Politics

The recent decision by the US government not to extend its Hong Kong-related state of emergency saw the effective lifting of sanctions on nine mainland Chinese and Hong Kong officials. At a Ministry of Commerce press briefing, a spokesman called it “an important step in fulfilling the consensus” reached in negotiations.Some view the move as a part of the wider attempt at stabilising bilateral relations after US President Donald Trump’s visit to China in May and ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected reciprocal visit to the United States this September. The latter would coincide with the UN General Debate.Some have cautioned against reading too much into the move. The trend in Sino-American relations remains one of controlled decoupling with particular emphasis on insulating their...

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and his ministers will hold the first district consultation session to gather views on his coming policy address and the city’s inaugural five-year plan in Tuen Mun on Sunday.Only government-chosen residents and district representatives were invited to the exchange at the venue, sources said on Saturday.Lee would also only address media inquiries after the next district session to be held the following Sunday, they added.While the city leader has held town halls to collect the views of residents in previous years, the current round will simultaneously gather opinions on Hong Kong’s first five-year plan.The plan is aimed at better aligning the city’s development with the national blueprint for 2026 to 2030. The two-month public consultation will en...

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has pledged to improve Hong Kong’s urban management to better handle natural disasters and public complaints, while attending a town hall meeting to gather feedback for the city’s first five-year plan and his fifth annual policy address.The city leader said on Sunday that the two blueprints would leverage Hong Kong’s strengths as an international centre for finance, shipping, trade and innovation and technology, as well as a global hub for high-calibre talent, to drive economic growth.He also described the first simultaneous consultation on the two documents as “especially meaningful” and vowed to consider residents’ views.Lee met more than 130 residents at South Tuen Mun Government Secondary School in Tuen Mun.The session, attended by all ministers, was th...

Hong Kong is drafting its first‑ever five‑year plan, a historic blueprint to chart long‑term development. Much has been said about reforms and paradigm shifts, but far less attention has been paid to the true architects of this journey: Hong Kong’s elites. Their choices will determine whether the city reinvents itself as an innovation hub or slides into stagnation.For decades, Hong Kong’s movers and shakers maximised returns from finance, trade and real estate. But as the global economy pivots towards technology and innovation, these engines face mounting headwinds.To navigate this transition, Hong Kong requires a profound “power shift”, a systemic re‑engineering of mindsets, incentives and risk appetites across business, bureaucracy and academia.Hong Kong’s history shows that elite behavi...

About 500 Hong Kong students are getting a taste of army life, with the PLA garrison launching its annual summer camp to instil patriotism and discipline, and teach military skills, among young people.Among the new recruits is Lo Wan-lung, a Form One student at Salesian English School who is attending the two-week camp for the first time.Attracted by the chance of weapons-related training, the young military enthusiast said he was curious to experience holding weapons during mock shooting drills.Ahead of the camp, Lo spent days at home studying and practising how to fold his clothes and bedding into the sharp, perfectly squared “tofu blocks” required under People’s Liberation Army (PLA) standards.“I knew that we would have to fold our bedding into ‘tofu blocks’ at the camp, so I wanted to ...

Exploring new channels for connection is important for enhancing communication. That seems to be one of the major themes of the first “new style Legco dialogue” with Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, held last week after lawmakers returned from their study trip to Beijing.Legislative Council members were clearly eager to share ideas with Lee, beginning with suggesting that the city’s 1823 public inquiry and complaint hotline be revamped and modelled after Beijing’s 12345 complaints hotline. Given the Hong Kong government’s artificial intelligence (AI) push, developing an AI-assisted inquiry and complaint hotline to better serve residents makes sense.It would help Lee and his government keep track of and manage government responses, thereby enhancing accountability and shedding li...

Old, dense and diverse, Sham Shui Po exemplifies many practical challenges associated with grass-roots governance in Hong Kong: ageing buildings, narrow alleys, low-income households, elderly residents living alone and routine issues that demand constant attention. As an ancient maxim states: “Government means rectitude. If you set a righteous example, who will dare to act otherwise?”My extensive community work in Sham Shui Po has shown that political success at the grass-roots level is seldom defined by grand initiatives. Rather, it is evaluated on whether residents’ lives become safer, cleaner, healthier and more secure.President Xi Jinping has emphasised that delivering benefits to people is the greatest political achievement. At the district level, this view can be comprehended through...

Rubio, Washington’s top diplomat, also said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump had allowed a national emergency declaration on Hong Kong to expire last week after determining that the “circumstances had changed”, though he did not elaborate further.Asked by reporters at an Asean foreign ministers’ summit in Manila why Washington had eased sanctions on some officials and allowed the emergency order to expire, Rubio said: “There wasn’t an easing of sanctions.”He added: “The conditions underlying some of those elements no longer existed.”(From left) Carrie Lam, John Lee, Chris Tang and Chief Secretary Eric Chan still face sanctions. Photo: SCMPTrump issued Executive Order 13936 in July 2020, declaring a national emergency after Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong fo...

Officials talking about artificial intelligence (AI) often speak in terms of the next industrial revolution or existential risks. Such rhetoric ultimately does little to capture how AI filters into the ordinary workings of a city like Hong Kong.The geopolitics of AI are no longer abstract. They are beginning to shape who can use which tools – and on what terms.Over the past few months, two major international banks in the city have reportedly felt the impact. Anthropic’s Claude, a generative AI tool used by staff at JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, was apparently removed from internal systems used by Hong Kong-based teams.The move amounts to more than an inconvenience. If colleagues in Singapore or New York retain access while those in Hong Kong do not, the city’s position as a global financial...

Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs has called on lawmakers to better support the city’s leader, enhance governance, inject new momentum into local development and address residents’ needs.Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, made the call as he met 88 legislators on Friday at a seminar during their unprecedented week-long national affairs study tour to the capital.Meeting the group in the Hong Kong Room of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xia affirmed the work of the Legislative Council and encouraged members to “step up their learning, strengthen unity and keep fulfilling their duties with diligence”, according to a Legco press statement.Xia also urged Legco to “assume a greater role in supporting the chief executive and the [government] in admini...