Politics

“Soft Resistance” still definitely exists in Hong Kong, the chief executive has said, urging residents to remain vigilant as “many villains” are trying to threaten national security.City leader John Lee Ka-chiu also said on Tuesday that criticism of the local government was acceptable only if it did not intend to undermine national security.Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui earlier said that authorities would step up scrutiny in granting venues and funds to shows in guarding against soft resistance, fuelling concerns from the arts sector that her warning would affect many innocent works of art and hurt the city’s cultural scene.Backing Law’s remarks on Tuesday, Lee said soft resistance still “definitely” existed in Hong Kong despite the national security law be...

Timing is everything in politics, and Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has good timing on his side. Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Xia Baolong’s fact-finding trip could not have come at a more perfect time for Lee because school is out and the report cards are rolling in.The day before Beijing’s point man for Hong Kong and Macau affairs arrived for his third fact-finding trip, the Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development released its latest World Competitiveness Ranking. Hong Kong scored 99.2 out of 100, rising two spots to came in third in global competitiveness. The city made it into the top three for the first time since 2019.Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s flag carrier Cathay Pacific returned to the top three of the Skytrax airline rankings, risin...

Hong Kong’s housing minister has urged the owners of substandard subdivided flats to comply with a coming regulatory regime that is expected to cost landlords after years of huge profits.The appeal from Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin on Sunday came two days after the government gazetted the Basic Housing Units Bill, which aims to phase out subpar living spaces.The move follows calls from Xia Baolong, Beijing’s top official on Hong Kong affairs, for the city to “bid farewell to subdivided flats and ‘cage homes’”.Ho said on Sunday: “When you subdivided a flat into many partitions back then, it was expensive … You still did it because [you] felt that the rental income provided a return. This was a market decision.”She also pointed out that landlords had enjoyed years of profits as a...

Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs has met district officers and toured a “community living room” on the final day of his inspection visit, the Post has learned.Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) director Xia Baolong spoke to the chairs of the city’s 18 district councils at the government headquarters in Admiralty on Sunday morning, according to sources.He then headed to a community living room operated by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals in To Kwa Wan at noon.Beijing liaison office chief Zhou Ji, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, and Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han were seen visiting the facility with him.The spaces are a government initiative to ease the pressure on the tenants of Hong Kong’s subdivided flats by providing them communal areas for cooking, d...

Hong Kong is at risk of splitting up into two economies. On one end, Hong Kong’s financial, professional and business services are being revived on the back of China’s resurgent, tech-driven economy and the shifting balance of power between Washington and Beijing.Credit rating downgrades, poor responses to auctions of US Treasuries and slower growth as predicted by the World Bank – lowered to 1.4 per cent in June from 2.3 per cent in January – have sent the mighty US dollar on a downtrend and a flight of capital to Asia for better returns.Hong Kong’s stock market is positioned in the right place at the right time. As tariff chaos and policy flip-flops erode the US’ credibility and moral standing, China has emerged as an oasis of certainty in an increasingly volatile and dangerous world.The...

Focus on what you can do to improve Hong Kong and mainland China instead of their shortcomings, Olympic gold medallist Vivian Kong Man-wai has told the city’s youngsters.The fencing star also urged young Hongkongers on Saturday to understand their identity, as she shared her experience of studying international relations at Stanford University in the US during a forum commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Beijing-imposed national security law.“My biggest takeaway is that Americans do not understand China, but even worse, I realise I do not understand it either. I need to learn more,” the 31-year-old told a panel.“As I represent Hong Kong, China, I should understand my identity and not disgrace anyone.”She said the city had the support of its motherland, citing her experience of being ...

Hong Kong should maintain its international connectivity and attract talent to speed up its economic transformation, analysts and figures from the commerce sector have said, as they hailed the enactment of the national security law for improving the business environment.Some political analysts also called on government officials to take bolder steps and adopt new thinking, taking advantage of the social stability and order brought by the security law Beijing imposed on the city in 2020.Their suggestions came after the director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Xia Baolong, said the implementation of the law was a “watershed” for the financial hub that brought order after chaos.But Xia, who made the remarks at a forum on Saturday marking the anniversary of the imple...

Hong Kong still faces “complex and severe” external and internal national security threats that it should be vigilant about, while leveraging its unique strengths to boost connectivity with the world and integrate with the country, a senior Beijing official has said.Setting out a review of the city’s recent chaotic past, Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, on Saturday laid down directions for Hong Kong which he said had entered a new “chapter” of development after the implementation of the national security law five years ago.The local government should improve its governance, react to trends in a timely manner and solve deep-seated conflicts in society, while the city should also remain vigilant over persistent national security threats, he stressed.“One shoul...

This article was first published on June 22, 2005.Help me to make a new start: Tsangby Gary Cheung and Dikky SinnDonald Tsang Yam-kuen on Tuesday (June 21, 2005) called on local people to join him in starting a new chapter for Hong Kong following his appointment as chief executive, saying he would safeguard the overall interests of the city with concrete action.The salesman-turned-leader pledged to engage in dialogue with people from different walks of life and reach out to the public through district visits.“Without Beijing’s and the public’s support, I will have nothing,” he said.Premier Wen Jiabao, who signed the appointment decree installing Mr Tsang as chief executive after a State Council meeting, said he believed the Hong Kong government under Mr Tsang could reap greater achievement...

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. New users who download our updated app get a seven-day free trial.Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs is addressing a national security law forum on Saturday as part of his third inspection visit to the city to assess its progress on multiple fronts.Xia Baolong’s attendance at the forum, which is being held to mark the fifth anniversary of the Beijing-imposed legislation, is a focus of the official’s five-day visit.Commentators have suggested that the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) director may use the event to share his latest assessment of national security threats in the city and lay down the direction for the next phase of the law’s...