https://www.scmp.com/rss/500302/feed Hong Kong’s extradition bill crisis began in February 2019 with the government’s proposal of the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019. The proposed law would allow the transfer of fugitives to jurisdictions with which Hong Kong lacks an extradition deal, including mainland China, Taiwan and Macau. Opponents of the bill expressed concerns about the possibility of politically motivated persecution and unfair trials in mainland China.... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Brian Wong Brian Wong Hong Kong actor Gregory Wong Chung-yiu has lost an appeal against his conviction and jail sentence of six years and two months for abetting a riot at the Legislative Council Complex during the 2019 anti-government protests. In a written judgment delivered on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal also dismissed the complaints by six others convicted in the high-profile case. The appellants had argued their jail terms of at least four years and 7½ months were manifestly excessive. Wong was among 14... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3346982/hong-kong-actor-gregory-wong-loses-appeal-against-2019-legco-storming-conviction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3346982/hong-kong-actor-gregory-wong-loses-appeal-against-2019-legco-storming-conviction?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 05:40:30 +0000 Brian Wong Brian Wong A former Hong Kong opposition lawmaker has been cleared of obstructing his political rivals during a chaotic Legislative Council meeting in the lead-up to the 2019 anti-government protests. West Kowloon Court on Thursday found insufficient evidence to show Lam Cheuk-ting interfered with Legco proceedings over a contentious extradition bill. The defendant might also have positioned himself at the centre of clashes between the two rival camps in order to understand the situation and express... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3331727/ex-hong-kong-lawmaker-cleared-obstructing-rivals-chaotic-2019-legco-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3331727/ex-hong-kong-lawmaker-cleared-obstructing-rivals-chaotic-2019-legco-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Nov 2025 05:26:02 +0000 Brian Wong Brian Wong A Hong Kong lawmaker has denied exaggerating his evidence against a political rival from the opposition camp to get him convicted of obstructing a Legislative Council meeting in the lead-up to the 2019 anti-government protests. Holden Chow Ho-ding testified at West Kowloon Court on Monday against ex-legislator Lam Cheuk-ting over his alleged role in clashes between the two rival camps on May 11, 2019. Chow, a Beijing loyalist, maintained that he had witnessed Lam trying to use whatever means to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3327277/hong-kong-lawmaker-denies-exaggerating-rivals-role-chaotic-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3327277/hong-kong-lawmaker-denies-exaggerating-rivals-role-chaotic-meeting?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Sep 2025 13:17:01 +0000 Fiona Chow Fiona Chow A Hong Kong court has jailed a social worker for three years and nine months for rioting in a 2019 anti-government protest, following a retrial, with the judge shaving off 10 months because of the lengthy legal proceedings. Deputy District Judge May Chung Ming-sun said on Wednesday that Jackie Chen Hung-sau, 48, was present with multiple microphones and a loudspeaker on Hennessy Road and Luard Road in Wan Chai on the night of August 31, 2019, showing her intent to participate in the riot. She... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3305806/hong-kong-court-jails-social-worker-over-3-1/2-years-retrial-over-rioting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3305806/hong-kong-court-jails-social-worker-over-3-1/2-years-retrial-over-rioting?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Apr 2025 06:19:04 +0000 Harvey Kong Harvey Kong Two former Hong Kong opposition lawmakers have been jailed for up to 16 days for their roles in causing a ruckus during a 2019 Legislative Council meeting on a contentious extradition bill which the administration later scrapped amid citywide protests. Ex-legislator Eddie Chu Hoi-dick was sentenced to 14 days in jail for his role in the incident, while his former colleague Raymond Chan Chi-chuen was given 16 days’ imprisonment. The pair were involved in the 2019 incident, in which lawmakers... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3301973/former-hong-kong-opposition-lawmakers-jailed-causing-council-meeting-ruckus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3301973/former-hong-kong-opposition-lawmakers-jailed-causing-council-meeting-ruckus?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Mar 2025 12:17:04 +0000 Fiona Sun Fiona Sun A Hong Kong court has convicted a social worker of rioting in a retrial over her involvement in an anti-government protest in 2019. Jackie Chen Hung-sau, 48, was found guilty in the District Court in Wan Chai on Tuesday. Deputy District Judge May Chung Ming-sun remanded the defendant in custody. In her verdict, Chung said the issue was whether the prosecution could prove beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant’s conduct constituted participating in the riot as alleged in the charge and that... