3 h. ago Plane wreckage removal to take 2 days, probe up to a year: Hong Kong experts

Securing and removing the cargo plane that crashed after veering off its path at Hong Kong’s airport and killing two security workers will take at least two days, while investigations into the accident are expected to last up to a year, aviation experts have said. Louis Szeto Ka-sing, a specialist in vessel design and maintenance, said on Friday that the first step in salvaging the cargo plane was to determine whether the two halves of the aircraft remained partially connected underwater. He...

Politics

4 h. ago Myanmar scam farm ‘worse than death’, China’s superfast chip: SCMP’s 7 highlights

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China’s analogue AI chip could work 1,000 times faster than Nvidia GPU: study Chinese scientists have created a superfast analogue chip that can solve complex maths problems for advanced scientific tasks and artificial intelligence...

Events

4 h. ago Beijing urges Hongkongers to stay vigilant against bids to foil Legco election

Beijing has called for vigilance against any attempts to jeopardise Hong Kong’s coming Legislative Council election, warning that local law enforcement agencies will not “sit back and do nothing” in the face of such efforts. The central government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office posted the strongly worded commentary under the pen name “Gang Ao Ping” in the early hours of Friday, coinciding with the start of the two-week nomination period for the December 7 race. The article urged the public...

Politics

4 h. ago Hong Kong government condemns ‘smears’ in UK’s latest monitoring report on city

Hong Kong authorities have strongly condemned the “untruthful remarks, slanders and smears” in the UK’s monitoring report on the city, which claimed that national security legislation had diminished the city’s political autonomy. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, in her report, also said it was “hardly surprising” that hundreds of thousands of people had left the city to places where “freedoms are better protected” as she reiterated London’s commitment to the British National (Overseas),...

Politics

4 h. ago Hong Kong condemns UK ‘smears’ as interference in latest city monitoring report

Hong Kong authorities have strongly condemned the “untruthful remarks, slanders and smears” in the UK’s monitoring report on the city, which claimed that national security legislation had diminished the city’s political autonomy. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, in her report, also said it was “hardly surprising” that hundreds of thousands of people had left the city to places where “freedoms are better protected” as she reiterated London’s commitment to the British National (Overseas),...

Politics

6 h. ago Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation testing drones in railway tunnels to cut tedious work

Hong Kong rail operator the MTR Corporation is testing the use of drones for tasks such as tunnel inspections to slash the time to complete “repetitive” and “tedious” jobs. The tests, carried out in the tunnel from Admiralty to the Exhibition Centre station on the East Rail line, have been proceeding satisfactorily, according to the rail giant. It is also planning to apply to authorities to expand the tests to cover open sections of the line. The MTR said the trial was one of 38 “sandbox”...

Events

8 h. ago US Nobel laureate praises Hong Kong, blames Washington for China science impasse

An American Nobel laureate has accused the US government of hindering scientific collaboration with China while praising Hong Kong and the mainland for their “tremendous respect” for science and academia. Randy Schekman, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2013, also praised Hong Kong’s openness and “free spirit” compared with the mainland, while urging both regions to foster more creativity among youth. He made the remarks at a press briefing ahead of his keynote address at the...

Politics

9 h. ago Crypto cooperation between Hong Kong, mainland China to benefit sector: experts

Increased collaboration between Hong Kong and mainland China could potentially lead to more advances in the cryptocurrency sector, according to industry experts who took part in the 11th Global Blockchain Summit in Shanghai on Thursday. That assessment comes amid the central government’s years-long ban on a range of crypto-related activities on the mainland, including initial coin offerings, cryptocurrency trading and bitcoin mining. Calls for Hong Kong and the mainland to collaborate in...

Politics

17 h. ago Hong Kong to align with national blueprint, seize opportunities: John Lee

Hong Kong will identify its strategic positioning within the national development blueprint and proactively align with the country’s next five-year plan, the city’s leader has said. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Thursday that recommendations adopted at the fourth plenum of the Communist Party’s Central Committee – where the country’s political leadership deliberated on the 15th five-year plan – were of great significance and impact to Hong Kong. “Hong Kong will identify and focus on...

Politics

18 h. ago 5 tenants lose bid to block eviction at Hong Kong estate set for redevelopment

Five residents who are among the last seven refusing to leave an ageing private housing estate in Hong Kong have lost a legal bid against their evictions, after a judge found they had never enjoyed a permanent right to property at the city’s only privately owned low-rent development. The District Court on Thursday handed down the first judgment of two civil trials implicating a total of seven Tai Hang Sai Estate tenants, who refused to move out of the Shek Kip Mei compound and give way for its...

