Politics

Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Wednesday said the budget deficit for the fiscal year ending March 31 will reach HK$257.6 billion, a record for the city.
Economy

Hong Kong rolls out $15.5bn stimulus plan to boost economy

Financial hub forecasts GDP growth of 3.5% to 5.5% to end recession

24 February 2021
Hong Kong Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang, center, speaks at a news conference on Tuesday to announce changes to election and oath-taking rules.
Politics

Hong Kong outlines plan to disqualify opponents from holding office

Proposal follows Beijing official's remark that city must be run by 'patriots'

23 February 2021
Hong Kong riot police disperse protesters in September. China has suppressed the pro-democracy movement in the city, including through a national security law enacted last year.
Hong Kong protests

China signals electoral reform to ensure 'patriots' run Hong Kong

Key official wants Beijing-led overhaul, which could come at congress in March

23 February 2021
RTHK staff last month protested management's move to terminate the contract of a reporter known for her tough questioning of government officials.
Politics

Hong Kong government to rein in public broadcaster RTHK

New editorial recommendations raise concerns over city's media freedom

19 February 2021
Hong Kong's population fell to 7.47 million in 2020 as deaths exceeded births for the first time since reliable records began in 1961.
Economy

Hong Kong population declines for first time since 2003

Financial hub's jobless rate swells to near 17-year high of 7% amid pandemic

18 February 2021
"If global financial institutions and talent exit Hong Kong, our city will fall from its position as a leading international financial center," said Li Shan of the Bauhinia Party. (Photo by Takeshi Kihara)
Interview

Chinese businessmen seek Hong Kong government role with new party

Bauhinia leader aims to bring private-sector experience into next cabinet

17 February 2021
Media mogul Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, arrives at the Court of Final Appeal by prison van in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning.
Politics

Hong Kong's Jimmy Lai denied bail over 'misconstrued' security law

Top court finds media mogul remains a threat while awaiting collusion trial

9 February 2021
Pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow after their arrest in 2019: Both have been arrested again since China enacted a security law covering Hong Kong last year.
Hong Kong protests

US lawmakers nominate Hong Kong democracy movement for Nobel

Protesters merit peace prize for bravery, bipartisan group in Congress says

4 February 2021
British National Overseas passports (BNO) and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China passports sit on top of the baggage of a Hong Kong family who emigrated to the U.K. in December.
International relations

Hong Kong's 2.9m 'UK' passport holders weigh moves to Britain

Citizens despairing of Beijing's tightening grip take advantage of new scheme

31 January 2021
A pro-democracy demonstrator holds British National (Overseas) passports during a protest in Hong Kong against a new national security law in June 2020.
Politics

China to reject Hong Kongers' 'British' passports

New UK immigration channel for city residents set to open on Sunday

29 January 2021
Transparency International says the Philippines, ranked 115th for perceived corruption, has responded to COVID-19 with "abusive enforcement, and major violations of human rights and media freedom."
Coronavirus

Corruption deepens COVID impact in developing Asia: report

Singapore is region's only country in Transparency International's clean top 10

28 January 2021
Since November 2019, when Alibaba sold shares for its secondary listing in Hong Kong, 10 U.S.-listed Chinese companies have raised $30 billion in the territory. (Photo by Dean Napolitano)
Markets

US stock blacklists ripple through Hong Kong and China markets

Investors wary over Trump's order and uncertainty on Biden's policies

11 January 2021
Pro-democracy activist Lester Shum is taken away by Hong Kong police officers on Wednesday. He was among dozens arrested in an early morning operation.
Politics

Dozens of Hong Kong democracy figures arrested over security law

Candidates and others involved in primary elections accused of subverting state

6 January 2021
Hong Kong activist Agnes Chow has been jailed since Dec. 2. She says she wears seven layers of clothes to fight the chills of her cell.
Politics

Hong Kong starts new year with heightened crackdown on dissent

Agnes Chow in maximum-security prison; Ted Hui on the run in UK

5 January 2021
Shares of China Mobile and China Telecom fell in Hong Kong on Monday, while China Unicom eked out a gain. The companies' ADRs will be suspended from trading in New York on Jan. 7.
Telecommunication

Chinese telecom stocks hit in Hong Kong after NYSE acts to delist

China Mobile tumbles to lowest level since 2006, while oil companies also fall

4 January 2021
Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, left the Court of Final Appeal on Thursday with Hong Kong Correctional Services officers. 
Politics

Top Hong Kong court sends activist publisher Jimmy Lai back to jail

Judges postpone ruling until Feb. 1 on whether he can be released on bail

31 December 2020
Xi Jinping talks by video with patients and medical workers at the Huoshenshan Hospital in Wuhan on Mar. 10: he racked up a lot of own goals.
Opinion

The best emperor-has-no-clothes moments of 2020

Even Warren Buffett went skinny dipping this year

31 December 2020
One of 12 Hong Kong activists detained in mainland China on allegations of illegal border crossing is seen after a transfer conducted at Shenzhen Bay Port in Hong Kong on Dec. 30.
Politics

10 Hong Kong activists jailed in China after attempt to flee

Two minors transferred back to city amid international calls for release

30 December 2020
Biden, Olympic logo, Suga, and Wuhan (Source photos by Reuters, Ken Kobayashi, Karina Nooka)
Your Week in Asia

Japan's elections, 100th anniversary of CCP: Asia's 2021 calendar

One year after Wuhan lockdown, will there be a Tokyo Olympics?

27 December 2020
Ezra Vogel autographs his book on Deng Xiaoping at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in May 2012. (Photo by Kenji Kawase)
Comment

Ezra Vogel: Great scholar's important lessons to a journalist

How the educator's pragmatic views about the real world resonated with me

26 December 2020
Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai is escorted to a prison van on Dec. 12, after being charged under the national security law.
Politics

Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai unexpectedly wins bail

Tycoon banned from tweeting, meeting foreign officials and giving interviews

23 December 2020
Demonstrators shine lights from their smartphones as they march along Queensway on Dec. 8, 2019.
Opinion

Hong Kong's descent into darkness

Tiananmen without the massacre

20 December 2020
A journalist with i-Cable News Channel in Hong Kong leaves the broadcaster's office after being laid off on Dec. 1. Forty editorial staff members were dismissed by the pay-TV operator.
Politics

Hong Kong journalists face fresh political pressures in reporting

Newsrooms navigate through new guidelines amid tightened controls over media

15 December 2020
Jimmy Lai has been in pre-trial detention since Dec. 3 over a fraud allegation as authorities prepared to file other charges.
Politics

Publisher Jimmy Lai charged under Hong Kong national security law

China critic faces possible life term if convicted of collusion with foreign forces

12 December 2020
Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang, a Hong Kong activist and former lawmaker, tells Nikkei Asia he has fled the city and is in the U.S. He says he hopes Washington will grant asylum to 200 young Hongkongers.
Interview

Ex-Hong Kong lawmaker Baggio Leung flees city for Washington

Leung to ask US to grant asylum to 200 Hongkongers without BN(O) passports

11 December 2020