Where exactly does the buck stop? Senior Hong Kong civil servants are asking themselves that question after the unveiling of a new accountability system targeting department heads. They point to the deadly Tai Po fire last year as an example. An independent committee investigating the tragedy heard evidence officials gave contractors at the blaze-hit Wang Fuk Court estate advance notice of inspections, potentially allowing problems to be concealed before fire-safety checks on scaffolding...
Guangdong will “actively align” with Hong Kong’s strategy for the Northern Metropolis megaproject and highlight areas of collaboration as part of the province’s 15th five-year plan. The Guangdong provincial government on Tuesday published its development blueprint, with the term “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area” mentioned 57 times in the document and a chapter dedicated to the region’s development. Its proposal for economic and social development, part of Beijing’s sweeping 2026-2030...
Hong Kong’s Fire Services Department has yet to launch prosecutions in 34 cases involving mini-storage premises that failed to comply with safety hazard orders, including sites first inspected as far back as 2016, the Audit Commission has said. The commission also revealed on Wednesday that none of the 249 industrial buildings required to improve fire safety measures in their common parts had complied with the orders issued under a law that took effect in 2020. Fire safety at industrial...
Hong Kong authorities have failed to meet targets on the supply and construction of youth hostels, with the number of flats offered accounting for only 44 per cent of what was intended, an audit report has found. The Audit Commission on Wednesday released its report reviewing the government’s development and management of the facilities under the Youth Hostel Scheme, which covered seven hostels, including two that had been completed and were in operation. The review found that as of December...
Homeowners of the only block spared in the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze in Tai Po will be included in the Hong Kong government’s resettlement plan after three-quarters indicated a preference to sell their flats to authorities, the South China Morning Post has learned. Wang Chi House, the only one of the estate’s eight blocks left unscathed by the November 26 fire that killed 168 people and displaced nearly 5,000, was originally excluded from the government’s long-term resettlement proposals...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. An independent committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadly Wang Fuk Court fire will scrutinise the roles of building and home affairs authorities on the 20th day of evidential hearings. Four witnesses from the Buildings Department and the Home Affairs Department are scheduled to give evidence before the judge-led panel on Monday. The inferno broke out on...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The role of Hong Kong’s fire service remains under the spotlight on the 18th day of evidential hearings held by an independent committee investigating the catastrophic blaze at Tai Po’s Wang Fuk Court. Three officers from the Fire Services Department are testifying on Thursday before the judge-led panel. Four of their colleagues gave accounts the previous day...
A long-awaited cross-border solo travel scheme will allow yachts from Macau and Hong Kong to easily sail to about six designated ports in the western waters off the Greater Bay Area, with the policy to be finalised as early as this summer, the South China Morning Post has learned. A Guangdong provincial government document, seen by the SCMP, also showed several routes that were recommended for leisure, such as the waters off Castle Peak Bay, the Pearl River Delta and Fan Lau Kok of the Lantau...
Hong Kong authorities have proposed new offences with tougher punishments for fire installation contractors who fail to obtain prior approval before deactivating firefighting systems or do not report malfunctions within 24 hours, in the wake of the city’s deadliest fire in decades, the South China Morning Post has learned. Other proposed changes included drastically increasing the maximum penalty for existing offences related to the unauthorised handling of fire equipment and the issuance of...
A former director of Hong Kong’s Economic and Trade Offices (ETO) in Jakarta and Bangkok is standing in the United Kingdom local elections for the right-wing Reform UK party. Lee Sheung-yuen left government in 2023 after serving as the first director of the Bangkok ETO and concurrently served as director general of its Jakarta office. He is now contesting a seat on Ealing Council in London. He also previously served as the government’s assistant commissioner for tourism and as administrative...
The Hong Kong government is seeking to confiscate HK$56.5 million (US$7.2 million) from former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s bank accounts and all of the shares in his 17 companies after he was jailed for 20 years under the national security law, court documents show. The secretary for justice applied to the High Court earlier this month to seize Lai’s assets linked to three conspiracies to instigate foreign sanctions and incite public hatred towards the authorities in 2019 and 2020. The...
Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs has met the city’s No 2 official and finance chief in the capital to discuss alignment with the national 15th five-year plan, as the government prepares to draw up its own inaugural blueprint by the end of the year. The State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) said its director, Xia Baolong, held talks with Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, and the newly appointed Secretary for Constitutional and...
Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs has urged businesspeople to serve as the “main force” driving the city’s economic development by investing in innovation and the Northern Metropolis project, calling on them to demonstrate their patriotism through “concrete actions”. Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, also argued that people with “ulterior motives” had politicised the deadly Tai Po fire to stir up social unrest, urging residents to remain vigilant against...
Hong Kong authorities have been urged to toughen penalties for child abuse as a proposal to review protection laws for minors, which were last updated in 1995, has remained stalled for seven years. A check by the South China Morning Post found that over more than 20 years, only one of 13 serious child abuse cases involving ill-treatment or neglect of a child or young person resulted in a jail term close to the maximum of 10 years. Lawmakers earlier this month called for increasing the 10-year...
Hong Kong’s 21 ministerial-level officials spent more than HK$46.6 million (US$5.9 million) on trips over the past three financial years, with finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po accounting for nearly a quarter of the total. Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau Ying-wah was the most frequent traveller, making 50 trips in the past three years at a cost of HK$7.21 million to taxpayers, official records released to legislators showed. Chan made 35 visits during the three financial...
Beijing’s top official overseeing Hong Kong affairs has concluded his second visit to the Greater Bay Area in three weeks, a trip that analysts view as a push from the central government to speed up the city’s integration with national development. Xia Baolong, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, was in Guangdong province earlier this week, visiting Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou. State-run media said his four-day “research tour” focused on supporting Hong Kong...
Landlords of more than 5,500 subdivided homes in Hong Kong have applied for a three-year grace period to meet size, safety and hygiene requirements following a new law on basic housing standards taking effect six weeks ago. Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin said on Saturday that the government had received applications for 5,557 subdivided units in 1,370 flats. That accounted for around 5 per cent of all subdivided units in Hong Kong, mostly located in Yau Tsim Mong district, followed by...
This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. An independent committee examining the causes of Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades held its 10th day of evidential hearings on Friday. The Fire Services Department’s handling of shutdown notices for the fire safety systems of the devastated Tai Po housing estate where 168 people lost their lives in November is expected to be the focus of the...
A Hong Kong coach operator’s failed attempt to reduce its services was only the “tip of the iceberg” of cuts in bus rides amid rising fuel costs, lawmakers have warned, as they urged the government to quickly address soaring oil prices. Legislators on Tuesday also called on authorities to approve applications by non-franchised bus companies to increase fares, and to provide subsidies to cushion the effects of higher fuel prices caused by the war in the Middle East. Their appeals came after the...
Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu has promised to allow more children from low-income families to enjoy after-school care on campus by further expanding a government scheme following positive feedback from participants. Social workers and educators welcomed the initiative on Saturday, proposing the government widen the scheme’s coverage to include more pupils and encourage more schools to join through subsidies. The scheme, launched as part of a government’s targeted measures to tackle poverty,...
A new rule in Guangzhou requiring teahouses to declare whether their traditional dim sum is freshly handmade has sparked debate and calls for transparency over how similar meals are made in Hong Kong. Guangzhou authorities on Wednesday released the new regulation on morning tea heritage protection, effective on May 1, which mandates that operators must explicitly indicate whether their dim sum dishes are made using traditional on-site methods or through non-traditional means. The mainland...
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. Controlled escalation? Trump hails ‘victories’ in Iran but vows more strikes US President Donald Trump declared the US‑Israel war against Iran had delivered “decisive, overwhelming victories”, even as he signalled that key military...
The government has filed an application to confiscate properties linked to crimes committed by former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in accordance with Hong Kong’s national security laws. A government spokesman on Thursday also said the application filed with the Court of First Instance aimed to achieve the “important objectives of preventing and suppressing acts and activities endangering national security”. Lai, 78, founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily tabloid-style newspaper was sentenced...
More than 30 groups and individuals have collectively called on the government to close loopholes in Hong Kong’s child sexual offence bill and provide greater protection to survivors. In a paper released on Thursday, the non-profit organisations and professionals also urged the judiciary to review its practice directions to safeguard child abuse victims who often suffered from intense cross-examination in court, which could lead to secondary harm. They highlighted the urgent need to examine...
Anyone in Hong Kong found carrying more than five vape pods or 100 heat sticks in public will face a maximum fine of HK$50,000 and up to six months in jail from April 30, while those with smaller quantities will receive a fixed penalty of HK$3,000. The amended tobacco control law also provides for a future territory-wide ban on such products although no timeline has been set, the government said on Thursday. “The government decided to implement the ban in phases, starting with public places, due...