https://www.scmp.com/rss/33702/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com [Sponsored article] While the aviation industry has faced a significant slowdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the expansion of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has not skipped a beat. With the construction of the third runway topped off in September, the decade-long development project has entered its next chapter. Dubbed Airport City, the mammoth project – which includes building Hong Kong’s largest “retailtainment” destination and the Phase II development of AsiaWorld-Expo – will... https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/hong-kong/topics/city-airport-airport-city/article/3158609/hong-kongs-airport-city?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/hong-kong/topics/city-airport-airport-city/article/3158609/hong-kongs-airport-city?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Dec 2021 07:00:30 +0000 Two ex-directors of an engineering consultancy firm face up to seven years in jail after being charged with defrauding the Hong Kong government out of nearly HK$2 million (US$256,400) by allegedly covering up the falsification of test results on the world’s longest sea crossing. Albert Leung Wing-keung and Leslie Harry Swann, both formerly affiliated with Jacobs China Limited (JCL), appeared in West Kowloon Court just hours after they were arrested by the Independent Commission Against... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3155050/hong-kong-anti-corruption-agency-charges-2-ex?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3155050/hong-kong-anti-corruption-agency-charges-2-ex?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Nov 2021 11:34:09 +0000 Beijing’s top office in Hong Kong launched another community outreach drive on Monday by inviting renowned architects and engineers from mainland China to share their expertise with local students, but analysts warned nurturing a sense of national identity in the city through such initiatives would take time. Lu Xinning, deputy director of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong, also revealed that more mainland industry representatives as well as experts and scholars from various... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3153651/how-beijings-top-agency-hong-kong-plans-build-national?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3153651/how-beijings-top-agency-hong-kong-plans-build-national?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Oct 2021 00:00:18 +0000 A recently unveiled plan by Guangdong authorities to link neighbouring Shenzhen to the mega bridge connecting Hong Kong with Macau and Zhuhai will spur growth in the Greater Bay Area and in the local logistics sector rather than spark rivalry, industry players and analysts have said. The mostly positive outlook on Monday was centred on a proposal involving the existing Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, released last week by the Guangdong provincial government as part of its blueprint for a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3151147/proposed-shenzhen-link-mega-bridge-will-be-boon-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3151147/proposed-shenzhen-link-mega-bridge-will-be-boon-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Oct 2021 11:30:23 +0000 Hong Kong customs officers have broken up a money-laundering ring accused of smuggling nearly HK$170 million (US$21.8 million) in criminal proceeds out of the city over three months via the world’s longest sea crossing, arresting five people in the first crackdown of its kind. Couriers were hired to take the money over the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and investigators suspect that part of the cash was laundered through Macau casinos, the Post has learned. Officers from the Customs and Excise... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3146239/customs-smashes-hong-kong-money-laundering-ring?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3146239/customs-smashes-hong-kong-money-laundering-ring?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Aug 2021 03:10:19 +0000 At least three of the 14 construction workers trapped for nearly a week in a flooded tunnel in southern China have died, as nearly 2,000 rescuers continue their desperate attempt to reach the remaining men. Two of the dead were found on Monday afternoon, according to the local government of Zhuhai in Guangdong province, with the third discovered later. The workers were more than a kilometre (0.62 miles) from the entrance to the Shijinshan tunnel – under construction as part of a major expressway... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3141793/3-dead-southern-china-tunnel-flood-rescue-effort-reaches-6th-day?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3141793/3-dead-southern-china-tunnel-flood-rescue-effort-reaches-6th-day?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jul 2021 07:11:53 +0000 Hong Kong judges have imposed stiffer sentences on 11 laboratory technicians convicted of falsifying safety test records for the world’s longest sea crossing, which links the city with Macau and mainland China. The defendants subjected to harsher punishments were among 18 Jacobs China staff found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, following a 2019 trial centred on the fabrication of tests results for the strength of concrete used in the multibillion-dollar construction of the 55km Hong... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3139596/hong-kong-court-imposes-tougher-sentences-11?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3139596/hong-kong-court-imposes-tougher-sentences-11?