https://www.scmp.com/rss/322140/feed Mong Kok, one of Hong Kong's busiest districts, went into virtual lockdown in February 2016 hours after the Lunar New Year began. Unrest escalated as crowds gathered in the district to protest a crackdown on illegal street food hawkers. A night of violence saw police fire two warning shots as protesters launched bricks and set fires. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com A 22-year-old Chinese University of Hong Kong student was on Wednesday jailed for laundering almost HK$600,000 (US$76,620) from a fundraising platform used to help protesters arrested during the anti-government unrest in 2019. Deputy District Judge Ko Wai-hung sentenced Yu Yan-yuk to 16 months behind bars for handling funds as a volunteer for Spark Alliance HK, a platform originally set up after the 2016 Mong Kok riot, to help arrested or jailed activists. Ko said Yu had made 23 deposits and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3259354/hong-kong-student-jailed-laundering-hk600000-connection-help-people-involved-2019-anti-government?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3259354/hong-kong-student-jailed-laundering-hk600000-connection-help-people-involved-2019-anti-government?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Apr 2024 11:42:06 +0000 Hong Kong’s High Court has issued a confiscation order allowing police to seize about HK$70 million (US$8.9 million) raised through a fundraising platform allegedly set up to support the 2019 anti-government protesters, the force has revealed. The Post learned that Spark Alliance HK, a group formed after the 2016 Mong Kok riot to help arrested or jailed activists, was the organiser of the platform. The court order was issued on Monday following a police application filed after two of four... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3193873/hong-kong-court-issues-order-allowing-police-seize?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3193873/hong-kong-court-issues-order-allowing-police-seize?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Sep 2022 12:07:55 +0000 This article was first published in the South China Morning Post on February 10, 2016. It has been republished online as part of Hong Kong 25, which looks at how the city has changed since the handover, and what its future holds. By Stuart Lau, Chris Lau and Christy Leung Hong Kong was in shock yesterday and remained on edge after overnight rioting on Monday in the streets of Mong Kok prompted police to fire shots in the air, left scores injured, and led to the arrests of 61 people. Hundreds of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3178982/february-8-2016-night-mob-violence-mong-kok-leaves?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3178982/february-8-2016-night-mob-violence-mong-kok-leaves?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jun 2022 13:30:16 +0000 Activist Edward Leung Tin-kei, once the face of Hong Kong’s pro-independence movement, was released from prison early on Wednesday under special – if not unprecedented – security arrangements after serving four years behind bars. Leung, whose six-year jail term over a 2016 riot was reduced for good behaviour, was ferried from Shek Pik Prison on Lantau Island shortly before 3am in a seven-seater van, escorted by two vehicles. Prison inmates are usually released at around 9am. A few hours later,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3163882/hong-kong-protests-activist-edward-leung-released-early?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3163882/hong-kong-protests-activist-edward-leung-released-early?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Jan 2022 22:46:40 +0000 Family members of jailed Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei have urged his supporters to keep a low profile, a day before his release from a maximum-security prison. Posting on the activist’s Facebook page on Tuesday, the family called on Leung’s backers to give him space and put their own safety first. “First, no need to venture all the way to Shek Pik,” the statement said, referring to the prison on Lantau Island, where Leung has been incarcerated since 2018 for rioting in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3163839/family-hong-kong-activist-edward-leung-warns-supporters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3163839/family-hong-kong-activist-edward-leung-warns-supporters?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Jan 2022 11:33:17 +0000 Jailed Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei is expected to be released on January 19, with his six-year sentence reduced by a third for good behaviour, but he is likely to remain under close watch, the Post has learned. The 30-year-old former spokesman of localist political group Hong Kong Indigenous was jailed in 2018 for rioting in Mong Kok and assaulting a police officer two years earlier. A government source said that given Leung’s record as a prominent and influential... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3154269/hong-kong-activist-edward-leung-likely-be-watched?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3154269/hong-kong-activist-edward-leung-likely-be-watched?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Oct 2021 04:00:34 +0000 The Chinese University of Hong Kong has warned student union candidates against engaging in activities on campus that break the law or jeopardise national security. The university was responding on Wednesday to claims by the candidates, who are running for the union cabinet, that management had joined with police to have students arrested following an attack on security guards, in which an unknown white powder was hurled at them. Students have accused the guards of abusing their power in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3120433/chinese-university-hong-kong-warns-illegal-acts-will?