May 10, 2021
In a casual conversation last weekend, it turned out that a diplomat due to retire later this year had originally intended to remain in Hong Kong and join the private sector. But now, he said, “That is clearly impossible.”
Hong Kong is changing so much that it is quickly becoming unrecognizable. Its still sizable expatriate community includes many people who came intending to stay for two or three years and ended up staying a lifetime. But, with China tightening its grip over the former British colony, Hong Kong is losing much of its old attraction.
As for the 7.5 million residents, considerably more than 100,000 are uprooting themselves this year and moving, primarily to Britain, which has offered to take about 5.5 million of the territory’s 7.5 million people, but also to other countries, such as Canada and Australia, which have put out the welcome mat for Hong Kong.
8 May 2021
Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) debuted a new program hosted by the city’s pro-China chief executive, Carrie Lam, in the past month shortly after the government took over the station.
Lam presented the first episode of a new RTHK program titled
Get to Know the Election Committee Subsectors, on April 28. The show’s title refers to a new imposed electoral system promoted by the Chinese Communist Party that largely curbs voter freedoms. The reforms include a reduction in the number of directly elected seats in Hong Kong’s legislature, or legislative council, and an increase in the number of pro-Beijing members China’s ruling Communist Party may appoint to the ruling body.
May 7, 2021 Share
Public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is bound by its charter to be editorially independent and immune from political influence.
But a new series, in which Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam interviews political leaders about reforms, is being criticized as testing the limits of that independence.
Chief Executive Lam presented the first of the programs, “Get to Know the Election Committee Subsectors,” on April 28. In the series, she discusses political reforms for Hong Kong that have been widely viewed as controversial.
Journalists and experts have said it “falls into the realms” of a propaganda campaign.
RTHK insiders told VOA that the Hong Kong government’s Information Services Department commissioned the production, with episodes to be shown on RTHK channels. Episodes uploaded to YouTube include a line in Chinese at the end saying it was produced by the regional government, media reported.
AFP
A court in Hong Kong on Thursday handed jail terms to jailed democracy activist Joshua Wong and three opposition members of the city s District Council for attending a vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
Wong was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, while district councilor Lester Shum was jailed for six months. Fellow councilors Tiffany Yuen and Jannelle Leung were each handed four-month sentence.
All four had pleaded guilty to taking part in last year s candlelight vigil, which was attended by thousands of people in Victoria Park despite a ban by the authorities, ostensibly to prevent the transmission of coronavirus.
District Court judge Stanley Chan said he wouldn t consider a non-custodial sentence, as none of the defendants had shown sincere remorse.
Frank Ching May 04, 2021 08:51
In a casual conversation last weekend, it turned out that a diplomat due to retire later this year had originally intended to remain in Hong Kong and join the private sector. But now, he said, “That is clearly impossible.”
Hong Kong is changing so much that it is quickly becoming unrecognizable. Its still sizable expatriate community includes many people who came intending to stay for two or three years and ended up staying a lifetime. But, with China tightening its grip over the former British colony, Hong Kong is losing much of its old attraction.
As for the 7.5 million residents, considerably more than 100,000 are uprooting themselves this year and moving, primarily to Britain, which has offered to take about 5.5 million of the territory’s 7.5 million people, but also to other countries, such as Canada and Australia, which have put out the welcome mat for Hong Kong.