

Show more

Latest from Yonden Lhatoo

Why is China peddling a coronavirus conspiracy theory?

SCMP Chief News Editor Yonden Lhatoo warns that the two countries are taking mudslinging to a dangerous new level with conspiracy theories.

18 Mar 2020 - 6:00AM

SCMP Chief News Editor Yonden Lhatoo warns that the two countries are taking mudslinging to a dangerous new level with conspiracy theories.

Why is China peddling a coronavirus conspiracy theory?
Just Saying | Why China is amplifying a conspiracy theory to blame America for coronavirus crisis

Yonden Lhatoo breaks down a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman’s claim that the US military is behind the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting the extent of mistrust and toxic state of relations between the two sides.

14 Mar 2020 - 10:36PM

Yonden Lhatoo breaks down a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman’s claim that the US military is behind the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting the extent of mistrust and toxic state of relations between the two sides.

Why China is amplifying a conspiracy theory to blame America for coronavirus crisis
After China, is America the next big coronavirus threat to the world?

Now that China has managed to get a grip on the coronavirus crisis within its own borders, the SCMP’s Chief News Editor Yonden Lhatoo asks some awkward questions about what the US is doing.

12 Mar 2020 - 6:00AM

Now that China has managed to get a grip on the coronavirus crisis within its own borders, the SCMP’s Chief News Editor Yonden Lhatoo asks some awkward questions about what the US is doing.

After China, is America the next big coronavirus threat to the world?
Never mind China, look to the US for the next big coronavirus crisis
Just Saying | Careful, you can still catch the coronavirus from your dog even if it is not actually infected

Yonden Lhatoo takes a closer look at the case of a coronavirus patient’s Pomeranian under quarantine and what it means for pet owners amid a worsening public health crisis.

1 Mar 2020 - 8:39AM

Yonden Lhatoo takes a closer look at the case of a coronavirus patient’s Pomeranian under quarantine and what it means for pet owners amid a worsening public health crisis.

Careful, you can still catch the coronavirus from your dog even if it is not actually infected
Just Saying | Singapore ‘idiot’s guide’ to coronavirus crisis control: don’t do it like Hong Kong

Yonden Lhatoo strongly recommends listening to the recent rant by the city state’s trade minister, against panic-stricken citizens snapping up masks and stockpiling essential goods when there is no need to.

25 Feb 2020 - 2:54PM

Yonden Lhatoo strongly recommends listening to the recent rant by the city state’s trade minister, against panic-stricken citizens snapping up masks and stockpiling essential goods when there is no need to.

Singapore ‘idiot’s guide’ to coronavirus crisis control: don’t do it like Hong Kong
Can we trust in Donald Trump’s claim that the coronavirus crisis will ‘go away in April’?
Just Saying | Hong Kong’s despicable hospital strike over coronavirus crisis is just a taste of more to come

Yonden Lhatoo condemns public hospital workers for abandoning their patients for the sake of politics, and warns of more disruptions by unionised anti-government activists in the year ahead.

8 Feb 2020 - 10:23PM

Yonden Lhatoo condemns public hospital workers for abandoning their patients for the sake of politics, and warns of more disruptions by unionised anti-government activists in the year ahead.

Hong Kong’s despicable hospital strike over coronavirus crisis is just a taste of more to come
Coronavirus crisis injects new life into Hong Kong ‘revolution’ with toxic results

Is the ongoing coronavirus crisis injecting new life into Hong Kong ‘revolution’ with some toxic side effects? The South China Morning Post’s Chief News Editor, Yonden Lhatoo despairs for the city as the public mood turns ugly in response to a snowballing global health emergency surrounding the outbreak. 

6 Feb 2020 - 2:40PM

Is the ongoing coronavirus crisis injecting new life into Hong Kong ‘revolution’ with some toxic side effects? The South China Morning Post’s Chief News Editor, Yonden Lhatoo despairs for the city as the public mood turns ugly in response to a snowballing global health emergency surrounding the outbreak. 

Coronavirus crisis injects new life into Hong Kong ‘revolution’ with toxic results
Just Saying | Coronavirus crisis brings out worst in toxic Hong Kong society already scarred by the revolution of our times

Yonden Lhatoo despairs for the city, given the ugly public mood on the streets as the global health emergency bites hard and an indecisive government inspires no confidence.

15 Feb 2020 - 12:51AM

Yonden Lhatoo despairs for the city, given the ugly public mood on the streets as the global health emergency bites hard and an indecisive government inspires no confidence.

Coronavirus crisis brings out worst in toxic Hong Kong society already scarred by the revolution of our times
Just Saying | Sorry, old chaps, for making light of Megxit and branding Britain’s royal family as useless

Yonden Lhatoo is taken aback by the depth of feeling Hong Kong’s British residents have for the House of Windsor and offers an apology – of sorts – for offending them.