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3301923/retrial-hong-kong-court-convicts-social-worker-rioting-during-2019-protest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3301923/retrial-hong-kong-court-convicts-social-worker-rioting-during-2019-protest?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Mar 2025 08:04:08 +0000 A Hong Kong businessman has become the 10th person convicted of taking part in a riot with a white-clad mob that attacked protesters and commuters at a Yuen Long railway station at the height of the 2019 social unrest. Deputy District Judge Amy Chan Wai-mun on Tuesday also asked the defence lawyer of Tang Ka-man, 46, to find out from his client why a group of white-shirted men launched an attack against civilians clad in black on the night of July 21 at the MTR station. Evidence revealed in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3288152/hong-kong-businessman-found-guilty-rioting-yuen-long-mtr-station-2019?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3288152/hong-kong-businessman-found-guilty-rioting-yuen-long-mtr-station-2019?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Nov 2024 06:21:13 +0000 I can still vividly recall when Donald Trump was first elected US president in 2016. It was a gloomy winter morning in Oxford, and the frigid temperatures mirrored how many among my peers felt about his unbelievable ascent. Eight years later, more than 73 million Americans voted for his return. A second Trump term is likely to mean substantial volatility. We should expect more protectionism in the form of tariffs, possible restrictions on outbound investment, sanctions and retaliatory measures... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3285745/china-can-build-bridges-trumps-america-builds-walls?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3285745/china-can-build-bridges-trumps-america-builds-walls?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Nov 2024 21:30:07 +0000 Hong Kong has repaired most of the public amenities vandalised during the 2019 anti-government protests and also removed temporary fencing on six bridges after a review. Acting secretary for transport and logistics Liu Chun-san said in a written reply to the Legislative Council on Wednesday that almost all the damage across the city had been fixed. Authorities revealed in 2020 the bill for repairs for damage caused by protesters over the seven months of social unrest had hit HK$65 million... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3260220/most-damage-caused-2019-hong-kong-protests-repaired-protective-fencing-also-removed-some-bridges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3260220/most-damage-caused-2019-hong-kong-protests-repaired-protective-fencing-also-removed-some-bridges?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Apr 2024 10:28:37 +0000 A former Hong Kong opposition lawmaker charged with rioting at a railway station during the 2019 protests told a court on Tuesday he went to the scene out of concern after receiving many messages about a planned attack there by gangsters. Former lawmaker and district councillor Lam Cheuk-ting, 46, took the stand at the District Court to defend his presence at Yuen Long MTR station on the evening of July 21, 2019, saying he went there largely because he had a bad feeling a mass attack would break... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3254277/ex-lawmaker-charged-rioting-tells-hong-kong-court-he-only-went-scene-mob-attack-2019-he-feared?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3254277/ex-lawmaker-charged-rioting-tells-hong-kong-court-he-only-went-scene-mob-attack-2019-he-feared?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Mar 2024 12:23:55 +0000 A Hong Kong actor was on Thursday convicted of a rioting charge in connection with the storming and occupation of the Legislative Council complex at the height of the 2019 anti-government protests after a judge dismissed his defence that he only went into the building to deliver phone chargers to reporters. Gregory Wong Chung-yiu, 44, was told by Deputy District Judge Li Chi-ho at West Kowloon Court that his argument did not stand up. Li said the defendant could have handed the chargers to any... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3250568/hong-kong-actor-gregory-wong-convicted-rioting-legco-during-2019-anti-government-protests?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3250568/hong-kong-actor-gregory-wong-convicted-rioting-legco-during-2019-anti-government-protests?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Feb 2024 08:26:52 +0000 A Hong Kong court has found former opposition lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting has a case to answer over allegedly instigating mob violence at a railway station during the 2019 anti-government protests. The District Court decided on Thursday that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to accuse Lam Cheuk-ting of rioting on July 21 that year. Lam and 46 others were injured by a group of white-shirted men armed with rods at Yuen Long MTR station, in an attack viewed as the tipping point of the protests... