58 m. ago How can Hong Kong’s MTR Corp get back on track amid funding, manpower woes?

Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu was stern-faced and did not mince his words as he took the MTR Corporation to task for “inadequacies” in the way it responded to emergencies and planned for disruptions. He spelled out what he expected of the city’s rail operator when he spoke on May 27, five days after the third service disruption in four months due to technical failures. He demanded action to prevent incidents, which could affect thousands of the rail system’s 5 million daily riders. But if...

Politics

59 m. ago Chinese biotech firms eye foreign pharma’s fat profits in weight loss drug market

When Hong Kong office worker W.K. Chan began putting on weight as a teenager, her doctor said it was due to hormonal imbalances that slowed her metabolism. She reached a peak weight of 100kg about a year ago, but has since lost 25kg. The secret to losing a quarter of her weight? Chan, who asked not to be identified by her full name, was one of the city’s first 200 chronic obesity patients to receive access to a new weight loss drug, originally developed for diabetes. At a cost of HK$2,700...

Economics

1 hour ago Hong Kong out to ‘impose ourselves on China’ in East Asian Football Championship

Hong Kong out to ‘impose ourselves on China’ in East Asian Football Championship  South China Morning Post

Sport

2 h. ago Hong Kong’s first Sikh policeman in decades says family legacy inspired him

Hong Kong’s first Sikh policeman in decades plans to continue his family’s legacy of service, following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, who recruited officers of the faith during the colonial era. Palvinderjit Singh, 27, who was born in Hong Kong, was among new graduates who became constables and probationary inspectors on Saturday. “As I grew up, I heard a lot of stories about my great-grandfather. He was responsible for recruiting the initial batch of Sikh police recruits, so I...

Events

11 h. ago HKU, officials push back against Hongkongers’ development site proposal

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and authorities have pushed back against Pok Fu Lam residents’ suggestion to build an innovation hub at an alternative site, saying it would take up more green belt area and overlap partly with a planned mortuary. HKU on Friday introduced a revised proposal for building its global innovation centre mainly on a residential plot, instead of a green belt area in Pok Fu Lam as originally intended, to the Town Planning Board. But residents in the area have hit out at...

Politics

13 h. ago Hong Kong doctor jailed for issuing Covid jab exemptions without medical checks

A Hong Kong doctor has been jailed for nine months for issuing Covid-19 vaccination exemption certificates to four people without making a proper medical diagnosis, as a court heard how he raked in more than HK$4.6 million (US$585,980) from those who wanted to avoid the inoculations. The District Court on Friday sentenced Dr Wong Ping-leung for his dishonest use of the government’s electronic health record system to generate the certificates at his clinic in Chai Wan’s Hing Wah Plaza between...

Science

13 h. ago Firm suspended from bidding for Hong Kong contracts after worker killed on site

Hong Kong authorities have temporarily barred a contractor from bidding for public road and drainage contracts following an accident in which a worker was killed by a falling steel beam at a site near the cross-border bridge to Macau and Zhuhai on Thursday. The Development Bureau said on Friday that the temporary ban was effective immediately and it had ordered the contractor to conduct an independent safety audit and submit an improvement action plan. The bureau said it would consider lifting...

Economics

15 h. ago Hong Kong government to offer just 1 residential plot for sale this quarter

Hong Kong’s government will release a mid-size plot for sale in its fiscal second quarter, continuing its tight grip on land supply as the city’s residential property market grapples with a glut that has forced developers to slash prices to find buyers. A plot measuring 6,500 square metres (70,000 sq ft) at the junction of Wing Shun Street and Texaco Road in Tsuen Wan in the western part of New Territories will be made available via tender in the July to September quarter, enough to provide...

Politics

15 h. ago Miss Hong Kong Pageant loses another contestant over career conflicts

A barrister has withdrawn from the Miss Hong Kong Pageant, citing conflicts with her legal career among a number of reasons, while organising broadcaster TVB has said it “respected” her decision. In a post on social media, Kimberlie Chu wrote: “Farewell Miss Hong Kong! I’ve withdrawn!” Chu, who also took part in the contest in 2021 but was eliminated at the top 28 stage, said she had received many positive messages from friends since signing up again this year. She is the second notable...

Events

15 h. ago Hong Kong authorities pursue missing MPF payments for Michelin

Hong Kong’s pension authority is looking into HK$100,000 (US$12,740) in missing payments for 20 employees from the Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant Xin Dau Ji, following the chain’s abrupt closure of its Kowloon Bay branch on Wednesday. The Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority said on Friday that it was pursuing the failed contributions in April and May. Lawmaker Kwok Wai-keung confirmed the restaurant’s closure on July 9 and that about 20 affected staff had reached out to the Labour...