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Jul 2021 08:10:19 +0000 The Hong Kong-mainland China cross-border driving scheme allows the smooth movement of vehicles from one side to the other. However, mainland China drives on the right-hand side of the road while Hong Kong is a left-hand drive city. When a mainland driver crosses into Hong Kong, he is likely to sometimes mistakenly end up on the wrong side of the road, and vice versa.  I got my driver’s licence in Hong Kong, and when I went to school in America, I often ended up on the wrong side of the road.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3136916/one-country-one-direction-time-hong-kong-get-it-right?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3136916/one-country-one-direction-time-hong-kong-get-it-right?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Jun 2021 23:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong prosecutors have asked the Court of Appeal to impose harsher sentences on 12 laboratory workers found guilty of falsifying safety test reports for a mega bridge linking the city to Macau and mainland China. The group of technicians and assistants from Jacobs China, contracted by the government to test the strength of concrete used in the crossing, received a range of sentences in 2019 for altering computer records and replacing genuine specimen cubes with fakes when compiling the test... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3131308/prosecutors-seek-stiffer-sentences-12-lab-workers-who?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3131308/prosecutors-seek-stiffer-sentences-12-lab-workers-who?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Apr 2021 12:01:41 +0000 Lawmakers on Friday took the MTR Corporation to task for its handling of the long-delayed Sha Tin-Central link, Hong Kong’s costliest railway project yet, scoffing at the operator’s projected completion dates and saying they were “disappointed” in what they characterised as its lack of candour. In a Legislative Council subcommittee meeting on railway matters, lawmakers accused the rail giant of dodging questions about the full opening of the problem-plagued Sha Tin-Central link, which has... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3117942/lawmakers-slam-hong-kongs-mtr-corporation-repeated-delays?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3117942/lawmakers-slam-hong-kongs-mtr-corporation-repeated-delays?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Jan 2021 11:11:26 +0000 Taking two suitcases with them, Joe Pun, his wife and daughter left Hong Kong for mainland China on Wednesday, walking across the Shenzhen Bay border checkpoint. The 40-year-old Hongkonger says the family used to make regular visits to Shenzhen, where they have a second home, but the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing travel restrictions kept them in Hong Kong.   Pun used to own a restaurant, while his wife stayed at home to care for their 2½-year-old daughter. As the city’s economy suffered a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3113578/sharp-rise-hong-kong-residents-heading-across-border-flee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3113578/sharp-rise-hong-kong-residents-heading-across-border-flee?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Dec 2020 02:30:17 +0000 Transport authorities have raised quotas for cross-border private vehicles on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, in the hope of making better use of the infrastructure that had remained underutilised even before the coronavirus pandemic. Hong Kong’s Transport Department on Thursday said 1,000 more cross-boundary non-commercial private car quotas from the city would be added to 800 existing allocations. “The additional quota will be distributed in the first quarter of 2021 and the quota holders... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3112445/quotas-raised-cross-border-private-vehicles-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3112445/quotas-raised-cross-border-private-vehicles-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Dec 2020 11:19:40 +0000 Chinese conglomerate Fosun International has chosen Guishan island in Zhuhai for a boutique hotel that will target, among others, creative tourists from Hong Kong. The launch will coincide with improving ties between the two cities, which are part of Beijing’s Greater Bay Area development zone. Casa Cook Guishan Island will be developed by Fosun Tourism, the leisure business of the conglomerate, which is chaired by billionaire Guo Guangchang. It will partner with Visun Group, the organiser of... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3111810/fosun-targets-greater-bay-areas-creative-tourists-thomas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3111810/fosun-targets-greater-bay-areas-creative-tourists-thomas?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Nov 2020 05:32:16 +0000 Seafood plays an important role for Zhuhai’s two million residents. Sitting on an estuary where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea, the city – once known as “fishermen’s county” – has access to a wide variety of marine wildlife. The city ranks third among the nine Greater Bay Area cities in China’s Guangdong province in fishing – last year, it reported seafood sales of more than 7.4 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion). This month, the Guangdong Development and Reform Commission said that... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3111550/jumbo-oysters-double-shell-crabs-and-shrimp-rice-cakes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3111550/jumbo-oysters-double-shell-crabs-and-shrimp-rice-cakes?