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3242592/hong-kong-ex-opposition-lawmaker-has-case-answer-over-allegedly-instigating-mob-violence-yuen-long?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3242592/hong-kong-ex-opposition-lawmaker-has-case-answer-over-allegedly-instigating-mob-violence-yuen-long?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Nov 2023 09:08:52 +0000 Hong Kong’s High Court has sentenced a middle-aged man to four months in his absence for encouraging others to murder a magistrate and his family in breach of a 2019 ban on incitement to violence on the internet. But the sentence for civil contempt of court is unlikely to be enforced any time soon, as the accused, Cheung Chi-ho, absconded while police were investigating an incitement offence he is alleged to have committed in December 2020. Mr Justice Russell Coleman on Monday said he was... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3231054/hong-kong-man-sentenced-jail-absentia-over-online-posts-calling-murder-chief-magistrate-and-his?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3231054/hong-kong-man-sentenced-jail-absentia-over-online-posts-calling-murder-chief-magistrate-and-his?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Aug 2023 12:01:51 +0000 A Hong Kong court has granted a partial victory to publishing tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and six former opposition lawmakers by quashing one of two charges against them for their roles in a banned march during the 2019 anti-government protests. The Court of Appeal on Monday found the seven opposition figures, including veteran democrat Martin Lee Chu-ming, could not be held liable for organising the assembly turned march on Hong Kong Island on August 18, 2019. But the three presiding judges... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3230977/hong-kong-court-grants-partial-victory-jimmy-lai-6-opposition-lawmakers-over-roles-2019-anti?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3230977/hong-kong-court-grants-partial-victory-jimmy-lai-6-opposition-lawmakers-over-roles-2019-anti?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Aug 2023 02:33:53 +0000 Yuen Tin-yau, known for his devotion to opposition causes and who crossed a police cordon to talk to students at a university campus fortified as a last-stand bastion during the 2019 protests, has died aged 71. The Methodist Church said Yuen was taken to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital on Saturday after he suffered a stroke and he died at 8am in the company of family members. Yuen, who was a chairman of the Hong Kong Christian Council, a past president of the Methodist Church and a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3227859/hong-kongs-outspoken-reverend-yuen-tin-yau-dies-age-71?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3227859/hong-kongs-outspoken-reverend-yuen-tin-yau-dies-age-71?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Jul 2023 16:20:44 +0000 A Hong Kong actor contesting a rioting charge has admitted it was ‘foolish’ of him to insist on going to the Legislative Council after anti-government protesters stormed and trashed the building in mid-2019. Gregory Wong Chung-yiu, 44, told West Kowloon Court on Friday that the real reason for his presence in the vandalised complex was to deliver two chargers to an unknown reporter covering the break-in on July 1 four years ago. “I understand it was a very foolish thing to do, but at the time I... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3227759/hong-kong-protests-actor-gregory-wong-admits-going-legco-was-foolish-amid-2019-social-unrest-he?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3227759/hong-kong-protests-actor-gregory-wong-admits-going-legco-was-foolish-amid-2019-social-unrest-he?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Jul 2023 11:46:42 +0000 Hong Kong’s future district councils will be purely advisory bodies formed by patriots to prevent a repeat of the “chaos” of the 2019 anti-government protests, Beijing’s top man overseeing the city’s affairs has said, spelling out the clearest criteria yet by a senior mainland Chinese official for the municipal-level poll. The remarks by Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), were quoted by several pro-Beijing district representatives who met him for about an... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3217021/beijings-top-official-overseeing-hong-kong-affairs-enjoys-local-delicacies-touring-health-centre-day?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3217021/beijings-top-official-overseeing-hong-kong-affairs-enjoys-local-delicacies-touring-health-centre-day?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Apr 2023 04:07:44 +0000 Twenty Hongkongers have been jailed for up to 64 months each for rioting near a university besieged by police at the height of the city’s anti-government protests in 2019. The 20 men, aged between 21 and 45, were separately brought before two deputy judges for sentencing on Saturday over their participation in the large-scale disturbance that erupted around 1.5km from Polytechnic University’s campus in Hung Hom on November 18, 2019. An additional defendant, a 19-year-old student, avoided jail as... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3213211/hong-kong-protests-20-jailed-64-months-over-riot-near-besieged-polyu-campus-2019?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3213211/hong-kong-protests-20-jailed-64-months-over-riot-near-besieged-polyu-campus-2019?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Mar 2023 13:21:28 +0000 British economist John Maynard Keynes’ characteristically honest reflection upon his own thought processes – “When the facts change, I change my mind; what do you do, Sir?” – and those facts’ seemingly contradictory nature when observed by others over time, remains instructive. But when historical facts don’t change – what happened in the past did actually happen – no authentic choice remains; one must stand by those earlier conclusions. In these febrile times, truth’s inevitable mutability into... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3210690/transparency-only-way-regain-lost-public-trust-and-turn-things-around-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3210690/transparency-only-way-regain-lost-public-trust-and-turn-things-around-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Feb 2023 00:45:08 +0000 A Hong Kong court has jailed 13 men for up to five years and three months for taking part in a riot near a university under siege by police at the height of the city’s anti-government protests in 2019. Deputy District Judge Veronica Heung Shuk-han said the protest outside Polytechnic University (PolyU) in Kowloon had turned the heart of the city into a “mini war zone” as she passed sentence at West Kowloon Court on Saturday. “The protesters clearly flouted the law and … challenged the authority... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3205185/13-jailed-creating-mini-war-zone-2019-riot-near-polyu?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3205185/13-jailed-creating-mini-war-zone-2019-riot-near-polyu?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Dec 2022 08:30:54 +0000 A computer technician has been jailed for 32 months for rioting outside a Hong Kong police station after an approved rally against a now-withdrawn extradition bill three years ago descended into chaos. The District Court on Monday also fined Jason Tam Ka-keung HK$3,000 (US$385) for smashing a glass window at Tseung Kwan O Police Station with a flying brick amid confrontations between protesters and officers during the early hours of August 5 in 2019, the year of anti-government demonstrations in... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3202114/hong-kong-protests-computer-technician-jailed-32-months-over-rioting-outside-police-station?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3202114/hong-kong-protests-computer-technician-jailed-32-months-over-rioting-outside-police-station?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Dec 2022 08:26:32 +0000 Hong Kong authorities never barred the creation of a legal fund to back those involved in the 2019 anti-government protests or placed “stringent” restrictions on its operations, prosecutors have argued in the trial involving retired Catholic leader Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and five other activists behind the group. But the now-defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund required registration with police given its “massive” size and “systematic” mode of operation, the prosecutors said, adding the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3197338/hong-kong-protests-relief-fund-needed-be-registered-because-its-massive-size-trial-involving?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3197338/hong-kong-protests-relief-fund-needed-be-registered-because-its-massive-size-trial-involving?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Oct 2022 12:18:17 +0000 Vancouver, no stranger to Cantonese customs, is seeing a steady uptick in its dim sum gatherings, barbecues, picnics and hiking excursions to welcome hundreds of new Hong Kong emigrees streaming into the Canadian city. Hosted by church groups and NGOs among other support networks, the outings target transplanted families who have children of all ages as well as single adults in their 20s and 30s eager to chart a new life in the west coast seaport. The surge in migration calls to mind the wave of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3195272/leaving-hong-kong-vancouver-canadas-latest-immigrants-find-familiarity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3195272/leaving-hong-kong-vancouver-canadas-latest-immigrants-find-familiarity?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Oct 2022 05:03:29 +0000 A popular Hong Kong tourist attraction in the 1970s and 80s was a trip to the Lok Ma Chau border. Visitors were taken to a hillside viewpoint where they could gaze in wonder at communist China across the river. The idea of returning the freewheeling, capitalist British colony to a China still in the early stages of economic reform and opening up was challenging. To do so while maintaining Hong Kong’s way of life seemed like mission impossible. But this was the deal struck in 1984. The... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3183488/hong-kongs-new-chapter-under-john-lee-calls-reflecting-tumultuous?