Politics

In the first of our series of previews on the five-year plan and policy address, to be announced on September 16, Natalie Wong and Matthew Cheng look at the key political issues and the city leader’s hopes for a second term.When Hong Kong’s leader John Lee Ka-chiu steps up to the Legislative Council podium next Wednesday, he will break from decades of political tradition.Lee’s coming policy address will summarise his four years in office while setting out what is expected to be his most ambitious and forward-looking governance agenda to date, as it will serve as an execution document to complement the city’s inaugural five-year plan to be delivered on the same day.Observers are closely watching where the two blueprints will take Hong Kong, and whether the synergy of high-level strategic pl...

Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong’s first chief executive who oversaw the city’s 1997 return to Chinese rule, has died.According to a statement from his office issued in the early hours on Wednesday, he died on Tuesday at the age of 89, surrounded by his loved ones.It is understood that he died at the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital.Tung was also a vice-chairman of China’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.In this live blog, the South China Morning Post details how people from all walks of life remember Tung.

Beijing has recommended the largest-ever cohort of civil servants from Hong Kong for roles at United Nations agencies this year, expecting the deployments to broaden their global perspective and strengthen the city’s position as a bridge between the country and the international community.The 16 officers sent under the UN Junior Professional Officer (JPO) scheme represent 13 grades and departments, including customs, police and the anti-corruption agency.This marks a steady increase from the five officers sent in 2019, when Hong Kong joined the programme, and the 12 sent in 2023.Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday said previous cohorts had excelled in fields spanning anti-drug operations, climate and resource coordination, trade and transport, and intellectual property protection.“...

Hong Kong is committed to being a “trusted partner” in driving Central Asia’s emergence as a global growth engine, according to the city’s leader, who hailed the substantial outcomes achieved since his landmark mission to the region.In a virtual appearance at the South China Morning Post’s China Conference: Central Asia 2026 held in Astana on Monday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said that a bank in his June delegation had since backed the Development Bank of Kazakhstan with US$785 million in financing.Kazakhstan’s national rail operator, KTZ, had also filed to list in Hong Kong, while a local family office had signed an agreement with the Central Asian country’s authorities to strengthen cooperation in sustainable energy, he said.Lee underscored that Central Asian countries – all impor...

Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to improve residents’ livelihoods through long-term strategies in the city’s first five-year plan, with concrete measures to be set out in the coming policy address.Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Sunday that the administration would continue to uphold its people-oriented governance philosophy, focus on residents’ needs and push Hong Kong forward.Lee will unveil Hong Kong’s first five-year plan and deliver the annual policy address on September 16. Lee said the arrangement would help the public understand how the two documents complemented each other.“Hong Kong’s first five-year plan will enhance residents’ livelihoods and well-being through long-term development strategies. Meanwhile, the policy address will annually roll out concrete improvement me...

Hong Kong is drafting its first‑ever five‑year plan, a historic blueprint to chart long‑term development. Much has been said about reforms and paradigm shifts, but far less attention has been paid to the true architects of this journey: Hong Kong’s elites. Their choices will determine whether the city reinvents itself as an innovation hub or slides into stagnation.For decades, Hong Kong’s movers and shakers maximised returns from finance, trade and real estate. But as the global economy pivots towards technology and innovation, these engines face mounting headwinds.To navigate this transition, Hong Kong requires a profound “power shift”, a systemic re‑engineering of mindsets, incentives and risk appetites across business, bureaucracy and academia.Hong Kong’s history shows that elite behavi...

Hong Kong’s leader has urged the banking sector to support financing the city’s creation of a new economic engine in innovation and technology (I&T) while expanding offshore yuan business, a key area for aligning with national strategies.Speaking at a Hong Kong Association of Banks event on Friday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu called for closer partnership between the government and banking sector in four areas. They are: expanding offshore renminbi business; encouraging I&T through finance; developing commodity trading; and strengthening financial security and market integrity.“Strategic growth hinges on technological self-reliance and high-quality development. That very much includes the Northern Metropolis,” Lee told the annual Distinguished Speaker Luncheon.The Northern Met...

Retired Catholic leader Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and four other activists have lost an appeal against their convictions for failing to register their legal defence fund for those involved in the 2019 anti-government protests in Hong Kong.The Court of Appeal on Thursday upheld a magistrate’s findings that the now-defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund fell within the definition of a society under the Societies Ordinance and its members were required to register the group with police or ask for an exemption.The court found the registration scheme was constitutional and that it did not impose an unacceptably harsh burden on the exercise of the right to freedom of association.The three presiding judges also ruled that the fund was not a validly constituted trust but instead a vehicle for supporting th...

Exploring new channels for connection is important for enhancing communication. That seems to be one of the major themes of the first “new style Legco dialogue” with Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, held last week after lawmakers returned from their study trip to Beijing.Legislative Council members were clearly eager to share ideas with Lee, beginning with suggesting that the city’s 1823 public inquiry and complaint hotline be revamped and modelled after Beijing’s 12345 complaints hotline. Given the Hong Kong government’s artificial intelligence (AI) push, developing an AI-assisted inquiry and complaint hotline to better serve residents makes sense.It would help Lee and his government keep track of and manage government responses, thereby enhancing accountability and shedding li...

A veteran mainland Chinese economic crime investigator and former police official has been appointed to lead the discipline inspection and supervision group at Beijing’s top office overseeing Hong Kong affairs.Hua Liebing, a former director of the Ministry of Public Security’s economic crime investigation bureau, fills the vacancy at the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) left by Geng Changyou, who stepped down last year to become secretary of Hebei province’s Commission for Discipline Inspection.The new appointment was revealed on Tuesday when the office updated its organisation chart on its website.It marked another change in the office’s top ranks following the selection of Zhang Dongmei, a former vice-president of the All-China Women’s Federation, as a deputy director in March....