Politics

This week, The Guardian published an interview with Chloe Cheung Hei-ching, who faces a warrant for her arrest that was issued last year. Its article portrayed her as someone fleeing political persecution for daring to criticise the Hong Kong government and advocate for democratic reform. This framing is misleading. Cheung is being charged with incitement to secession and foreign collusion.Contrary to common misconceptions, the national security law does not criminalise political advocacy or criticism of the authorities.The Hong Kong Basic Law stipulates in Articles 45 and 68 that universal suffrage is a political ideal for the entire city. Moreover, according to the 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, defendants can argue against the statutory offence of sedition – inherited fr...

Hong Kong authorities are facing mounting pressure to explain how a company offering more expensive bottled water and without an operating factory could win a tender, while a civil service union leader has said workers are now worried about their health and are buying their own water.Lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon on Monday questioned the deadline of three months that the government had set for itself in its investigation to produce preliminary conclusions on its bottled water procurement process.“There are a few very basic questions from residents and it should not take three months to tell us,” she told a radio programme.“If you take too long to respond to residents, you will fail to assure them [of the government’s integrity].”Kong said authorities should reveal how the company involved ...

Plans for the next Legislative Council are being cemented – the nomination process will begin on October 24, with the current term ending on the same day. However, the same can’t be said for the date of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s policy address. So far, we’ve only been told it will be moved up to September, to make time for the Legco elections. Sources have reportedly said it will take place on September 17 but, so far, nothing is official.That doesn’t seem normal. That being said, just how efficient is Hong Kong’s new and improved political system to begin with? Coordinating dates on a calendar shouldn’t be that difficult. Perhaps this information is only privy to some? Surely it’s in the public’s interest to know what their leaders are planning, and when, unless the policy addres...

The Hong Kong government has received more than 6,900 suggestions and opinions during public consultations for the city leader’s coming policy address, an increase of 10 per cent from last year.Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Sunday that his fourth annual policy blueprint, which will be delivered next month, would include measures aimed at fostering patriotism in students through education.Since the consultation period for the policy address began in June, various groups, lawmakers and major political parties have made proposals. Lee also attended two district forums on July 27 and August 3 to listen to residents’ views.“The government received over 6,900 submissions to date in its consultation process for the policy address, an increase of around 10 per cent compared with last ye...

Hong Kong authorities have lambasted the “harbouring of criminals by countries” as Australia and the United Kingdom granted asylum to a pair of opposition activists wanted for national security offences.Fugitive former lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung, who lives in Adelaide, and activist Tony Chung Hon-lam, based in London, announced separately on their social media accounts this weekend that they had been granted asylum by the governments of Australia and the UK, respectively.In a statement in the early morning on Sunday, the Hong Kong government expressed “strong disapproval and opposition against the harbouring of criminals in any form by any country,” without naming any country or individual.“Any country that harbours Hong Kong criminals in any form shows contempt for the rule of law, grossly...

Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu has chaired the first meeting of a high-level counterterrorism group, later announcing that a large exercise to simulate terrorist attacks on critical infrastructure will be held this month.The Chief Executive Counter-terrorism Steering Group discussed the progress of various groups under a new three-tier mechanism, global and local threats, and the directions and strategies of the government’s counterterrorism work, a statement released after Wednesday’s meeting said.“As a metropolitan city, Hong Kong may also face threats under the global and local terrorism landscape,” Lee said.“As such, we must further strengthen the [Hong Kong] government’s overall counterterrorism work.”It was the first top-level meeting under the three-tier anti-terrorism mechanism ...

Hong Kong will begin the nomination process for its next Legislative Council on October 24, with the current legislature standing prorogued on the same day, the government has announced.Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki said on Wednesday that the date was set after taking the election date of December 7 into consideration.In a letter from Chan to Legco President Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen, the city’s second-highest official said that the current Legislative Council would recess on October 24 “to prevent giving undue advantage to incumbent members over other candidates during the election period, or creating an impression to that effect.”He added that the arrangement, which would be gazetted on Friday, was consistent with the procedure followed by the previous Legco.The lette...

A proposed piece of legislation by the Hong Kong government to recognise same-sex partnerships is set to be the first bill the legislature will reject since Beijing overhauled the city’s electoral system in 2021 to ensure only “patriots” held political power.The new law, opposed by the major political parties, was the government’s response to a landmark court ruling that found authorities had violated the city’s Bill of Rights by failing to offer some form of legal recognition, such as civil partnerships, to same-sex couples.Opposing lawmakers had slammed the framework as a threat to the institution of traditional marriage between a man and a woman. It marked a rare public rift between the government and the Legislative Council.But privately, some conceded a veto might not necessarily be a...

I apologise if this offends anyone, but I feel obliged to ask if Hong Kong has become a city of wusses. Do we really have to close down much of the city every time there’s excessive rain?The three-tier system Hong Kong has for rainstorm warnings – comprising amber, red and black – is useful for alerting the community to the likely intensity of rainfall, but I really have to ask if it is still suitable as a guide for whether people should go to work or be expected to do so.Hong Kong recently experienced its fourth black rainstorm signal in an eight-day timespan, which is a record, and has resulted in a historic amount of rainfall for the month of August. The question is whether that should be sufficient reason to bring much of normal life to a standstill.The actual experience of recent days...

Hong Kong has strongly opposed and disapproved of “false and biased” remarks by the G7 regarding the city’s latest round of bounties and arrest warrants on overseas activists.A government spokesman said on Saturday that those “fugitives hiding abroad are wanted and have arrest warrants issued by the courts, not because they ‘exercise freedom of expression’, but because they continue to engage in activities endangering national security there blatantly”.The G7 on Friday condemned the new HK$200,000 (US$25,640) bounties placed by city authorities on 15 overseas activists for their involvement in the “Hong Kong Parliament” group, which police deem subversive and accuse of violating the Beijing-imposed security law.The G7 calls Hong Kong’s move to place fresh bounties on overseas activists a “...