18 Jan 2020 - 11:00PM

Yonden Lhatoo is taken aback by the depth of feeling Hong Kong’s British residents have for the House of Windsor and offers an apology – of sorts – for offending them.

Sorry, old chaps, for making light of Megxit and branding Britain’s royal family as useless
Just Saying | Megxit schmexit – there’s no bigger waste of time, space and money than the UK’s royal family

Yonden Lhatoo rubbishes the latest news cycle concerning the British royal family and questions the justification for maintaining a useless monarchy at the expense of taxpayers.

12 Jan 2020 - 12:36PM

Yonden Lhatoo rubbishes the latest news cycle concerning the British royal family and questions the justification for maintaining a useless monarchy at the expense of taxpayers.

Megxit schmexit – there’s no bigger waste of time, space and money than the UK’s royal family
Just Saying | Never mind Hong Kong’s revolution, the world is about to go to war

Yonden Lhatoo takes a break from stressing over the city’s long-running social turmoil to start worrying about a potentially catastrophic war brewing in the Middle East.

9 Jan 2020 - 11:15AM

Yonden Lhatoo takes a break from stressing over the city’s long-running social turmoil to start worrying about a potentially catastrophic war brewing in the Middle East.

Never mind Hong Kong’s revolution, the world is about to go to war
Happy New Year from Hong Kong – and bah humbug!

SCMP Chief News Editor Yonden Lhatoo's New Year message is a reality check from a city still in endless turmoil.

30 Dec 2019 - 5:58PM

SCMP Chief News Editor Yonden Lhatoo's New Year message is a reality check from a city still in endless turmoil.

Happy New Year from Hong Kong – and bah humbug!
Just Saying | No Happy New Year ahead for Hong Kong, just endless protest chaos for the foreseeable future

Get used to it, Yonden Lhatoo says, because nothing is changing, nobody is coming to the rescue, and no one has any panacea for the most destructive and debilitating social and political crisis since the city’s return to China.

30 Dec 2019 - 7:11PM

Get used to it, Yonden Lhatoo says, because nothing is changing, nobody is coming to the rescue, and no one has any panacea for the most destructive and debilitating social and political crisis since the city’s return to China.

No Happy New Year ahead for Hong Kong, just endless protest chaos for the foreseeable future
Just Saying | Fine then, let’s disband Hong Kong’s police force if that’s what the people want

Yonden Lhatoo says public mistrust and hatred of the city’s police has reached a stage where criminal activity has become acceptable to many while law enforcement is no longer welcome.

21 Dec 2019 - 10:37PM

Yonden Lhatoo says public mistrust and hatred of the city’s police has reached a stage where criminal activity has become acceptable to many while law enforcement is no longer welcome.

Fine then, let’s disband Hong Kong’s police force if that’s what the people want
Just Saying | Hong Kong’s revolution is sliding into terrorism with home-made bombs primed to kill and maim

Yonden Lhatoo says radicals on the front lines of the city’s protest movement building powerful, improvised explosive devices are ticking all the defining boxes of textbook terrorism while we still argue over calling them rioters.

14 Dec 2019 - 10:43PM

Yonden Lhatoo says radicals on the front lines of the city’s protest movement building powerful, improvised explosive devices are ticking all the defining boxes of textbook terrorism while we still argue over calling them rioters.

Hong Kong’s revolution is sliding into terrorism with home-made bombs primed to kill and maim
Just Saying | The extent of Hong Kong’s crisis: let the numbers do the talking

Just how bad has it become in the city? Yonden Lhatoo says the numbers tell the story after six months of mass protests, street violence and social strife, with no end in sight.

7 Dec 2019 - 10:22PM

Just how bad has it become in the city? Yonden Lhatoo says the numbers tell the story after six months of mass protests, street violence and social strife, with no end in sight.

The extent of Hong Kong’s crisis: let the numbers do the talking
Just Saying | Cutting off Hong Kong’s nose to spite China is nothing to celebrate

Yonden Lhatoo is appalled by the sheer ignorance of celebrations on the streets after the passage of legislation by Washington that will hurt Hongkongers more than anyone else – and Americans, too.

30 Nov 2019 - 11:06PM

Yonden Lhatoo is appalled by the sheer ignorance of celebrations on the streets after the passage of legislation by Washington that will hurt Hongkongers more than anyone else – and Americans, too.

