Politics

Hong Kong must focus on the “practical work” of building a safe and convenient environment and reassuring the international community amid criticism of its legal system, the justice minister has said, after 10 countries issued a joint statement decrying the latest jail sentence handed to opposition activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung.“It is inevitable that their criticism will continue … Political realities have to be dealt with, but I do not think we should allow them to distract us from our focus,” Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok told a radio programme on Sunday.“We must get practical work done, because concrete results are what will attract people to Hong Kong, to support us through action.”

Hong Kong has hit back at a joint statement from 10 countries over the latest sentencing of opposition activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung, accusing them of distorting facts and smearing the city’s national security law.The rebuttal came after the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK issued a joint statement on Friday saying the sentencing of Wong, together with the earlier jailing of many others, showed how the city’s national security law was being used to “target individuals for political expression and participation”.Wong was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a global campaign to instigate sanctions against mainland China and Hong Kong in the wake of the 2019 anti-government protests.

Ten countries – including the “Five Eyes” allies – have called for an immediate end to “unjust prosecutions” under Hong Kong’s national security law after opposition activist Joshua Wong Chi-fung was jailed for 10 years, while the government has urged foreign forces to stop their “baseless malicious attacks”.The foreign ministers of the 10 countries issued a joint statement on Friday, a day after the High Court sentenced Wong over his role in a global campaign to instigate sanctions against mainland China and the city following the 2019 anti-government protests.“These are further examples of how the national security law is being used to target individuals for political expression and participation,” said the statement from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands,...

The first person convicted in Hong Kong under the Beijing-imposed national security law and three others jailed in related high-profile cases have been released early, the South China Morning Post has learned.Sources said on Monday that Leon Tong Ying-kit, 30, who was sentenced in July 2021 to nine years in prison for inciting secession and engaging in terrorist activities, had been granted early release.He drove a motorcycle displaying a flag bearing the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong; revolution of our times” into police officers during a protest on July 1, 2020, hours after the Beijing-imposed national security law took effect.

Hong Kong’s leader has begun a four-day visit to Beijing and Shanghai to deepen economic ties with mainland China, calling for closer collaboration on finance and innovation and technology (I&T), while pledging to help Chinese enterprises expand overseas.Speaking at the annual Beijing-Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium in the capital on Wednesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the Northern Metropolis project would create a new platform for the two cities to cooperate on research and innovation.The gathering was a centrepiece of the trip, during which Lee will attend a series of economic forums and expos, including the China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Thursday, to forge closer business links.

Justice delayed, it is often said, is justice denied. If that is true, many court users in Hong Kong are being failed by the system.Those involved in criminal cases at the Court of First Instance must wait 358 days on average for the hearing, the judiciary revealed last week. The figure for the District Court is 354 days, way above the court’s 100-day target. This is a cause of concern.The glacial process has prompted the Law Society to call for drastic measures. Justin Yuen Hoi-ying, chairman of the body’s standing committee on standards and development, urged the judiciary to consider extending court hours. He suggested simple and procedural matters might be heard in the evenings or on Sundays.

Beijing has formally removed Hong Kong’s housing chief, Winnie Ho Wing-yin, from her post, after she resigned last week to take political responsibility for the deadly Tai Po fire.According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, the State Council removed Ho from office on Tuesday on the recommendation of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu. The announcement gave no reason for the decision and did not name a successor.In a government statement, Lee said Ho had indicated she would “shoulder the political accountability” for the fire and praised her dedication to implementing his housing policies.

A former publisher of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper has joined a Hong Kong government-organised mainland study tour for rehabilitated offenders, telling a state-owned broadcaster he felt “very proud” as a Chinese national after experiencing the country’s technological advances first-hand.Cheung Kim-hung, a key prosecution witness in former media boss and Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s national security trial, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to collude with foreign or external forces to endanger national security.He was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison and had been expected to remain behind bars until 2028.

A leading Hong Kong telecommunications carrier has confirmed that an order requiring it to justify its operation in the United States has been ceased, after the company reportedly agreed to wind down its business under pressure from a US regulatory agency over national security concerns.A spokeswoman for Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) told the South China Morning Post on Saturday that the Order to Show Cause issued by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in October requiring it to justify why the carrier’s right to provide international and domestic services to and from the country should not be revoked “has been ceased”.Reuters reported earlier in the day that HKT had agreed to halt its operations in the US under pressure from the FCC.

UK Indo-Pacific minister Rosie Winterton has visited Hong Kong’s flagship tech hub to discuss plans to expand technological collaboration in the Greater Bay Area, while aiming to strengthen business, education and people-to-people partnerships with the city.During her visit, Winterton also raised concerns about the jailing of former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in talks with Cui Jianchun, Beijing’s top diplomat in the city, and local officials.“What we want to do is to strengthen those ties across our business, across education and people,” she said in a media briefing on Friday.