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3120433/chinese-university-hong-kong-warns-illegal-acts-will?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Feb 2021 15:35:31 +0000 The University of Hong Kong has urged its student union to scrap a planned showing of a documentary about a jailed pro-independence activist, warning that the screening could breach the law and the social-distancing rule limiting public gatherings. While the university has not spelled out in a public statement what law it was referring to, the union accused management of political suppression. It said the university had sent a notice that referred to the national security law and also claimed to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3120280/university-hong-kong-warns-students-union-screening?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3120280/university-hong-kong-warns-students-union-screening?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Feb 2021 15:30:27 +0000 Two men are facing up to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to rioting and vandalising government property during violent clashes between protesters and police in one of Hong Kong’s busiest districts four years ago. Tam Pak-hei, 22, admitted to hurling bricks and objects at officers in Mong Kok on the morning of February 9, 2016, the District Court heard on Monday. Co-defendant Wong Kwok-pan, 24, also pleaded guilty to illegally removing a signpost from a pavement that morning, as well... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3108088/hong-kong-pair-admit-rioting-and-vandalising?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3108088/hong-kong-pair-admit-rioting-and-vandalising?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Nov 2020 09:05:08 +0000 Hong Kong’s justice minister has stopped short of saying whether separatist slogans are outlawed under the new national security law after demonstrators continued to utter pro-independence chants during an unauthorised July 1 protest. China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, passed the law on Tuesday morning and it was gazetted in Hong Kong at 11pm. The law punishes acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign and external forces.... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3091435/national-security-law-will-hong-kong-residents-find?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3091435/national-security-law-will-hong-kong-residents-find?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Jul 2020 03:00:12 +0000 Police fired tear gas on the first day of Lunar New Year in Hong Kong after a crowd gathered to mark the fourth anniversary of the Mong Kok riot in 2016. Passers-by were seen fleeing from the junction of Argyle Road and Portland Street after police launched a crowd dispersal operation. Some found refuge at nearby shopping centre Langham Place where others helped them wash their eyes. Just before 11pm, a group of black-clad protesters allegedly blocked Portland Street with rubbish and various... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3047661/hong-kong-protests-tear-gas-fired-first-day-lunar-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3047661/hong-kong-protests-tear-gas-fired-first-day-lunar-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Jan 2020 15:34:16 +0000 A rally scheduled to be held in Hong Kong on Sunday has been called off, after an appeals board unanimously upheld the police ban of the event, saying it could pose a serious threat to public order and safety. The rally in Mong Kok was among a series of activities planned by internet users for the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on Saturday, or the first day of the Year of the Rat. Planned activities include Lunar New Year fairs in places such as Tai Po, Fortress Hill and Kwun Tong from... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3047375/hong-kong-protests-ban-rally-marking-fourth-anniversary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3047375/hong-kong-protests-ban-rally-marking-fourth-anniversary?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jan 2020 09:16:08 +0000 A Hong Kong woman found guilty of rioting in the civil unrest in one of the city’s busiest districts three years ago was on Tuesday sentenced to 46 months in jail. Amy Pat Wai-fun, 24, was convicted of two counts of rioting in relation to violent clashes that took place overnight between some 500 protesters and riot police in Mong Kok between February 8 and 9 in 2016. Judge Ernest Michael Lin Kam-hung refused to sentence Pat, who has an intellectual disability, to probation as recommended by the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3039416/mong-kok-rioter-jailed-46-months-hong-kong-role-2016?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3039416/mong-kok-rioter-jailed-46-months-hong-kong-role-2016?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Nov 2019 08:44:12 +0000 Britain has called on anti-government protesters in Hong Kong to “end the violence”, while also asking police to “be proportionate” in their handling of demonstrators. It also noted that the nature of the protests had changed and stressed that the violence of a “hard-core minority cannot be condoned”. London’s stance was spelt out in its latest six-monthly parliamentary report on Hong Kong, released on Thursday, which also called on the city’s leader, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3035821/british-government-urges-hong-kong-protesters-end-violence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3035821/british-government-urges-hong-kong-protesters-end-violence?