Politics

As Hong Kong prepares for another major push in public works, one question deserves far more attention than it has received: are we buying infrastructure in a way that is sustainable for the construction industry and the public as a whole?In his February budget, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced that HK$150 billion (US$19.1 billion) will be transferred from the Exchange Fund to support the Northern Metropolis and other infrastructure projects in the coming two years. This major commitment of public resources signals that the government intends to keep the works programme moving despite financial pressure. That makes it even more important to ask whether our tender evaluation system is producing healthy competition.At present, Hong Kong’s tender price evaluation method for infra...

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned the UK for “abusing the law and judicial process” after a British court found two men linked to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London guilty of spying on activists.Bill Yuen Chung-biu, the London office’s manager, and Peter Wai Chi-leung, who ran a security firm, were found guilty on Thursday of assisting a foreign intelligence service, two years after their arrests thrust Hong Kong’s overseas promotion offices into the global spotlight.Ministry spokesman Lin Jian described the charges on Friday as lacking “factual basis” and accused the United Kingdom of “securing the conviction by abusing the law and judicial process”.“Such groundless accusations and smears against China are nothing but a typical political stunt. Chin...

A wanted member of the overseas group “Hong Kong Parliament” has been arrested in Thailand for overstaying her visa and is reportedly set to be deported to mainland China.The organisation said on Friday that Zhang Xinyan, who took part in what it called a parliamentary election and was sworn in as a member last year, was recently arrested in Thailand for overstaying her visa.It was not immediately clear what type of visa Zhang held.In a reply to the South China Morning Post on Saturday, a Hong Kong government spokesman declined to comment on media reports about law enforcement actions in other jurisdictions.But he stressed that authorities would spare no effort in pursuing national security fugitives.The activist organisation claimed that Zhang held refugee status granted by the Office of ...

The arrival of Yuan Gujie, the new deputy director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, has sparked widespread speculation. Her legal background and experience in Guangdong province suggest that her posting carries a clear agenda: to promote deeper integration between Hong Kong and other Greater Bay Area cities.One thing is clear: if the Northern Metropolis is to accelerate, Hong Kong’s existing legal framework and development model may prove inadequate. A fundamental overhaul is urgently required.The answer may lie in establishing a special economic zone. This formula has been central to China’s economic success and was the decisive factor behind Shenzhen’s rapid rise. But Hong Kong’s trajectory may diverge from Shenzhen’s.Shenzhen thrived by liberalising and embracing market forces....

Hong Kong’s top decision-making body has proposed a flat 2 per cent pay rise for civil servants this year, citing the need for a prudent approach to managing public finances amid a volatile geopolitical environment.The increase will add about HK$6 billion (US$765.7 million) to annual government spending, according to Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung Ho Poi-yan, who will meet staff representatives on Wednesday as part of the process before the Executive Council makes its final decision.She said on Tuesday that the adjustment recognised civil servants’ performance, adding that the decision followed the established mechanism, which takes into account the state of the economy and the cost of living.“The Executive Council has not only taken into account those figures, but has also t...

Hong Kong will launch a two-month public consultation on Monday on its first five-year blueprint to align the city’s development with the national plan, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has announced.Lee said on Tuesday the consultation would begin on June 15, marking what he described as a historic milestone for the city.“The formulation of Hong Kong’s first five-year plan is a historic step and is of great significance,” he said.“We hope to gather everyone’s views, listen to the people and gauge the public sentiment extensively, to make great efforts to compile Hong Kong’s five-year plan that belongs to the residents.”Lee added that the public could submit views via dedicated websites, adding that the government would hold multiple consultation exercises to gather input from various sect...

Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to exercise prudence and seriousness when defining national security offences under newly proposed legislation, dismissing concerns about a centralisation of power and stressing that the process often involves “state players” and highly sensitive information.Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu also said on Tuesday that the subsidiary legislation, which introduces a classification mechanism for “other offences endangering national security” under the city’s domestic national security law, would bring greater clarity to the administration of justice.Under the proposed law, any case accompanied by a certificate from the chief executive confirming it involves national security would be subject to all investigation, detention and trial procedures applicable to such o...

Hong Kong property tycoon Gordon Wu Ying-sheung has predicted that China will overtake the US as the world’s largest economy in the next decade or so, propelled by rapid technological advances while Washington is weighed down by massive defence expenditure and national debt.Yet the 90-year-old founder and chairman of Hopewell Holdings, who rarely speaks to the press, said Hong Kong should look past geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington to build closer ties with the United States, leveraging the city’s role as a premier trading hub to attract highly fluid American private wealth.Speaking to the South China Morning Post, the Princeton-educated civil engineer – dubbed the “King of Highways” for building China’s first toll road and later a 380km (236 miles) network across the ma...

Hong Kong should revive plans for large-scale reclamation off Lantau Island to run in parallel with the Northern Metropolis project, property magnate Gordon Wu Ying-sheung has said, warning that a lack of urban land will hold back the city’s development as the population grows.The 90-year-old founder and chairman of Hopewell Holdings also described it as “too early to say” whether his property empire would follow its peers and commit to investing in the mega development near the city’s border with mainland China.“We don’t know, because at the present moment the land is still not owned by the government. So that’s the first priority [for us],” he told the South China Morning Post. “Get the ownership, get the transport – all that is the government’s [job]. After that, the private sector will...

Hong Kong lawmakers have called for more clarity on an HK$9.96 billion (US$1.27 billion) project, which includes a fencing arena, in the Northern Metropolis, questioning the “immense” cost and whether the sports venue will host global tournaments.Permanent Secretary for Development Doris Ho Pui-ling defended the massive price tag on Wednesday, saying the government had sought to keep construction costs down and invited tenderers to propose further money-saving measures.She added that more details would be released at the next meeting of the Legislative Council’s public works subcommittee next month, after a tender evaluation was completed.“By then, the government can present a more detailed proposal, including the external architectural design, the layout of facilities for public use and w...