Politics

Beijing and Hong Kong have slammed the G7 for “trampling the city’s rule of law” after the group criticised the guilty verdict handed down at former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s national security trial and demanded his immediate release.The strongly worded statements on Thursday were in response to a joint call from the foreign ministers of the G7 and the European Union’s high representative, who condemned Lai’s prosecution while expressing ongoing concerns about “deteriorating rights, freedoms and autonomy in Hong Kong”.The Group of Seven comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.“We call on the Hong Kong authorities to end such prosecutions and to release Jimmy Lai immediately,” the joint statement said.Bringing an end to a trial that l...

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing.1. China’s ultra-hot heat pump breakthrough paves way for melting ore with sunlightFor over a century, the dream of efficiently concentrating low-grade heat into high-temperature industrial energy has been constrained by a stubborn ceiling: 200 degrees Celsius (392 degrees Fahrenheit). Now, a team from China has shattered that temperature limit.2. Tokyo spells out part position on Taiwan in bid to ease tension with BeijingThe Japanese government has spelled out its position on Taiwan – although only in part – based on the 1972 docum...

A group of Labour Party MPs have urged the British government to ensure changes to permanent residency requirements do not undermine support for Hongkongers on a bespoke visa pathway or others admitted on humanitarian grounds.They have asked the Home Office to consider exempting the BN(O) routes from the government’s proposed overhaul of the wider settlement system as part of four requests to extend support for Hongkongers under the scheme.James Naish and 33 of his Labour colleagues sent a letter to migration and citizenship minister Mike Tapp on Wednesday during an ongoing 12-week consultation period on the UK government’s proposed settlement system overhaul, announced last month.As part of the planned changes, BN(O) visa holders will face stricter English-language requirements and higher...

The sole lawmaker-elect of the centrist Roundtable party in Hong Kong has said his victory in the recent Legislative Council election could embolden more moderate and outspoken politicians to contest future polls.Mark Chong Ho-fung also called on the government to strengthen oversight to improve public trust, citing two cases: the bottled water scandal and the use of substandard scaffolding nets suspected to have exacerbated the rapid spread of last month’s catastrophic fire in Tai Po.The 41-year-old politician secured more than 34,000 votes in the December 7 Legco election, succeeding outgoing veteran lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun, who founded the party.In an interview with the Post, Chong said he faced tremendous pressure throughout the campaign, as the election outcome was seen as pivot...

Voter turnout in the recent Legislative Council election was affected by Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades, recording the second-lowest rate since the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, despite a modest rise from the previous poll, the constitutional affairs chief has said.Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai stressed on Sunday that the government had not set a “hard indicator” for the turnout rate in the December 7 Legco poll, which reached 31.9 per cent.“I believe the fire had an impact on the election … We understand that there are different views. Some said they were not in the mood to vote amid a heavy atmosphere, while some hoped Legco could be formed as soon as possible for follow-up work and reforms to turn grief and sorrow into stre...

A city’s character is not tested on a good day, but in the quiet hours after a disaster, when the smoke settles, sirens fade and residents look at the charred outline of a home that used to anchor an entire life.The Tai Po fire, which engulfed several blocks of subsidised government housing and left families displaced overnight, has forced Hong Kong into a rare moment of civic introspection. A tragedy on this scale is a stress test of our assumptions about urban planning, insurance, finance and the social contracts we take for granted.The predictable first reflex is blame. Blame the contractors, the inspectors, “the system”. But anyone who has spent time around construction contracts knows there is no single villain waiting to be neatly identified. The reality is messier. Some contracts pu...

Hong Kong’s Democratic Party has announced what many people had been expecting for some time – that it would disband. For the party, this is the beginning of the end; for others, the question lingers: is this also the end of the democratic movement in Hong Kong?One thing is certain: the party’s demise will mark the end of an era, one when a colonial pressure-group mentality dictated the quest for democratic reforms in Hong Kong, a mentality which, sadly, was destined to ensure failure of the quest.As Hong Kong’s oldest pro-democracy party, the Democratic Party was once the vanguard of the movement before the handover. In a way, the party was born with a political mindset rooted in colonial-era values, characterised by a deep-seated scepticism of the central government.After the handover, t...

The Hong Kong Bar Association’s head has called on the public and foreign governments to review the judgment against former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying before forming their opinions, saying such verdicts can spark controversy due to differing values.Speaking to the media on Wednesday, association chairman Jose-Antonio Maurellet reaffirmed that Hong Kong’s judicial independence and the rule of law were “alive and strong”.“In many jurisdictions, whether near or far from Hong Kong, a lot of judgments will raise a lot of controversy because society has become quite split in terms of its values,” he said, adding it was inevitable that intense feelings emerged over verdicts involving certain people or issues.“Very often, what people will look at is not the reasoning … I doubt that many people...

Peking University plans to establish a research institute in Hong Kong’s future university town in the Northern Metropolis, the city’s leader has said as he wrapped up his three-day duty visit to Beijing.Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu met Peking University’s party secretary He Guangcai on the campus before having breakfast with four young Hongkongers working or studying in Beijing on Wednesday.At the meeting, Lee shared the Hong Kong government’s plans to accelerate the development of the Northern Metropolis and explore the university town’s development model.“He agreed with the university town’s development plan and indicated that Peking University intends to set up a research institute in the university town in the future,” Lee said in a social media post.“I felt very encouraged and ex...

Hong Kong’s lawmakers-elect have called for more exchanges with senior officials before policy formulation as they welcomed the first sharing session on Thursday, saying it signalled the government valued ties with the legislature.About 70 of the 90 newly elected lawmakers joined the 1½-hour exchange with top government officials, including three secretaries and other bureau chiefs, focusing on two topics: the executive-legislature relationship and Hong Kong’s economic development.Lawmaker-elect Chris Ip Ngo-tung said the event was the first such exchange for successful candidates before they started their four-year term.“For a newcomer to the legislature, I was told the exchange has never been done before for lawmakers-elect,” he said. “It shows the government values the new Legco.”Hong K...