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Oct 2019 15:26:03 +0000 Hundreds of supporters of jailed independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei converged on a Hong Kong court on Wednesday as he launched an appeal against his six-year prison sentence for rioting in 2016. Leung was joined by co-defendants Lo Kin-man and Wong Ka-kui, who were also jailed for seven and 3½ years respectively for rioting on the night of February 8, 2016, in Mong Kok. That night – the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday – protesters lit fires on the streets and hurled bricks at... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3032194/supporters-turn-out-hong-kong-pro-independence-figure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3032194/supporters-turn-out-hong-kong-pro-independence-figure?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Oct 2019 10:15:13 +0000 The unrest in Hong Kong over the now-withdrawn extradition bill has continued for over three months. Some commentators have said that if the chaos does not end soon, the government should consider invoking the Emergency Regulations Ordinance. The ordinance, enacted in 1922 to empower the governor during times of emergency or public danger, essentially allows the chief executive to make any regulation she considers in the public interest, without going through the Legislative Council. These... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3030170/why-invoking-hong-kongs-oppressive-outdated-emergency-regulations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3030170/why-invoking-hong-kongs-oppressive-outdated-emergency-regulations?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Sep 2019 22:00:10 +0000 The ongoing political crisis in Hong Kong has led to the arrest of 1,140 protesters so far – including some as young as 12 years old – one of the highest counts for a single movement in the city. As of Tuesday, at least 161 of those arrested had been charged and 149 released on bail since the campaign against the now-shelved extradition bill started in June. At least 122 are subject to a curfew. Charges include rioting, unlawful assembly and possession of offensive weapons, among others. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3025577/hong-kong-protests-what-demonstrator-can-expect-being?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3025577/hong-kong-protests-what-demonstrator-can-expect-being?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Sep 2019 01:15:05 +0000 A Filipino and 15 Hongkongers have been formally charged over the clashes that broke out in Mong Kok and Wong Tai Sin over the weekend. Of those, 12 have been accused of taking part in an unlawful assembly on Nathan Road in Mong Kok on Saturday. They include Filipino dancer Jethro Santiago Pioquinto, 36, and six students, the youngest a 15-year-old boy. One of the students, Ann Han Ming-yan, 22, was charged with an additional count of failing to produce proof of identity on demand. A... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3021532/hong-kong-protests-filipino-dancer-and-15-year-old-boy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3021532/hong-kong-protests-filipino-dancer-and-15-year-old-boy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Aug 2019 14:59:01 +0000 “This is a time for Kowloon people to be proud!” Vivian Chiu Ma-yan, 34, a Facebook user in Hong Kong, said on her page last week. “Finally, this time we don’t need to hop across the harbour to join a protest!” She was referring to last Sunday’s mass rally against the now-suspended extradition bill – the first one on the Kowloon side of Victoria Harbour. While Hong Kong Island holds the administrative centre where government buildings and the chief executive’s official residence are located,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3018291/difference-between-kowloon-extradition-bill-protest-and-one?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3018291/difference-between-kowloon-extradition-bill-protest-and-one?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Jul 2019 04:00:04 +0000 The police’s role as the true protector of Hong Kong’s style of democracy has become more difficult, with protesters becoming increasingly violent since 2003. In 2003, those marching against the legislation of Article 23 were peaceful. In 2005, Korean farmers came to Hong Kong and received worldwide media coverage for the ways in which they attacked the police. Hong Kong protesters learned from the Korean farmers. Between 2010 and 2012, Hong Kong protesters became more confrontational, using... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3016352/hong-kong-police-are-true-defenders-city-rocked-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3016352/hong-kong-police-are-true-defenders-city-rocked-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Jun 2019 00:00:12 +0000 The anti-extradition movement continues as the government refuses to meet the five demands of the protesters: to withdraw the extradition bill, retract the characterisation of the June 12 protest as a riot, have Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor step down, release and drop charges against arrested protesters, and launch an independent inquiry into police brutality. Unsurprisingly, front-line protesters are focusing on the last two demands. But these two involve more than political... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3016061/did-hong-kong-witness-riot-june-12-justice-chiefs-answer-holds-key?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3016061/did-hong-kong-witness-riot-june-12-justice-chiefs-answer-holds-key?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Jun 2019 00:00:08 +0000 I echo Mrs Regina Ip’s views as expressed in “German asylum for riot-accused an attack on Hong Kong justice system” (June 6), and will go further to express my disdain for hypocrisy. I respect everyone who has integrity and sticks to his convictions with constancy, even if I don’t agree with their convictions. Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Alan Li Tung-sing acted with hypocritical cowardice. They faced rioting charges and would have received fair trials in Hong Kong. Occupy Central protesters could... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3014030/hong-kongs-riot-accused-political-refugees-display-shameful?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3014030/hong-kongs-riot-accused-political-refugees-display-shameful?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Jun 2019 05:00:15 +0000 In deciding their strategy on Wednesday, the police’s priority was to secure Hong Kong’s legislature and government buildings first rather than remove protesters violently demonstrating against a controversial extradition bill, a senior inside source told the South China Morning Post. “Political problems must be solved by a political means. If we’d dispersed the protesters today, they will come back tomorrow and the day after, if the fundamental problem is not solved,” the source said. The bill... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3014247/police-sandwiched-political-storm-during-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3014247/police-sandwiched-political-storm-during-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Jun 2019 14:32:48 +0000 Sunday’s huge march against the government’s controversial extradition bill showed Hong Kong people at their best. It was an almost entirely peaceful expression of dissent, thanks to patience with sweltering heat and slow progress, and the even-handedness of police who opened roads and kept crowds moving. In a regrettable exception after the event had ended, two activist groups that clashed with police seemed bent on forcing confrontation. The extraordinary demonstration of defiant sentiment... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3013916/protest-gives-carrie-lam-one-more-reason-think-again-fugitive-bill?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3013916/protest-gives-carrie-lam-one-more-reason-think-again-fugitive-bill?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Jun 2019 14:01:11 +0000 Hong Kong has always been proud of its rule of law. Our justice system was ranked 16th by the World Justice Project in its 2019 report, three places ahead of that of the US. The German decision to grant refugee status to Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Alan Li Tung-sing, two fugitives charged with serious criminal offences in connection with their involvement in the Mong Kok riots in early 2016 and who had jumped bail, is a frontal attack on Hong Kong’s justice system. Given that, under the 1951 Refugee... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3013156/german-asylum-ray-wong-and-alan-li-attack-hong-kongs-justice-system?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3013156/german-asylum-ray-wong-and-alan-li-attack-hong-kongs-justice-system?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jun 2019 23:30:05 +0000 Two Hong Kong fugitives granted refugee protection status in Germany say they decided to flee because they faced an “unfair” trial, arguing they had a responsibility to draw international attention to the erosion of freedom in their hometown. Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Alan Li Tung-sing, who skipped bail in 2017 to avoid facing trial on charges related to the Mong Kok riot the previous year, made their first public appearance on Tuesday since news of their status came to light last month. Wong said... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3013169/hong-kong-fugitives-granted-asylum-germany-say-they-faced?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3013169/hong-kong-fugitives-granted-asylum-germany-say-they-faced?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Jun 2019 04:45:05 +0000 “Oh would some power the gift give us, to see ourselves as others see us.” This quote from Scottish poet Robert Burns sprang to mind when I saw in the news that a delegation from the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong was protesting outside the German consulate in Hong Kong. Led by the party’s deputy leader, Holden Chow Ho-ding, the delegation had gone there to complain about Germany’s decision last year to grant political asylum to two Hongkongers.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3012627/how-does-world-view-hong-kongs-political-turmoil-occupy-oath-taking?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3012627/how-does-world-view-hong-kongs-political-turmoil-occupy-oath-taking?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Jun 2019 23:00:11 +0000 If a government exercises its sovereign right to implement its own laws within its own country, can that in any way be construed as meddling in the internal affairs of another country? To me, the answer is a no-brainer. But try explaining that to the Hong Kong government. As a sovereign nation, Germany has every right to grant political asylum to qualified applicants. It concluded after rigidly following its asylum process that two Hongkongers qualified for protection. Yet our government went... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3012249/why-did-germany-feel-need-grant-asylum-hong-kong-riot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3012249/why-did-germany-feel-need-grant-asylum-hong-kong-riot?