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Nov 2020 05:00:09 +0000 Property developer China Overseas Land & Investment (Coli) has shrugged aside tightening government curbs on financing to acquire a residential and commercial plot in Zhuhai for the record sum of 10.5 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion), it said on Wednesday. The plot can yield 450,000 square metres in gross floor area, of which about 385,000 square metres have been earmarked for homes. The rest of the land has been set aside for commercial use, such as the development of hotels, shopping malls and... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3111373/property-firm-china-overseas-land-investment-shrugs-aside?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3111373/property-firm-china-overseas-land-investment-shrugs-aside?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Nov 2020 00:30:16 +0000 Tech start-ups are reaping the rewards of Zhuhai’s aggressive incentives to promote the city as a base for four major industries – semiconductors, artificial intelligence, biomedicine and new materials – under its “smart city” development plan. One such beneficiary is Pachira Information Technology, a speech recognition firm founded by Macau businessman Ho Kuok-tou, which counts Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor, Bank of China and German financial services group Allianz among its clients. “Beyond... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3110938/zhuhai-dangles-incentives-lure-start-ups-four-key?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3110938/zhuhai-dangles-incentives-lure-start-ups-four-key?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Nov 2020 03:00:23 +0000 Hong Kong residents in Guangdong and Macau could begin applying to return without needing to quarantine on Wednesday, as the city recorded nine new Covid-19 cases. Three of the new cases were locally transmitted, one of which involved a 76-year-old taxi driver with an untraced source of infection, taking this month’s cabby cluster to five. Last working on Monday, the cabby from Yue Tin Court, Sha Tin, drove his own taxi and usually operated in Kowloon. What caused Hong Kong’s latest flurry of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3110315/hong-kong-facing-nine-new-cases-covid-19-scheme?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3110315/hong-kong-facing-nine-new-cases-covid-19-scheme?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Nov 2020 04:15:13 +0000 French battery maker Saft has opened a manufacturing facility for energy storage systems in Zhuhai in southern China, its second plant in the Greater Bay Area city, as it bets on the city’s role in the future economic hub. The battery arm of the French oil giant Total said on Wednesday that the launch of the new 6,600 square-metre facility in Sanzao Science & Technology Industrial Park, near the airport, is part of efforts to grab a share of the growing energy storage market as global demand for... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3109451/french-battery-maker-saft-opens-energy-storage-plant-zhuhai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3109451/french-battery-maker-saft-opens-energy-storage-plant-zhuhai?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Nov 2020 00:15:10 +0000 The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge may not yet have attracted motorists in the numbers hoped for, but it has become a new-found haven for anglers – illegally so, as a group of them discovered last week. The mega bridge, which cost HK$120 billion (US$15.3 billion) to build and is the world’s longest sea crossing, has struggled to live up to its billing since it opened in 2018, attracting fewer than 200 vehicles a day in July. However, its spectacular, peaceful setting and conveniently designed... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3106342/hong-kong-mega-bridge-finally-hooks-visitors-anglers-give-police?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3106342/hong-kong-mega-bridge-finally-hooks-visitors-anglers-give-police?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Oct 2020 02:00:12 +0000 Eight years ago, Cristiano Tavares came to Macau from Vila do Conde, a small town in northern Portugal, to boost his career prospects. The move paid off. He started as a cook in the Michelin-starred Antonio Restaurant, and then quickly rose through the ranks to become head chef in just three years. “The opportunities are definitely better in Macau as many hotels, casinos and resorts have opened here,” said the 31-year-old. Last year, he was the given the task of opening Paulaner Brahaus, a... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3103851/macaus-ambitious-plan-turn-itself-greater-bay-area?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3103851/macaus-ambitious-plan-turn-itself-greater-bay-area?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 03 Oct 2020 02:00:17 +0000 A guild of developers and real estate professionals have proposed to reclaim several islands lying in the sea between Lantau Island and Macau to augment the Hong Kong government’s HK$624 billion (US$80 billion) Lantau Tomorrow reclamation project for alleviating the city’s land shortage. The proposal by the 229-member Hong Kong Real Property Federation (HKRPF), would reclaim 60 square kilometres of land on three sets of islands around Guishan, and free up the equivalent of 500 hectares of land... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3102505/developers-eye-guishan-islands-reclamation-augment-lantau-plan-easing-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3102505/developers-eye-guishan-islands-reclamation-augment-lantau-plan-easing-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Sep 2020 00:30:09 +0000 Two subcontractors involved in the world’s longest sea crossing linking Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau were on Monday fined HK$30,000 (US$3,870) each over an accident in 2017 that claimed two lives and injured three others. WSS Engineering Systems and United Construction & Manpower Service were convicted of failing to ensure safety and health of employees at the site of the mega bridge in Lantau. In passing the verdict, Magistrate Lam Tsz-kan said as the two firms provided workers for the project’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3098575/companies-provided-workers-construction-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3098575/companies-provided-workers-construction-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Aug 2020 06:02:24 +0000 A real estate project in Zhuhai city’s Hengqin district that was sold as commercial-residential property for mixed use has evolved into a potential legal wrangle, as at least 14 Hong Kong buyers are planning legal action on claims of being misled by the developer. The Huafa Yuetiandi, a six-storey tower and part of a multiphase project by Huafa Industrial Zhuhai, was built on commercial land, and forbidden to be used as abodes. Buyers who were sold the project as mixed-use real estate were... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3096878/14-hong-kong-investors-their-hengqin-dream-homes-single-toilet-between-14?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3096878/14-hong-kong-investors-their-hengqin-dream-homes-single-toilet-between-14?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Aug 2020 00:00:19 +0000 Next time you go across the mega bridge linking Hong Kong with Zhuhai and Macau, remember to bring a 5G smartphone to enjoy your favourite TV drama streamed in lighting fast speed courtesy of the bridge’s new 5G services – provided you are the passenger. A total of 24 5G base stations have been installed on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB), a 55-kilometre bridge-tunnel system, which is both the world’s longest sea crossing and longest open-sea fixed link. The mainland section of the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3093428/hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-mega-bridge-now-has-5g-opening-door-immersive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3093428/hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-mega-bridge-now-has-5g-opening-door-immersive?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Jul 2020 08:30:25 +0000 After more than a year in operation, the much-touted mega bridge linking Hong Kong with Zhuhai and Macau has seen a dramatic drop in usage amid the coronavirus pandemic, plummeting by 90 per cent in February. According to figures recently released by the Transport and Housing Bureau to the Legislative Council, the number of passengers travelling via the local port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in February stood at 205,300, down from about 2.08 million a year ago. The vehicle flow at the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3078601/coronavirus-traffic-figures-hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3078601/coronavirus-traffic-figures-hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Apr 2020 06:37:04 +0000 Long queues have appeared at retailers and pharmacies across Hong Kong in recent days, while arguments with shopkeepers have broken out as Hongkongers desperately try to get their hands on face masks that might protect them from the new coronavirus. Not only are supplies scarce in the city, some companies have jacked up the prices for small boxes of masks. Just an hour’s ferry ride away in Macau, Hong Kong’s sister special administrative region, residents are going through a very different... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3048494/macaus-calm-organised-handling-coronavirus-crisis-puts-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3048494/macaus-calm-organised-handling-coronavirus-crisis-puts-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Feb 2020 03:30:15 +0000 An urban and infrastructure developer in Nanjing has become the first Chinese state-backed entity to list its securities on a Macau bond exchange, following up on President Xi Jinping’s measures to shift the city’s financial focus during the 20th handover anniversary last month. Nanjing Southeast State-owned Asset Investment Group said its 1 billion yuan of notes will be listed and traded on a platform managed by Chongwa (Macao) Financial Asset Exchange Co. from January 8, according to a company... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3045518/macau-approves-first-bond-listing-xi-jinpings-anniversary-visit-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3045518/macau-approves-first-bond-listing-xi-jinpings-anniversary-visit-china?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jan 2020 06:34:32 +0000 Macau welcomed more visitors from mainland China than Hong Kong over the Christmas and New Year period for the first time ever, according to travel agency figures. Trips to the gambling hub spiked at the end of December following celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule, the country’s biggest travel website Ctrip.com said in a report published on Thursday. It also said that Macau’s growing popularity as a shopping destination had further helped to boost visitor... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3044558/mainland-chinese-tourists-shun-hong-kong-favour-macau-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3044558/mainland-chinese-tourists-shun-hong-kong-favour-macau-over?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 04 Jan 2020 04:00:14 +0000 Gambling revenue in Macau fell in December by the most in nearly four years, as the Chinese city came under a security lockdown ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its handover from Portuguese rule. Gross gaming revenue in the world’s biggest gambling hub dropped 13.7 per cent to 22.84 billion patacas (US$2.85 billion) from a year earlier, the steepest since March 2016, according to data published by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. It was a... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3044213/macau-gaming-revenue-drops-december-most-march-2016-security-lockdown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3044213/macau-gaming-revenue-drops-december-most-march-2016-security-lockdown?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Jan 2020 09:29:48 +0000 Tim Zhang, a 24-year-old Macau native, quit his job at the Chungwa (Macau) Financial Asset Exchange in July to study for a master’s degree in finance at a university in Sydney. Disillusioned with a lack of exciting opportunities at home, his plan was to improve his CV in preparation for finding himself a good finance job overseas. But his plans have changed. “Now I will probably go back to work for my former employer,” said Zhang. He feels a fresh sense of excitement about the city’s prospects... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3043711/has-president-xi-finally-set-macau-path-shedding-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3043711/has-president-xi-finally-set-macau-path-shedding-its?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Dec 2019 03:00:15 +0000 Questions have been raised after a Hongkonger went missing while on his way to Macau via the mega bridge this month. It turned out Chung Sun-ming was detained by mainland authorities in relation to a mobile phone smuggling case seven years ago. The incident understandably aroused concerns over law enforcement on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. There are precedents in which Hongkongers have been detained upon entering or leaving the mainland in relation to criminal offences. What sets the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3043314/detention-bridge-muddies-waters?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3043314/detention-bridge-muddies-waters?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Dec 2019 13:28:31 +0000 A Hongkonger detained on suspicion of smuggling while travelling on the mega bridge to Macau has said in an interview he was released on bail because he had cancer, and praised mainland officers for being polite to him. But the Post could not independently verify if the man interviewed was Chung Sun-ming, 53, who was held on December 13 by Zhuhai police and customs, and accused of smuggling mobile phones in August 2012. The interview was published in Huanqiu, a website run by Global Times, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3043105/website-connected-chinese-tabloid-runs-interview-hongkonger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3043105/website-connected-chinese-tabloid-runs-interview-hongkonger?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Dec 2019 14:13:03 +0000 A day before the return of Macau to Chinese administration, I came across a friend of mine, a Chinese-Portuguese woman, with her father, a native of Portugal, sitting on the staircase of the Ruins of St Paul’s, looking depressed. On December 20, 1999, Portugal returned Macau to China, ending 442 years of formal Portuguese rule over the last European colony on the Asian continent. Worried about the transformation from European administration to Communist Party rule, a number of my close friends... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3042651/has-macau-changed-better-20-years-returning-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3042651/has-macau-changed-better-20-years-returning-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Dec 2019 23:45:10 +0000 Macau has been in an unprecedented lockdown ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit on Wednesday, as authorities tightened security across the city and suspended part of its newly launched train service. Xi is set to embark on his three-day visit to the casino hub on Wednesday to mark the 20th anniversary of its handover to Chinese rule, where he would also witness the swearing-in ceremony of officials from the new administration led by Ho Iat-seng, the former president of the city’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3042507/macau-unprecedented-lockdown-ahead-xi-jinping-visit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3042507/macau-unprecedented-lockdown-ahead-xi-jinping-visit?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:30:16 +0000 Mainland Chinese authorities’ recent detention of a man travelling by bridge between Hong Kong and Macau was “legal and justified”, Hong Kong’s chief secretary said on Tuesday. Matthew Cheung Kin-chung – acting as city leader with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in Beijing – was commenting on the case of Chung Sun-ming, a 53-year-old detained on Friday and accused of smuggling offences as he tried to cross to the former Portuguese colony. A Hong Kong journalist was separately barred... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3042376/hong-kongs-now-tv-says-its-journalist-was-denied-entry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3042376/hong-kongs-now-tv-says-its-journalist-was-denied-entry?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Dec 2019 02:33:24 +0000 A Hongkonger who has been missing since Friday was detained on suspicion of smuggling offences while travelling on the mega bridge to Macau, authorities from mainland China said on Monday. Security officials from Guangdong said a man named Chung, 53, was held on Friday afternoon by Zhuhai police and customs, who accused him of being involved in the smuggling of mobile phones in August 2012. Sources said the man, called Chan in previous reports, was Chung Sun-ming. His family contacted Hong Kong... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3042284/mainland-china-security-officials-say-they-arrested?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3042284/mainland-china-security-officials-say-they-arrested?