Cutting off Hong Kong’s nose to spite China is nothing to celebrate
Just Saying | 14 minutes to obliterate Hong Kong: deconstructing Donald Trump’s bizarre boast

Yonden Lhatoo breaks down the US president’s astonishing claim that he stopped his Chinese counterpart from wiping out the protest-torn city with a million PLA troops

23 Nov 2019 - 11:03PM

Yonden Lhatoo breaks down the US president’s astonishing claim that he stopped his Chinese counterpart from wiping out the protest-torn city with a million PLA troops

14 minutes to obliterate Hong Kong: deconstructing Donald Trump’s bizarre boast
Just Saying | Is there no limit to US hypocrisy in exploiting Hong Kong’s crisis?

Yonden Lhatoo calls out grandstanding American politicians who care nothing for the well-being of the city while using it as a pawn against Beijing.

16 Nov 2019 - 11:11PM

Yonden Lhatoo calls out grandstanding American politicians who care nothing for the well-being of the city while using it as a pawn against Beijing.

Is there no limit to US hypocrisy in exploiting Hong Kong’s crisis?
Just Saying | Taiwan is playing Hong Kong like a fiddle while the city burns

Yonden Lhatoo says the city has been outclassed and outmanoeuvred in a political game over the fate of young murder suspect that Taiwan is playing to cynical perfection

26 Oct 2019 - 10:20PM

Yonden Lhatoo says the city has been outclassed and outmanoeuvred in a political game over the fate of young murder suspect that Taiwan is playing to cynical perfection

Taiwan is playing Hong Kong like a fiddle while the city burns
Hong Kong protests: is there a silent majority yearning to speak out but intimidated by violence?

Constant demonstrations and anti-police graffiti have become pervasive in the city, drowning out criticism of the recent movement.

22 Oct 2019 - 12:23AM

Constant demonstrations and anti-police graffiti have become pervasive in the city, drowning out criticism of the recent movement.

Hong Kong protests: is there a silent majority yearning to speak out but intimidated by violence?
Just Saying | Please don’t let South Asians burn in Hong Kong’s revolution

Yonden Lhatoo warns that the city’s vulnerable ethnic minority groups are being vilified to dangerous effect by those adding racial hatred into the mix of social unrest and protest violence.

19 Oct 2019 - 10:51PM

Yonden Lhatoo warns that the city’s vulnerable ethnic minority groups are being vilified to dangerous effect by those adding racial hatred into the mix of social unrest and protest violence.

Please don’t let South Asians burn in Hong Kong’s revolution
End of innocence as Hong Kong's revolution devours its own children

SCMP Chief News Editor Yonden Lhatoo laments that children are growing up with hatred in their hearts and even blood on their hands as Hong Kong stares into the abyss.

15 Oct 2019 - 7:41PM

SCMP Chief News Editor Yonden Lhatoo laments that children are growing up with hatred in their hearts and even blood on their hands as Hong Kong stares into the abyss.

End of innocence as Hong Kong's revolution devours its own children
US senator Ted Cruz accuses Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam of cancelling meeting with him out of ‘weakness’ and ‘fear’ of anti-government protesters

Republican Ted Cruz, on a brief visit to Hong Kong, also said he met ‘non-violent protest leaders’ and impressed upon them the need to shun violence.

13 Oct 2019 - 2:06AM

Republican Ted Cruz, on a brief visit to Hong Kong, also said he met ‘non-violent protest leaders’ and impressed upon them the need to shun violence.

US senator Ted Cruz accuses Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam of cancelling meeting with him out of ‘weakness’ and ‘fear’ of anti-government protesters
Just Saying | Hong Kong’s ‘revolution of our times’ is devouring its own children

Yonden Lhatoo laments the loss of innocence among the city’s children, warning that an entire new generation is growing up with hatred in their hearts and even blood on their hands after months of protest violence.

15 Oct 2019 - 7:48PM

Yonden Lhatoo laments the loss of innocence among the city’s children, warning that an entire new generation is growing up with hatred in their hearts and even blood on their hands after months of protest violence.

Hong Kong’s ‘revolution of our times’ is devouring its own children
Just Saying | There’s no silent majority in Hong Kong, only a terrified minority while the rest are fine with mob rule and anarchy

Yonden Lhatoo questions the narrative that most Hongkongers are opposed to protest violence, as hardly anyone speaks out against the systematic destruction of what was once a great city.

5 Oct 2019 - 10:22PM

Yonden Lhatoo questions the narrative that most Hongkongers are opposed to protest violence, as hardly anyone speaks out against the systematic destruction of what was once a great city.

There’s no silent majority in Hong Kong, only a terrified minority while the rest are fine with mob rule and anarchy
Hong Kong is becoming a basket case because our leaders have the power but no guts to end anarchy
Recruiting Gurkhas to protect Hong Kong’s MTR from protest vandalism will only make it worse