Politics

Hong Kong’s Fire Services Department will bear “ultimate responsibility” for following up on fire safety complaints across the city, the security chief has said, as an independent committee report is expected to identify the department as among those responsible for last year’s deadly Tai Po blaze.Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung made the pledge on Friday, a day after the judge-led committee submitted its final report to the government. The minister said a series of legal reforms would be rolled out alongside administrative measures to address fire safety shortcomings.A source earlier said the report had identified failings by the Fire Services Department, the Buildings Department, the Labour Department and the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit that contributed to the ...

Beijing has slammed “irresponsible remarks” by Britain after a UK report said Hong Kong’s national security law had further diminished the openness that underpinned the city’s success.In the United Kingdom’s latest six-month monitoring report on Hong Kong, released on Thursday, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said he was “deeply concerned and disturbed” by the continued imprisonment of former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who was jailed for 20 years over national security offences.“We continue to call for his immediate release and will raise his case consistently as part of our frank and constructive engagement with the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities,” he said.In the report’s foreword, Miliband said Lai’s case, alongside recent developments in the trial of former leaders of the now-disb...

The number of contested subsectors in Hong Kong’s powerful Election Committee has doubled compared with 2021, in a move observers said reflected Beijing’s push to foster healthy competition within the pro-establishment camp and strengthen the legitimacy of the body responsible for selecting the city’s next leader.The two-week nomination period ended on Tuesday, with 1,115 hopefuls signing up to run for 982 elected seats across 36 subsectors on the Election Committee. The poll will be held on November 22.A total of 31 subsectors will hold contested elections, up from 13 in 2021, the first poll since the “patriots-only” electoral system shake-up.Elected members will join 362 ex officio members and 156 members nominated by designated bodies to select the chief executive next March and elect 4...

A Hong Kong-headquartered intergovernmental mediation body has successfully settled an infrastructure dispute in Malaysia and received “more than a dozen” inquiries, its head has revealed on the organisation’s first anniversary.Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, secretary general of the International Organisation for Mediation (IOMed), told a reception marking the body’s first anniversary that it had wrapped up a case on Tuesday and was handling another.“Our ambition is not simply to build a successful institution, but to foster a culture where mediation becomes a natural and trusted choice to resolve international disputes,” Cheng said.

A growing number of former senior government officials have joined the race for seats on Hong Kong’s Election Committee, a trend observers say will enhance the prestige and legitimacy of the body tasked with choosing the city’s next leader.As the two-week nomination period draws to a close next Tuesday, the Registration and Electoral Office had received 1,115 nominations for 982 elected seats on the Election Committee as of Friday.The poll will be held on November 22 and the elected members will join 362 ex officio members and 156 members nominated by designated bodies, to select Hong Kong’s next chief executive in March next year.Former justice minister Rimsky Yuen is standing in the legal subsector. Photo: Yik Yeung-manA notable feature of this year’s nominations is the number of former ...

Ng Hon-mun, an influential pro-Beijing educator and long-serving Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress who at one point called for its reform, has died at the age of 100.City leader John Lee Ka-chiu offered his deepest sympathies to Ng’s family on Sunday, praising him for his lifelong devotion to the nation and his significant contributions to Hong Kong’s smooth return to the motherland.“He dedicated his life to the cause of patriotic education, cultivating a large number of outstanding talents for the country and Hong Kong,” Lee said. “He was an outstanding educator with remarkable contributions.”Former chief executive Leung Chun-ying, a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, wrote earlier in a Facebook Post: “Deeply mourn Principal Ng Hon-mu...

Legislative Council president Starry Lee Wai-king said on Saturday that an overview of the six-session debate had been produced using AI.The session on improving livelihood protections drew the largest number of speaking lawmakers and accounted for nearly 30 per cent of the total debate coverage, she said.“The overview will be provided to lawmakers for reference and submitted to the government, with the aim of helping authorities accurately grasp the key focus areas of the motion debate,” she said on social media.

This is the fourth in a series of factsheets about Hong Kong’s first five-year plan and 2026 policy address. Part I – Hong Kong’s new chapter Part II – The story begins... Part III – Sharpening the city’s edge Part IV – Tapping into tech and talent The series has been produced with support from the Hong Kong SAR government. To see the South China Morning Post’s coverage of the five-year plan, click here. This Factsheet will appear in the SCMP print edition on October 20. You can find it...

Two US lawmakers are pushing for a bill that would allow Hongkongers in the country to apply for permanent residency, but authorities and observers have dismissed it as a political move unlikely to succeed.Senator Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, and Representative James McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, announced the Hong Konger Promise of Refuge Act, seeking to provide a pathway to green cards and ultimately citizenship for Hong Kong residents in the US currently protected under the Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) programme.Introducing the bill, Merkley accused Beijing and Hong Kong authorities of continuing to “undermine the fundamental rights and freedoms of Hongkongers”.“The United States must protect Hong Kong residents who have sought refuge in America,” he said. “Congress must...

A new exhibition about a pioneering school that nurtured talent for the country has opened at a Hong Kong history museum as part of the government’s efforts to promote national education, with many exhibits shown in the city for the first time.“National Development and Achievements Series: Cultivation and Renewal – The Education Legacy of Hong Kong’s Ta Teh Institute”, a free exhibition presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, will run at the Hong Kong Museum of History in Tsim Sha Tsui from Wednesday to February 15 next year.Ta Teh Institute was a liberal arts university established in Tuen Mun in 1946 during the Chinese Civil War. It was the second university to be established in the city after the University of Hong Kong. The institute closed down in 1949.