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Dec 2019 08:08:07 +0000 A family has asked the Hong Kong government for help after claiming a man disappeared while facing security checks as he was crossing the mega bridge from the city to Macau. The middle-aged Hongkonger, identified under the pseudonym of Chan, was reportedly travelling on a coach along the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge when he was detained at a security checkpoint manned by officials from mainland China on Friday afternoon, his son told local media. On Sunday, Hong Kong’s Immigration Department... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3042189/hongkonger-reportedly-disappears-during-mainland-security?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3042189/hongkonger-reportedly-disappears-during-mainland-security?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Dec 2019 12:01:14 +0000 Seven technicians working for a Hong Kong government contractor were sentenced to up to two years in jail on Wednesday for falsifying safety test reports for a mega bridge that links the city to Macau and mainland China. But the District Court handed down either suspended sentences or community service orders to six other co-defendants, after considering they had relatively little participation in the conspiracy related to the multibillion-dollar construction of the 55km (34-mile) Hong... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3041679/jacobs-china-technicians-jailed-2-years-faking-test?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3041679/jacobs-china-technicians-jailed-2-years-faking-test?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Dec 2019 11:02:07 +0000 Armed police in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai held a massive anti-terror drill at its end of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge on Friday morning as part of its preparations for the 20th anniversary of the handover of Macau, when President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the city. More than 1,000 police officers and 80 vehicles were involved in the exercise, amid ongoing political turmoil in Hong Kong, according to local news portal Southcn.com. Photos circulated online showed officers in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3040037/china-police-prepare-macau-handover-anniversary-anti-terror?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3040037/china-police-prepare-macau-handover-anniversary-anti-terror?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Nov 2019 05:06:47 +0000 Kenneth Lee Wai-Lin has been putting a smile on the faces of Hong Kong’s guest house owners who have been reeling from losses since mainland Chinese tourists stopped visiting the city earlier this year because of strong anti-China sentiment and the increasingly violent anti-government protests. He is also making a lot of young couples happy, because now they can choose more easily where to go for an hour or three of intimacy. Lee, a former advertising salesman in his 40s, has developed a Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3039996/mainland-tourists-stay-away-hong-kong-guest-house-owners?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3039996/mainland-tourists-stay-away-hong-kong-guest-house-owners?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 Nov 2019 00:00:23 +0000 Twelve technicians at a Hong Kong government contractor have been found guilty of faking test reports for a mega bridge that connects the city to Macau and mainland China. Wednesday’s ruling at the District Court meant all 19 prosecuted laboratory workers from Jacobs China Limited, which was responsible for testing the strength of concrete bricks used in the multi-billion dollar construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, had either pleaded guilty or been convicted in connection with the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3038574/technicians-guilty-faking-test-results-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3038574/technicians-guilty-faking-test-results-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Nov 2019 07:53:06 +0000 Last week, an eye-catching photo of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in this newspaper said it all. The crossing majestically spans the Pearl River Delta but, as the photo showed, there was no traffic except for one lone vehicle at the entrance to a tunnel. While it was just a snapshot taken at around 2pm on a weekday, this could be the norm despite the mega bridge coming into operation one year ago. It explains why transport authorities have sought to boost usage by allowing local private... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3035420/transport-links-key-greater-bay-area-success?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3035420/transport-links-key-greater-bay-area-success?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Oct 2019 13:36:22 +0000 When Hong Kong construction worker David Wong (not his real name) fell 1.5 metres from a crane and landed flat on his back on a loading truck in 2017, he could not have imagined two years on, he would still be suffering from the work injury, and worse still, left impoverished by it. Despite bumping his head and back and getting a swollen left hand immediately after the accident, the father of one returned to work a week later, after getting Chinese medicine treatment. Wong, 50, soldiered on for... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3034776/why-industrial-accident-could-mean-life-pain-and-poverty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3034776/why-industrial-accident-could-mean-life-pain-and-poverty?