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 May 2019 23:00:13 +0000 The German consulate in Hong Kong on Tuesday sought to distance itself from Berlin’s decision to grant refugee protection status to two fugitives wanted on rioting charges, pledging ties with the city would not change. Beijing and Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had earlier expressed strong opposition to the news that Berlin last year granted refugee protection status to pro-independence activists Ray Wong Toi-yeung, 25 and Alan Li Tung-shing, 27, who both fled from charges related to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3012073/german-consulate-distances-itself-asylum-row-over-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3012073/german-consulate-distances-itself-asylum-row-over-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 May 2019 04:31:26 +0000 I write in response to news that two leading members of the pro-independence group Hong Kong Indigenous, Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Alan Li Tung-sing, have sought and been granted asylum in a foreign country, likely becoming the first political activists from Hong Kong to have done so. The proposed amendment to the extradition law, which threatens to put Hongkongers at the mercy of the mainland judicial system, will plausibly result in more people seeking such refuge. In recent years, Beijing has... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3012047/more-will-follow-ray-wong-and-alan-li-asylum-if-hong-kong-passes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3012047/more-will-follow-ray-wong-and-alan-li-asylum-if-hong-kong-passes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 May 2019 02:40:15 +0000 Hong Kong’s leader has made a strongly worded official complaint to Germany’s top diplomat in the city, nearly three days after the news broke that the European nation had granted asylum to two local fugitives wanted by police on rioting charges. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor called for a meeting on Friday with acting consul general David Schmidt to express her strong objection and deep regret over Germany’s decision to offer protection to pro-independence activists Ray Wong... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3011735/hong-kong-leader-carrie-lam-voices-strong-objection-germany?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3011735/hong-kong-leader-carrie-lam-voices-strong-objection-germany?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 May 2019 12:31:30 +0000 Hong Kong has long enjoyed an international reputation for its rule of law and independent judiciary. The city’s prosperity and stability have been built on confidence in the courts to deliver justice. It is, therefore, of great concern that this perception appears to be changing. Two activists wanted for their alleged part in the Mong Kok riot of 2016 have been granted refugee status in Germany. Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Alan Li Tung-sing, both advocates of Hong Kong independence, were given this... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3011571/government-must-tell-world-justice-alive-and-well-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3011571/government-must-tell-world-justice-alive-and-well-city?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 May 2019 14:09:56 +0000 Two alleged Mong Kok rioters skipped bail, fled Hong Kong and were granted refugee protection in Germany. Instead of bemoaning the pair’s escape from justice and Germany’s misguided decision, opposition critics and some human rights groups are practically celebrating. Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Alan Li Tung-sing are fellow members of the localist group Hong Kong Indigenous, which advocates the city’s secession from mainland China. Both are wanted by police for their part in the 2016 riot that left... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3011565/when-rioters-pretend-be-dissidents?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3011565/when-rioters-pretend-be-dissidents?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 May 2019 13:22:20 +0000 Hong Kong’s leader has cancelled her planned trip to Germany in late June, although sources said it was not related to the growing controversy over the European nation granting asylum to two fugitives from the city who skipped bail in 2017 to avoid facing trial on rioting charges. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s office on Thursday would not confirm the cancellation, saying only that she would “take into account different factors in planning her duty visits”. Sources linked her... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3011528/china-tells-germany-stop-meddling-after-reports-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3011528/china-tells-germany-stop-meddling-after-reports-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 May 2019 09:46:20 +0000 Two fugitives who skipped bail on rioting charges in Hong Kong have reportedly been granted refugee protection in Germany, a move analysts said would anger Beijing and be a damaging blow to the city’s reputation. Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Alan Li Tung-sing, who both advocate Hong Kong’s independence from mainland China, are wanted by police and face charges in relation to the Mong Kok riot in 2016, which left more than 100 people injured. Several international media companies reported on Wednesday... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3011251/hong-kong-fugitives-wanted-over-mong-kok-riots-granted?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3011251/hong-kong-fugitives-wanted-over-mong-kok-riots-granted?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 May 2019 03:15:20 +0000 Two men with mental disorders who burned cardboard and hurled bottles at police during a riot in Hong Kong have each been jailed for three years. The High Court on Thursday sentenced Yung Wai-yip, 35, better known as “Captain America” for his protest outfit, and Yuen Chi-kui, a 28-year-old designer, over their roles in the unrest that broke out in the Mong Kok shopping district in February 2016. Yung was convicted last month of two counts of rioting and one of assaulting police after a trial. He... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3009584/two-mong-kok-rioters-mental-conditions-each-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3009584/two-mong-kok-rioters-mental-conditions-each-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 May 2019 11:22:04 +0000 A Hong Kong man jailed for hurling a brick at police “for fun” during the 2016 Mong Kok riot was granted the chance to appeal against his sentence on Tuesday, after a court found he had not acted as badly as a rioter who tried to torch a taxi. Mr Justice Andrew Macrae, acting chief judge of the High Court, gave Tang Ho-ying permission to lodge the appeal after hearing a comparison his lawyer made between the 26-year-old and another convicted rioter. Tang, a waiter, pleaded guilty to one count of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3006422/hong-kong-man-who-threw-brick-police-fun-during-mong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3006422/hong-kong-man-who-threw-brick-police-fun-during-mong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Apr 2019 10:22:47 +0000 The “Occupy trio” deserve jail. They themselves said so, long before the Occupy protests started in 2014. They said they were launching a civil disobedience movement for democracy in Hong Kong. This meant breaking “evil” laws and governance. The three – the Reverend Chu Yiu-ming, Benny Tai Yiu-ting and Dr Chan Kin-man – have said all along that they were ready and willing to take the punishment imposed by unjust law. So many youngsters from the Occupy protests and Mong Kok riot answered their... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3005597/thanks-nothing-occupy-trio-face-jail?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3005597/thanks-nothing-occupy-trio-face-jail?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Apr 2019 10:35:17 +0000 Two men who burned cardboard and hurled bottles at police during a riot in Hong Kong have asked to be spared jail due to their histories of mental illness. Counsel for Yung Wai-yip, 35, and Yuen Chi-kui, 28, on Thursday said their clients’ conditions of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had contributed to the crimes and would be harmed by long jail terms. Mr Justice Albert Wong Sung-hau said he would seek reports on the suitability of community service and probation... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3004728/men-who-burned-cardboard-and-threw-bottles-police?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3004728/men-who-burned-cardboard-and-threw-bottles-police?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Apr 2019 12:21:00 +0000 One of the faces of Hong Kong’s diminished pro-independence movement was acquitted on Friday of a second charge of rioting, three years after the violent unrest that gripped the popular Mong Kok shopping district. Edward Leung Tin-kei, formerly the spokesman of political group Hong Kong Indigenous, burst into joyful tears when a jury found him not guilty, by 7 to 2, of rioting in Portland Street on the night of February 8, 2016. Despite his acquittal, Leung headed back to prison, where he is... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3002814/former-separatist-leader-edward-leung-found-not-guilty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3002814/former-separatist-leader-edward-leung-found-not-guilty?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Mar 2019 05:34:59 +0000 Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei still awaits his fate in the dock, as jurors ended a third day of deliberation without a consensus on his role in a riot that rocked a prime shopping district in 2016. The jury of five women and two men was sent to reach a decision at the High Court on Monday in what seemed to the most significant chapter of a 70-day trial over the violence that gripped Mong Kok three years ago. The trial had featured months of video footage and testimony,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3002576/hong-kong-independence-activist-edward-leung-legal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3002576/hong-kong-independence-activist-edward-leung-legal?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Mar 2019 15:08:24 +0000 The amount of money Hong Kong’s justice department spent on hiring outside legal help for major politics-related cases soared 70 per cent to HK$17 million (US$2.2 million) in the last financial year. In all, the Department of Justice (DoJ) spent HK$300 million (US$38 million) on “briefing out” cases in the 2017-18 financial year, including six major politically charged cases related to the 2014 Occupy protests, the Mong Kok riot in 2016, an election petition and constitutional challenges to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3001410/hong-kongs-justice-department-spends-70-cent-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3001410/hong-kongs-justice-department-spends-70-cent-more?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Mar 2019 14:46:36 +0000 “Rubbish youth” are fighting back. They, the fai tsing, didn’t ruin Hong Kong. It’s the generation of yours truly that is responsible for the bad shape Hong Kong is in. Stop blaming us, they say, it’s you who screw us over: the post-60s and -70s generation, the “rubbish middle-aged”. Touché! Though ruder in Cantonese, fai tsing is roughly equivalent to what people in the West call millennials or Gen Y. Also called the post-90s, they are supposedly narcissistic, entitled brats who switch jobs at... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2188287/are-post-60s-and-70s-real-human-garbage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2188287/are-post-60s-and-70s-real-human-garbage?