Follow South China Morning Post - Hong Kong Politics, filter it, and define how you want to receive the news (via Email, RSS, Telegram, WhatsApp etc.) https://follow.it/scmp12 Sun, 19 Sep 2021 10:16:20 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7Okiyb12JZUvJVjH6qdYdAk Voters fanned out across five polling stations in Hong Kong on Sunday to cast their ballots for members of the powerful Election Committee, marking the city’s first political race under a Beijing-decreed system overhaul.Under the central government’s radical revamp, designed to ensure only “patriots” govern Hong Kong, the original 1,200-strong Election Committee has been expanded by 300 seats and given new powers to not only elect the city’s next leader, but also nominate candidates to the…]]> Sun, 19 Sep 2021 03:11:18 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7Okiyb12JZUvJVjH6qdYdAk https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7OLHcXSlVjkiZs0ohxaO6Yr Chinese Vice-Premier Han Zheng has tasked Hong Kong’s leader to smoothly execute the city’s three coming important elections and uphold the “patriots governing Hong Kong” principle.Han gave the instructions at a meeting with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in Shenzhen on the eve of the Election Committee polls on Sunday, when about 4,900 voters will elect some 300 representatives on the 1,500-member body. About 1,200 members on the committee were already returned uncontested, or were…]]> Sat, 18 Sep 2021 14:14:59 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7OLHcXSlVjkiZs0ohxaO6Yr https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7OLHcXSlVjkicb1naedg1wr Hong Kong’s police chief accused a journalist group of selective listening within its industry, as a war of words between both sides intensified on Saturday.“I have observed that the Hong Kong Journalists Association has selective listening towards media that hold opposite views from them,” Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-yee said while speaking to reporters after attending a passing-out parade at a police college in Wong Chuk Hang.“Although journalists from such organisations were…]]> Sat, 18 Sep 2021 12:10:04 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7OLHcXSlVjkicb1naedg1wr https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7OLHcXSlVjkiXn9ye8UNv30 A local university professor has apologised after Hong Kong police accused him of smearing members of the force’s official youth group in a recent newspaper comic.Wong Chiu-tat, an assistant professor of Baptist University’s academy of visual arts, apologised for the “unfair” six-panel cartoon published by the newspaper Ming Pao on Friday. The comic strip depicted a conversation between two students, and suggested the Junior Police Call (JPC) – established in 1974 to foster ties between the…]]> Sat, 18 Sep 2021 11:25:00 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7OLHcXSlVjkiXn9ye8UNv30 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7NR7EALC2SIFOT5HJgy6HUf Hong Kong police will deploy between 5,000 and 6,000 officers on Sunday to ensure the first Election Committee polls since Beijing’s drastic overhaul of the local electoral system will proceed without a hitch, the force’s commissioner has revealed.The manpower pledged by police commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee exceeded the figure provided by sources just days ago by more than a thousand, with the number of officers assigned to provide security now higher than the number of voters, of which…]]> Sat, 18 Sep 2021 06:35:03 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7NR7EALC2SIFOT5HJgy6HUf https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7NR7EALC2SIFJVjH6qdYdAk Sunday’s Election Committee polls will be very different to the previous five trips to the ballot box in Hong Kong since the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty.Under Beijing’s overhaul of the Hong Kong electoral system aimed at ensuring only “patriots” can hold political power, the race for seats on the powerful body has so far largely been an uncontested affair, with a significantly reduced voter base.Officials champion the revamp as putting Hong Kong “back on the right track” following the…]]> Sat, 18 Sep 2021 05:00:34 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7NR7EALC2SIFJVjH6qdYdAk https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7PLaJQhRZoWn-zdsCmHakzH Hong Kong’s most influential opposition trade union earned the respect of many residents over the decades by taking on the rich and powerful with labour movements such as a dock workers’ strike that lasted 40 days in 2013.But by later diverting into political activism, the Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU) lost its focus and fell into Beijing’s cross hairs, analysts say. According to sources, the 31-year-old group has started the process of breaking up, joining a growing list of civic groups…]]> Fri, 17 Sep 2021 18:04:43 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7PLaJQhRZoWn-zdsCmHakzH https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7MhzkvFMZoygl1cWWor9YPv Hong Kong officials need to establish new links with their counterparts in neighbouring Shenzhen as part of the Qianhai economic zone’s mammoth expansion, pro-establishment politicians have said, after Macau launched a new committee to co-develop a new cooperation zone with Guangdong’s leaders.Politicians and business leaders also said the city had been lagging behind, and accused senior officials of not being proactive enough on pushing cross-border collaboration.“From the central government…]]> Fri, 17 Sep 2021 15:00:23 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7MhzkvFMZoygl1cWWor9YPv https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7OYHAxCR7G1p3n9ye8UNv30 Leaders of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-opposition trade unions’ group have started the process to disband the confederation, sources told the Post.But Joe Wong Nai-yuen, the president of the Confederation of Trade Unions (CTU), would neither confirm nor deny that on Friday.He would only say the confederation had met “late into the night” on Thursday, and decided to hold a press conference this weekend.“We will meet on Sunday to discuss [with the press] the matters reported by the media,” he…]]> Fri, 17 Sep 2021 06:41:00 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7OYHAxCR7G1p3n9ye8UNv30 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7OYHAxCR7G1p6CY3L745TL_ In the final instalment of our three-part series on the Election Committee polls this Sunday, the Post explores Beijing’s rare move to order Hong Kong tycoons and loyalists onto the streets to meet the people, with insiders noting it was equal parts experiment and monitoring exercise. Read parts one and two.The message was a rare, direct instruction from the central government’s representative office in Hong Kong to some of the most powerful people in the city.