Events

16 h. ago Hong Kong’s MTR Corp signs investment deal with train parts maker CRRC Guangdong

Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation has signed a deal with CRRC Guangdong, marking the firm’s first investment in the railway equipment industry of the city’s neighbouring province and a bid to gain further access to the Greater Bay Area market. The deal between the local rail giant and the train parts maker was signed in Beijing on Thursday, with the MTR Corp announcing the move a day later. “This marks MTR’s first investment project in the railway equipment industry in Guangdong province, facilitating...

Economics

17 h. ago Shougang Lanzatech delays Hong Kong IPO again due to dispute with JV partner

Beijing Shougang Lanzatech Technology on Friday said it will again delay its Hong Kong initial public offering and did not provide a new timetable due to a dispute with a joint venture (JV) partner. The company, which built the world’s first large-scale industrial fermentation facility in 2018 that used exhaust gases from steel mills to make ethanol and microbial protein, was scheduled to announce the final subscription price for its shares on Tuesday. On Monday, it postponed it by a week. “As a...

Economics

17 h. ago 81 arrested in Hong Kong crackdown on illegal use of electric bikes, scooters

Hong Kong police have arrested 81 people in a crackdown on the illegal use of electric mobility devices such as scooters and bicycles. Senior Inspector Greenson Cheung Chin-hung said on Friday that officers made the arrests in Tai Po, Sheung Shui, Tuen Mun, Castle Peak, Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai and Lok Ma Chau between July 7 and 10. The 62 men and 19 women arrested were aged between 20 and 79. “The arrestees were suspected of driving unregistered vehicles, driving without a valid licence, using a...

Events

17 h. ago 3 in Hong Kong remanded in custody for allegedly seeking secession

A 15-year-old boy and two others have been remanded in custody for allegedly conspiring to seek Hong Kong’s independence through a Taiwan-based political organisation in breach of the national security law. National security police on Friday levelled a charge of conspiring to commit secession under the Beijing-imposed law, a day after announcing their arrests and their alleged roles in the Hong Kong Democratic Independence Union. The 15-year-old Secondary Three student, who cannot be named for...

Politics

17 h. ago Could Hong Kong add preventive checks to its voluntary health insurance system?

Hong Kong authorities will review the city’s Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme this year and study expanding it to cover some preventive screenings, the acting health minister has said. Acting Secretary for Health Libby Lee Ha-yun’s remarks on Friday referred to a policy that was introduced by authorities in 2019 to establish standards and improve market transparency for individual indemnity hospital insurance products. Through the scheme, authorities hoped to enhance the protection level of...

Politics

20 h. ago Hong Kong condemns US for extending ‘national emergency’ status for city

The Hong Kong government has condemned the US for extending the city’s “national emergency” status for a year, calling the action an override of the rule of law. “[The US] has arbitrarily interfered in China’s internal affairs through the further extension of the so-called ‘national emergency with respect to Hong Kong’, which is indeed barbaric and unreasonable,” a government spokesman said. United States President Donald Trump announced on Thursday a one-year extension of the “national...

Politics

20 h. ago US career diplomat Julie Eadeh tipped to be next consul general in Hong Kong

An American official who met opposition activists in Hong Kong during the 2019 anti-government protests is understood to be the top candidate to be the next US consul general in the city. Julie Eadeh, a career member of the US Senior Foreign Service and now the US consul general in Istanbul, is expected to take over the position from Gregory May, according to a source familiar with the matter. A second source said Eadeh’s “name” had been “presented to the relevant Chinese authorities”. “Now she...

Politics

22 h. ago HKMA intervenes in the market for the fifth time in 2 weeks to defend currency peg

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) intervened in the foreign-exchange market on Friday for the fifth time in two weeks, scooping up the local currency and increasing overnight lending costs to drive away carry traders who have sought to take advantage of the city’s rate gap with the US dollar. The city’s de facto central bank sold US$1.69 billion ­during New York trading hours on Thursday and bought the equivalent of HK$13.28 billion at HK$7.85 per US dollar, the authority said in a...

Politics

22 h. ago Trump’s new tariffs, cannon barrel sparks Hong Kong bomb scare: 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. Apparently impatient Trump slaps 25% tariffs on Japan, South Korea US President Donald Trump, apparently impatient with the slow progress of negotiations, slapped 25 per cent unilateral tariffs on Japan and South Korea and equal or...

Politics

22 h. ago Day school suspension amid limited rainfall leaves Hong Kong parents furious

Parents in Hong Kong have questioned the “scientific basis” of the government’s decision to suspend classes at all day schools on Friday, with some arguing their children’s graduation ceremonies were cancelled despite little rainfall in the morning. In a WhatsApp group with more than 1,000 parents, furious comments started flooding in at around 7.30am to complain about the decision. “There is not a drop of rain. Due to class suspension, I still have to take special leave to take care of my...

Politics