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Oct 2019 01:00:14 +0000 Transport authorities have sought to boost the underused mega bridge connecting Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau by allowing local private vehicles to travel across the Greater Bay Area. Announcing the scheme on Wednesday, the Transport Department said private cars from Hong Kong and Macau could now travel between the two special administrative regions, Zhuhai and Shenzhen, via eight approved land crossings. Until now, private cars from Hong Kong have only been allowed to travel between Hong Kong and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3034259/cars-allowed-travel-across-greater-bay-area-boost-traffic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/3034259/cars-allowed-travel-across-greater-bay-area-boost-traffic?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Oct 2019 23:00:13 +0000 The southern Chinese city of Zhuhai has announced a tender process for what will be one of the largest hotel and exhibition centres near the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, as it bets on an increase in business travel in the Greater Bay Area. The city’s government announced on Thursday that a tender for a 226,000 square metre plot of land to the north of Zhuhai port will open on October 9, and it will be auctioned off on October 18. Its price starts at 5.64 billion yuan (US$793 million), or 5,828... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3030117/zhuhai-announces-tender-plot-near-hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge-bidding?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3030117/zhuhai-announces-tender-plot-near-hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge-bidding?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Sep 2019 09:30:11 +0000 Being the city’s first chief executive gives Tung Chee-hwa a special place in the history of Hong Kong and China. His nomination for the national titles of honour, given out for the first time in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, is testament to that. Being the only Hongkonger on the list also has a special meaning. It signals the city’s unique place in the country. Tung is among a batch of 28 to be nominated for honorary titles. Another... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3025235/recognition-both-tung-chee-hwa-and-city-he-led?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3025235/recognition-both-tung-chee-hwa-and-city-he-led?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Aug 2019 16:14:20 +0000 Customs officers have seized HK$400,000 (US$51,280) worth of bird’s nest from a car at the border checkpoint of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge port, the first smuggling case involving an outgoing vehicle detected at the site. Officers intercepted the outgoing private car on Tuesday at the Hong Kong port of the multibillion-dollar bridge, which opened in October. The Customs and Excise Department found 10kg of the popular and precious delicacy in a spare tyre concealed in an altered structure... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3017143/hong-kong-customs-seizes-hk400000-worth-smuggled-birds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3017143/hong-kong-customs-seizes-hk400000-worth-smuggled-birds?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Jul 2019 11:14:43 +0000 More young Hongkongers looking to get on to the property ladder are expected to seek homes in the “Greater Bay Area” cities of Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Guangzhou, as a result of policy easing and a depreciating yuan, property agents have said. The agents said they have witnessed a twofold year-on-year increase in home sales in these cities, while enquiries from Hong Kong buyers looking to buy apartments in 70-year-lease projects have also gone up. “We are seeing more inquires from young Hongkongers... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3015040/housing-policy-easing-falling-yuan-attract-young-hongkongers-greater-bay?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3015040/housing-policy-easing-falling-yuan-attract-young-hongkongers-greater-bay?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Jun 2019 23:00:08 +0000 Last week, I travelled to Macau using the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge for the first time. I drove to Tung Chung, took a bus to Hong Kong Port and boarded a bus to Macau. I was very impressed by the facilities and by this construction miracle. Arriving in Macau was even more amazing, where there was a huge arrival facility, though unfortunately far from the town centre. However, during my trip up and down to Hong Kong, I counted about 30 cars and maybe 40 half-filled buses. This project, though... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3012639/why-pouring-more-concrete-wont-win-carrie-lam-more-friends-among?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3012639/why-pouring-more-concrete-wont-win-carrie-lam-more-friends-among?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 02 Jun 2019 23:00:14 +0000 Plans are underway to turn one of the artificial islands that makes up the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge into a world-class tourist attraction in an attempt to address complaints about the US$15.3 billion project. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Authority has invited entertainment companies to bid for the overall planning and conceptual design of a tourism development and supporting facilities on the eastern artificial island of the bridge close to Hong Kong’s Lantau Island, according to a... https://www.scmp.com/economy/article/3007809/hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge-seeks-world-class-tourist-attraction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/article/3007809/hong-kong-zhuhai-macau-bridge-seeks-world-class-tourist-attraction?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Apr 2019 07:16:25 +0000