“Take to the streets, talk to…]]> Fri, 17 Sep 2021 02:00:24 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7OYHAxCR7G1p6CY3L745TL_ https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7MN4TlhAzpzHnn9ye8UNv30 Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is expected to announce the construction of a rail link connecting the northern New Territories and Shenzhen’s burgeoning Qianhai economic zone in her policy address next month, the Post has learned.The rail project, estimated to cost billions of dollars, will serve as an extension of a planned HK$62 billion (US$8 billion) Northern Link to cater for the newly announced eightfold expansion of Qianhai.Sources on Thursday said Beijing had planned the…]]> Thu, 16 Sep 2021 17:24:00 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7MN4TlhAzpzHnn9ye8UNv30 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7MN4TlhAzpzHuT5HJgy6HUf Beijing has pledged to support at least 120 Hong Kong and Macau entrepreneurial projects, offering nearly 60,000 job, exchange and internship opportunities for young people from the two cities in the next five years.The raft of measures, the central government’s latest in support of Hong Kong’s economy and residents, also grants university students in the city access to national scholarships and allows them to enter a series of high-profile technology and innovation contests held in mainland…]]> Thu, 16 Sep 2021 15:18:02 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7MN4TlhAzpzHuT5HJgy6HUf https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7MN4TlhAzpzHiejEQ2Mq9rY Hong Kong’s home affairs chief said on Thursday that the role of district councils should be reviewed once all municipal-level politicians had taken their oaths.Caspar Tsui Ying-wai reiterated his support for examining the “direction” of the local authorities a day after disqualifying seven opposition district councillors on the grounds their past conduct had left him unconvinced the vows they made last Friday were genuine.Under the national security law, Hong Kong’s oath-taking requirements –…]]> Thu, 16 Sep 2021 13:44:24 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7MN4TlhAzpzHiejEQ2Mq9rY https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7OneCBcWnXOLV1cWWor9YPv In the second of our three-part series on the Election Committee polls this Sunday, the Post looks at the near-total wipeout of opposition members in the powerful body, portending the future of the legislative elections. Read part one here.Tiny Macau built its global reputation and economy on the backs of gleaming towers dedicated to round-the-clock gambling, all while steered by a government operating free of the firebrand activism long the hallmark of politics in neighbouring Hong Kong.The…]]> Thu, 16 Sep 2021 02:00:24 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7OneCBcWnXOLV1cWWor9YPv https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7MUHQP4tOGQAezdsCmHakzH Hong Kong officials will meet China’s governing body for sports and two other co-hosts of the 2025 National Games this month to start planning talks, as a senior Olympics administrator in the city suggested it should stage the opening ceremony.Yeung Tak-keung, the city’s commissioner for sports, said on Wednesday that another ceremony in September handing over responsibility for organising the Games to the next hosts would allow representatives from Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macau to hold…]]> Wed, 15 Sep 2021 14:01:33 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7MUHQP4tOGQAezdsCmHakzH https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7MUHQP4tOGQAeT5HJgy6HUf Seven opposition district councillors in Hong Kong have been disqualified two days after a deadline expired for them to submit information for authorities to determine the validity of their fresh oaths of office.In a statement, a Home Affairs Bureau spokesman said the seven – Wan Chai district councillors Clarisse Yeung Suet-ying and Leung Pak-kin, Southern district councillor Michael Pang Cheuk-kei, and Eastern district councillors Wei Siu-lik, So Yat-hang, Lancelot Chan Wing-tai and Anna Lai…]]> Wed, 15 Sep 2021 13:43:56 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7MUHQP4tOGQAeT5HJgy6HUf https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7NxyBNyfgpGcF1cWWor9YPv Hong Kong’s labour union authority has required a pro-opposition medical group to submit information about its past work, according to its leader, sparking fears the body could be outlawed.The Hospital Authority Employees Alliance received a letter from the Labour Department’s Registry of Trade Unions earlier this month asking for a written submission with the details by Friday, the group’s acting chairman David Chan Kwok-shing told the Post on Wednesday.“We plan to comply. We noticed that…]]> Wed, 15 Sep 2021 12:50:29 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7NxyBNyfgpGcF1cWWor9YPv https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7NxyBNyfgpGcJVjH6qdYdAk Hong Kong’s security chief has ordered an operations freeze at the Apple Daily printing house in Tseung Kwan O, as a national security investigation continues into Next Digital, the parent company of the now-defunct newspaper founded by jailed tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying.Chris Tang Ping-keung’s update on the National Security Department investigation on Wednesday followed a court order sought by the landlord of the tabloid-style newspaper’s headquarters to take back the premises.Tang said he…]]> Wed, 15 Sep 2021 12:40:47 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7NxyBNyfgpGcJVjH6qdYdAk https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7PA0_jwOx2Q2Hn9ye8UNv30 ]]> Wed, 15 Sep 2021 10:15:28 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7PA0_jwOx2Q2Hn9ye8UNv30 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7PA0_jwOx2Q2ClmFkX7M1Jw Hong Kong’s security chief has stepped up his war of words with the city’s biggest journalists group, challenging it to disclose its financial records and membership list to alleviate “public concerns” about its ethics.But the idea was swiftly shot down by the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) on Wednesday, who called Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung’s suggestion “illogical”, saying divulging its member rolls would violate the city’s privacy laws.Tang, who a day earlier, in…]]> Wed, 15 Sep 2021 10:07:49 +0200 https://api.follow.it/track-rss-story-click/v3/jTASPxGkU7PA0_jwOx2Q2ClmFkX7M1Jw