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3183488/hong-kongs-new-chapter-under-john-lee-calls-reflecting-tumultuous?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Jul 2022 01:15:18 +0000 “‘One country’ is like the roots of a tree. For a tree to grow tall and luxuriant, its roots must run deep and strong.” That metaphor came from Chinese President Xi Jinping in a keynote speech at the inauguration ceremony of Hong Kong’s fifth term government on July 1, 2017, the last time he set foot in the city that Beijing took back from the British in 1997. During the address before a 2,000-strong audience, Xi underscored the importance of abiding by the Chinese constitution and the Basic... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3183553/what-chinese-president-xi-jinping-told-hong-kong-2017-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3183553/what-chinese-president-xi-jinping-told-hong-kong-2017-and?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Jun 2022 00:00:34 +0000 Calls have emerged on social media urging Hongkongers in cities around the world to gather on Sunday to mark the third anniversary of clashes between police and protesters which launched the 2019 social unrest. According to posts shared on Telegram, rallies will be held in about 40 cities, mostly in Britain, the United States, Australia and Canada. Berlin, Prague, Copenhagen, Tokyo are also expected to host gatherings. Activists held flags that read “Free Hong Kong, Revolution Now” during a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3181428/hongkongers-around-world-urged-social-media-gather-mark-3rd?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3181428/hongkongers-around-world-urged-social-media-gather-mark-3rd?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Jun 2022 13:45:31 +0000 Hong Kong’s outgoing leader has insisted she has no regrets in pushing for the now-shelved extradition bill that sparked the social unrest in 2019, arguing that an apology she had offered was for her administration’s poor communication with the public. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who will step down from her post in three weeks, maintained on a Saturday radio programme that the controversial law was needed to prevent the city from becoming a haven for fugitives. “I’ve never... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3181324/hong-kong-protests-no-regrets-over-extradition-bill-bid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3181324/hong-kong-protests-no-regrets-over-extradition-bill-bid?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Jun 2022 04:26:07 +0000 A veteran Hong Kong opposition politician who was stripped of his civic honours alongside two of his allies over their jail sentences has said he had no regrets, arguing his participation in an unauthorised assembly was a matter of conscience. Former Democratic Party chairman Yeung Sum, who was released from prison in April after completing a 14-month sentence for taking part in an unauthorised assembly during the 2019 social unrest, also said on Friday that he had not appealed against the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3181203/occupy-co-founder-benny-tai-2-other-opposition-veterans?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3181203/occupy-co-founder-benny-tai-2-other-opposition-veterans?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Jun 2022 07:21:52 +0000 The mother of a murder victim whose case sparked widespread protests in Hong Kong against an extradition bill has renewed calls for the city’s outgoing leader to send the suspected killer to Taiwan for trial before she leaves office next month. But lawmaker Reverend Canon Peter Koon Ho-ming, an Anglican priest who has been assisting suspect Chan Tong-kai, pointed to the coronavirus pandemic for the 2½-year deadlock over the case, saying governments on both sides might be “unmotivated” to explore... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3177442/mother-hong-kong-murder-victim-centre-extradition-bill?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3177442/mother-hong-kong-murder-victim-centre-extradition-bill?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 May 2022 06:25:12 +0000 We are calling it an election, but it is light years away from the nail-biting democratic antics in Paris, Pakistan or the Philippines. On May 8, John Lee Ka-chiu, 35-years a police officer, and more recently secretary for security, is set to be confirmed by an Electoral College of 1,454 patriots as Hong Kong’s fifth chief executive. When the imperative from Beijing is for stability, after 2019’s traumatising street riots and two terrible years hermetically sealed from the world by the Covid-19... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3175293/can-john-lee-heal-hong-kongs-deep-political-economic-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3175293/can-john-lee-heal-hong-kongs-deep-political-economic-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Apr 2022 08:30:17 +0000 Hong Kong needs a thorough debate on whether to expand its rehabilitation law to allow youngsters who have paid the price for their involvement in the 2019 anti-government protests to leave their criminal records behind, a local group supporting them has suggested. Volunteers from Project Change said many young protesters they had come across over the past two years had experienced difficulties looking for jobs or school places because of their pending cases or criminal records. The call for... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3165174/hong-kong-group-calls-bigger-debate-expanding?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3165174/hong-kong-group-calls-bigger-debate-expanding?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Jan 2022 00:00:23 +0000 Fourteen people have been found guilty of rioting near Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong two years ago, after a judge ruled they had “participatory intent” based on their black clothes and protest equipment in their possession. The nine men and five women were the second batch of defendants to be convicted over the incident in Sheung Wan on July 28, 2019, after the city’s top court laid down principles on trials for rioting and unlawful assembly. The 14 defendants, aged between 21 and 34,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3161569/14-protesters-found-guilty-rioting-near-beijings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3161569/14-protesters-found-guilty-rioting-near-beijings?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Dec 2021 09:47:54 +0000 A company led by a former Legislative Council poll contender has sued the Hong Kong government for not prosecuting a confessed murderer, whose case was linked to the now-abandoned extradition bill that sparked waves of social unrest in 2019. Sino Moral, helmed by director Siu See-kong, best known for his “rice bowl dance” during his election campaign, on Wednesday filed a civil suit at the High Court against the city’s justice secretary and police chief. The officials were accused of inaction... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3154747/firm-ex-contender-hong-kong-legco-polls-sues-officials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3154747/firm-ex-contender-hong-kong-legco-polls-sues-officials?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Nov 2021 12:18:30 +0000 A former Hong Kong design school student was jailed for more than two years on Thursday for rioting during a 2019 anti-government protest in which activists vandalised smart lamp posts. Tse Cheuk-wa, 25, pleaded guilty before a District Court judge last month to rioting in Kowloon Bay on August 24, 2019, when a march approved by police descended into violence and disrupted traffic. Protesters had taken to the streets demanding the full withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill which would... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3154074/protester-jailed-27-months-over-rioting-during-2019?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3154074/protester-jailed-27-months-over-rioting-during-2019?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Oct 2021 14:18:27 +0000 The mother of a Hong Kong teenager killed in Taipei has renewed her calls for officials to persuade Taiwanese authorities to grant the murder suspect a visa so he can return to face trial. Speaking outside government headquarters on Wednesday, the mother delivered an impassioned plea for Hong Kong officials to intervene and help deliver justice for Poon Hiu-wing, who was 19 and pregnant when she was killed in February 2018. Poon’s boyfriend, Chan Tong-kai, has told Hong Kong police he strangled... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3153048/mother-teen-girl-killed-taiwan-urges-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3153048/mother-teen-girl-killed-taiwan-urges-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Oct 2021 11:29:00 +0000 The man behind the extradition bill crisis continues to make headlines. Chan Tong-kai, who admitted killing his pregnant girlfriend, Poon Hiu-wing, during a trip to Taipei in 2018 and prompted the ill-fated government bill to help transfer him and other fugitives to places with which the city has no extradition agreements, is being pushed by the victim’s mother again to honour his promise of surrendering himself to the Taiwan authorities. Pressure on Hong Kong officials to step in is also... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3152942/case-justice-denied-over-cross-strait-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3152942/case-justice-denied-over-cross-strait-tensions?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Oct 2021 23:30:20 +0000 The Hong Kong murder suspect whose case triggered the extradition bill crisis in 2019 is no longer under police protection and is now living somewhere remote in the city, according to a priest who has been helping him. Chan Tong-kai, wanted in Taiwan for the February 2018 killing in Taipei of his pregnant girlfriend Poon Hiu-wing had left a safe house operated by police, Reverend Canon Peter Koon Ho-ming said on Wednesday. “He is now in a place where it would be hard for him to get in touch with... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3152250/hong-kong-murder-suspect-centre-extradition-bill-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3152250/hong-kong-murder-suspect-centre-extradition-bill-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Oct 2021 13:21:14 +0000 “The future is certain; it’s only the past that is unpredictable.” This popular joke in the former Soviet Union referenced the regime’s habit of re-editing and revising books to suit the whims of those in power. Echoes of this policy were discernible in Hong Kong when it was reported that local schools were reviewing their libraries to remove books, the contents of which could be held to violate the national security law. On their potential hit list was George Orwell’s 1945 satire Animal... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3144406/hong-kong-government-should-adopt-first-do-no-harm-principle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3144406/hong-kong-government-should-adopt-first-do-no-harm-principle?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Aug 2021 23:30:17 +0000 “Foreign forces” have been negatively influencing Hong Kong’s youth and fuelling anti-Beijing sentiment ever since the city’s return to Chinese rule, the chief executive has said, blaming their alleged meddling for a lack of patriotism among those born since the handover. But Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor offered no concrete backing for that claim on Friday, saying pending national security law cases prevented her from being more specific. Speaking on a local radio programme, the city leader... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3142215/hong-kong-youths-patriotism-undermined-relentless-anti?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3142215/hong-kong-youths-patriotism-undermined-relentless-anti?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Jul 2021 06:06:04 +0000 At least four people were arrested as muted demonstrations by small, scattered groups marked the anniversary of the first major clash of Hong Kong’s 2019 anti-government protests amid a heavy police presence on the streets.  At about 9.30pm, police entered Langham Place in Mong Kok after they found about 20 people shouting slogans they said “might breach the national security law”. At least three males and one female aged between 15 and 19 were arrested for disorderly conduct in a public place... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3137085/hong-kong-protests-key-anniversary-draws-heavy-police?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3137085/hong-kong-protests-key-anniversary-draws-heavy-police?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 12 Jun 2021 10:33:52 +0000 Hong Kong education officials have said they will press on with a funding request of more than HK$470 million for a school redevelopment project “as soon as possible”, two days after the plan was abruptly halted amid concerns from lawmakers over the political stance of campus management. Wa Ying College, which was caught at the centre of the row, maintained its mission was to nurture law-abiding and peaceful pupils. Principal Wun Chi-wa had been critical in a school publication over the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3134110/hong-kong-school-centre-funding-row-insists-mission-has?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education/article/3134110/hong-kong-school-centre-funding-row-insists-mission-has?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 May 2021 23:00:13 +0000 Two 16-year-old students have pleaded guilty to rioting charges, admitting that they hurled objects at the Hong Kong government headquarters during an anti-government protest in 2019. The District Court heard that the teenagers, whose names were withheld by the Post, were among 500 protesters who rioted in Admiralty after a 20,000-strong march from the Sogo department store in Causeway Bay on September 29. Rallies were staged around the world that day to show solidarity with the protest against... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3133746/hong-kong-protests-two-16-year-old-students-plead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3133746/hong-kong-protests-two-16-year-old-students-plead?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 May 2021 05:46:48 +0000 I am responding to the letter, “Imagine a fresh start in political overhaul of city” (April 27). I am inclined to agree with the first part of the letter, which said the Hong Kong government did not do a good job of looking after Hongkongers’ livelihoods, leading to runaway housing prices and a big wealth gap. The extradition bill thus acted as a spark that eventually set the forest afire. Government incompetence was surely partly responsible for the unrest. However, your correspondent raised... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3131417/beijing-sincere-about-one-country-two-systems-hong-kong-just-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3131417/beijing-sincere-about-one-country-two-systems-hong-kong-just-not?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Apr 2021 22:55:04 +0000 The requirement for Hong Kong civil servants to take an oath or make a declaration of loyalty following the enactment of the national security law has been questioned by many. To the relief of the authorities, only a fraction of the 180,000 employees have refused to do so. This has spared the civil service an exodus that could have hurt stability, but the move has highlighted some resistance within the establishment against what appears to be an increasingly assertive approach to governance.