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Mar 2019 12:15:41 +0000 Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei on Wednesday fended off allegations of rioting centred on the 2016 Mong Kok unrest, as his lawyer accused authorities of viewing fellow protesters through “coloured lenses”. Taking to the witness box for the first time in the trial, Leung, 27, who is charged with one count of rioting, told the High Court that he even attempted to ease tension between police and protesters when they clashed on the evening of February 8 that year. David Ma... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2187003/hong-kong-activist-edward-leung-fends-riot-allegations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2187003/hong-kong-activist-edward-leung-fends-riot-allegations?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Feb 2019 13:04:35 +0000 A Hong Kong news reporter is pursuing a legal claim against the city’s police chief over an alleged assault on him by officers while covering the Mong Kok riot three years ago. Lincoln Tang Lik-hang, formerly with Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao Daily, said police officers dragged him off a bus from where he was observing events, pushed him to the ground, kicked and then beat him with batons, even after he told them he was a journalist. Tang lodged a report with the force’s internal... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2184900/hong-kong-news-reporter-takes-police-chief-court-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2184900/hong-kong-news-reporter-takes-police-chief-court-over?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Feb 2019 00:30:34 +0000 Hong Kong prosecutors on Wednesday accused pro-independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei and three men of charging at police when riots broke out in one of the city’s most popular shopping districts two years ago. The High Court heard the four men were among crowds that grew increasingly violent as their unlawful assembly on February 8, 2016 escalated overnight into riots that lit up multiple streets in Mong Kok. Their gathering was allegedly foreshadowed in a Facebook post published earlier in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2176564/pro-independence-activist-and-three-co-defendants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2176564/pro-independence-activist-and-three-co-defendants?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Dec 2018 12:18:49 +0000 Hong Kong prosecutors on Monday reminded jurors to set aside their political views in the trial of pro-independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei and three other men accused of rioting in Mong Kok almost three years ago. Prosecutor Eric Kwok Tung-ming SC told the jury of four men and five women that they should not let their political views and past opinions influence how they judge the four defendants on trial in the High Court. “Treat yourself as a blank piece of paper,” Kwok said. “Listen to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2176186/jurors-mong-kok-riot-trial-told-stick-facts-and-set?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2176186/jurors-mong-kok-riot-trial-told-stick-facts-and-set?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Dec 2018 11:30:08 +0000 Jury selection for the trial of four people accused of taking part in the Mong Kok riot took place in near secrecy at Hong Kong’s High Court on Wednesday. A pool of more than 100 potential jurors was whittled down to just nine – five women and four men – but the process unfolded under almost unheard-of levels of security. Television footage of the events in court No 7 were broadcast outside the courtroom, but cameras avoided showing the jurors, while journalists were barred from entering the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2175479/jury-selection-mong-kok-riot-trial-takes-place?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2175479/jury-selection-mong-kok-riot-trial-takes-place?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Nov 2018 14:17:44 +0000 A young Hong Kong designer on Thursday admitted that he took part in the Mong Kok riot two years ago, during which he burned cardboard and hurled bottles, a rubbish bin and a potted plant at police. Yuen Chi-kui, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of rioting and one of arson on his first day of trial with Hong Kong independence activist Edward Leung Tin-kei, 26, technician Vincent Lam Ngo-hin, 23, delivery worker Yung Wai-yip, 34, and Lee Nok-man, 21, who is unemployed. His four co-defendants... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2172355/guilty-plea-hong-kong-designer-who-burned-cardboard?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2172355/guilty-plea-hong-kong-designer-who-burned-cardboard?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Nov 2018 12:42:57 +0000 Hong Kong has a proud reputation as a city of protest, but things are changing fast. The number of protests is down, attendances are diminishing, and young activists inspired by the 2014 “umbrella movement” say they have turned away from protest as a means of achieving political or social change. “It’s hard to say if anything could get me back on the streets. I won’t say I have completely given up – I just feel frustrated and tired,” says Carmen Li Ka-man. Pro-democracy divide on display in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2159393/how-hong-kong-lost-its-will-protest-and-why-author-accuses-government?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2159393/how-hong-kong-lost-its-will-protest-and-why-author-accuses-government?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Aug 2018 10:45:15 +0000