Politics

18 h. ago Hong Kong offers private doctors HK$6,000 subsidy to link up with eHealth system

Private doctors in Hong Kong will receive a government subsidy of HK$6,000 (US$772) by linking their clinical management systems to the official electronic health record platform and continuously uploading patient data for 12 months, as part of a scheme to promote more seamless care between the public and private sectors. Health authorities said on Thursday that the eHealth+ Connectivity Support Scheme hoped to build a complete health record for every resident, allowing doctors from both sectors...

Economics

19 h. ago HKEX CEO Bonnie Chan says geopolitics, economic uncertainty may dim IPO outlook

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting cautioned that the fundraising bonanza in the city, which leads the global initial public offering (IPO) rankings this year, could slow down amid geopolitical and economic risks. “I would say that we need to be very conscious that the world is still under a lot of stress geopolitically and macroeconomically,” she said at the Bund Summit financial forum in Shanghai on Thursday. “I think it’s too early [for the HKEX] to claim...

Economics

21 h. ago 2 suspected of attacking young man with sharp weapons wanted by Hong Kong police

Hong Kong police are searching for two suspects who allegedly attacked a 20-year-old man with sharp weapons at a bus terminal in Admiralty. Police were alerted at 10.17pm on Wednesday that two men were suspected of attacking a young man with sharp weapons at a bus terminal on Queensway, a major road in Admiralty. The assailants then fled the scene. The victim sustained hand and back injuries and was sent to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam for treatment, police said. After a preliminary...

Events

21 h. ago Hong Kong police hunt for 2 after young man attacked with sharp weapons

Hong Kong police are searching for two suspects who allegedly attacked a 20-year-old man with sharp weapons at a bus terminal in Admiralty. Police were alerted at 10.17pm on Wednesday that two men were suspected of attacking a young man with sharp weapons at a bus terminal on Queensway, a major road in Admiralty. The assailants then fled the scene. The victim sustained hand and back injuries and was sent to Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam for treatment, police said. After a preliminary...

Events

21 h. ago Hong Kong’s annual Wine and Dine Festival returns with focus on Chinese wines

Hong Kong’s annual Wine and Dine Festival returned on Thursday, showcasing an expanded range of premium wine and food offerings, along with a focus on promoting Chinese wines. The four-day event, themed “Remix – Best of All Worlds”, featured around 300 booths and was expected to attract some 150,000 visitors throughout the festival. Organisers had arranged for the event’s hours to be extended until midnight, with doors opening at 7.30pm on Thursday and noon on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The...

Politics

21 h. ago Hong Kong’s annual Wine and Dine Festival returns with focus on Chinese vintages

Hong Kong’s annual Wine and Dine Festival returned on Thursday, showcasing an expanded range of premium offerings along with a focus on promoting Chinese wines. The four-day event, themed “Remix – Best of All Worlds”, features around 300 booths and is expected to attract 150,000 visitors throughout the festival. “We invite you to explore a world of flavours designed to surprise and delight guests,” Peter Lam Kin-ngok, chairman of organiser Hong Kong Tourism Board, said at the opening...

Politics

22 h. ago Hong Kong surgeon unlawfully killed woman in botched Botox procedure, jury finds

A 93-year-old Hong Kong plastic surgeon unlawfully killed a top banker by gross negligence during a botched Botox injection seven years ago, a jury has found. A seven-member High Court jury on Thursday reached a unanimous decision that found Dr Franklin Li Wang-pong had committed all the acts alleged in the original manslaughter charge before he was declared unfit to stand trial last month due to dementia. That unfitness means the ruling will not leave Li with a criminal record, but the court...

Events

24 h. ago Hong Kong wage growth slows from 3.5% to 2.5% in line with Greater Bay Area trend

Wage growth in Hong Kong has slowed from 3.5 per cent in 2024 to 2.5 per cent this year, mirroring a cooling trend across the Greater Bay Area, with salaries declining significantly after the United States launched a trade war in April, according to a survey. The 2025 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Pay and Benefits Survey, released on Thursday, also found the impact of the emigration-led brain drain on the city’s workforce had eased for the first time since 2018. “The impact of...

Politics

26 h. ago Encourage employees to vote in Hong Kong’s coming Legco election: John Lee

Hong Kong’s leader has called on the public and private sectors to encourage employees to vote in the coming Legislative Council election, describing it as their social responsibility. At the ceremony to launch the election on Thursday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu urged both public institutions and businesses to encourage employees to take part in the poll, emphasising that voting was both a right and a civic duty. “I strongly urge all sectors of society, including various institutions,...

Politics

27 h. ago Hong Kong Ocean Park ‘not ruling out’ Water World closure to cut losses

Hong Kong Ocean Park does not rule out shutting down its Water World facility to prevent further deficit and will “actively consider” if the government is willing to take over operating rights, its chairman has revealed. Paulo Pong Kin-yee admitted on Thursday that the theme park’s HK$274.7 million (US$31.8 million) deficit over the past year was primarily driven by its water attraction. When asked whether the park would close the facility to balance the books, Pong said the option was not off...

Politics