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3130521/keep-culture-fear-out-hong-kong-civil-service?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3130521/keep-culture-fear-out-hong-kong-civil-service?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Apr 2021 18:28:27 +0000 Taiwan’s High Court has sentenced three men to longer jail terms of six to eight months for attacking Hong Kong bookseller Lam Wing-kee with red paint a year ago.  Cheng Chi-lung, 52, and brothers Tseng Shih-cheng, 34, and Tseng Shih-feng, 28, all from the southern city of Kaohsiung, were found guilty of assaulting and insulting Lam and damaging his belongings by throwing paint at him in the Taipei attack. On Tuesday, they were sentenced to eight, six and seven months’ jail, respectively. Lam,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3130318/taiwanese-men-who-attacked-hong-kong-bookseller-get-longer-jail?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3130318/taiwanese-men-who-attacked-hong-kong-bookseller-get-longer-jail?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Apr 2021 10:55:21 +0000 In the first minute of Do Not Split, the Oscar-nominated short documentary on the 2019 protests, young protesters wheel a supermarket trolley down a street at night while urgently shouting at passers-by, “Where’s the Bank of China?” Eventually, they locate a nearby branch. They begin attacking the security grille to get in; this process ends when one of them discovers the usual ATM entrance at the side. A surprised customer is hustled out. Flammable liquid from bottles in the trolley is... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3129790/how-documentaries-portray-2019-hong-kong-protests-echoes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3129790/how-documentaries-portray-2019-hong-kong-protests-echoes?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Apr 2021 23:15:09 +0000 Footage has been released showing a sniper squad from the People’s Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong carrying out an exercise, in a move seen by political experts as sending a warning shot to any “destabilising forces” in the city. A 90-second video released on the Sino Weibo account of the state-owned China News Service news agency on Friday said the snipers’ shots had “hit the target every time”. Two female soldiers from the garrison’s Honour Guard Battalion also joined the drill at an... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3127217/chinese-army-sniper-video-sends-warning-shot-aimed-any?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3127217/chinese-army-sniper-video-sends-warning-shot-aimed-any?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Mar 2021 16:53:31 +0000 I refer to “Lam vows city can still move towards greater democracy” and “Beijing to use ‘combination punches’ to safeguard constitutional order” (March 9).  Our chief executive pledges a drive to explain the electoral overhaul to residents. It appears Mrs Lam is mirroring former chief executive Leung Chun-ying’s optimistic view that the overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system could create the right conditions to open up the system and even pave the way for universal suffrage.  The official... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3125519/hong-kong-democracy-chinese-characteristics-city-awaits-explainer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3125519/hong-kong-democracy-chinese-characteristics-city-awaits-explainer?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Mar 2021 22:50:15 +0000 Hong Kong’s largest opposition party has become the latest group to quit the Civil Human Rights Front after reports emerged the organiser of several record-breaking mass protests during the 2019 anti-government movement was being investigated under the national security law. A source from the Democratic Party confirmed its departure on Monday, a day after the city’s largest teacher organisation announced it was leaving the coalition. The party did not explain the reason for its withdrawal The... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3125442/national-security-law-hong-kongs-biggest-teacher-union?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3125442/national-security-law-hong-kongs-biggest-teacher-union?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Mar 2021 04:12:12 +0000 A Hong Kong martial arts athlete was jailed for six months on Wednesday for taking part in an unlawful assembly during an anti-government protest outside the city’s legislature in 2019. Kwong Yuk-ming’s lawyer told Eastern Court his client believed the conviction would shatter his dream of winning medals at the 2022 Asian Games and other major events in the future. Four co-defendants were also convicted and jailed for between seven weeks and seven months, as the presiding magistrate turned down... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3124850/hong-kong-protests-martial-arts-athlete-jailed-six?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3124850/hong-kong-protests-martial-arts-athlete-jailed-six?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Mar 2021 09:05:21 +0000