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The president of Hong Kong’s legislature has denied that lawmakers wasted time by tabling “empty” motions in 2024, as he praised them for passing almost 50 per cent more bills in the first three years of their term than their predecessors did in the same period. Hong Kong Legislative Council President Andrew Leung leads a […]
Hong Kong’s bus fares will rise by up to 7.5 per cent next year, the government has announced though it said the majority of customers would not see fares rise by more than HK$1. Buses outside department store Sogo in Causeway Bay. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. In a press release on Tuesday, the government said […]
Hong Kong leader John Lee has said that upcoming election arrangements would be “satisfactory” after lawmakers expressed concerns that a plan to introduce “smart” ballot boxes might dissuade voters from casting blank ballots amid privacy concerns. Ballots are counted in the “patriots only” 2023 District Council elections on December 11, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Legislators […]
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has praised Hong Kong for enacting additional security legislation earlier this year, and pledged Beijing’s continuous support for the city’s economic development. Xi on Friday met with Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, who was paying his annual duty visit to Beijing, in the central government’s headquarters in Zhongnanhai. Chinese leader […]
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Macau next week for a gathering marking 25 years since the former Portuguese colony’s handover to China, state news agency Xinhua said Saturday. Xi will also attend the inauguration of Macau’s incoming administration and conduct an inspection tour during the December 18-20 visit, according to Xinhua. China’s Xi Jinping. […]
By Joy Chiang China has expanded military drills around Taiwan with dozens of warplanes and a huge maritime exercise aimed at drawing “a red line” for the next US president, Taipei authorities said Wednesday. A man stands before Taiwanese Navy ships anchored at the harbour in Keelung on December 11, 2024. Photo: I-Hwa Cheng/AFP. Beijing’s […]
Jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai has denied making any indirect calls for sanctions on Hong Kong after the Beijing-imposed national security law took effect in 2020. There was no way to “conceal” such calls, he said. Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai. File photo: Kelly Ho/HKFP. The tycoon, who turned 77 last Sunday, was […]
China’s foreign ministry said Sunday it hopes Syria “returns to stability as soon as possible”, after Islamist-led rebels announced they had taken Damascus and sent President Bashar al-Assad fleeing. Syrian and Lebanese people celebrate the fall of the Syrian regime on December 8, 2024, in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, after the Syrian capital […]
Four Taiwanese soldiers, including three from a unit in charge of security for the president’s office, were charged Friday for photographing and leaking confidential information to China, prosecutors and the president’s office said. File Photo: Taiwan Presidential Office, via Flickr. China and Taiwan have been ruled separately since 1949, but Beijing insists the island is […]
More than four years after a Beijing-drafted national security law came into force in Hong Kong, 45 leading democrats finally learned their fate when a mass trial under the legislation ended on November 19. Most had been detained since February 2021. Tsang Kin-shing, aka “the Bull,” lines up outside the West Kowloon Law Courts Building […]