HongKong
Washington (AFP) - The US news outlet Radio Free Asia (RFA) said Friday it had closed its Hong Kong office over staff safety concerns after the city enacted a controversial new national security law. The Chinese finance hub last week brought into force a homegrown security law -- commonly known as Article 23 -- that introduced tough penalties for crimes such as treason, espionage and external interference. The law, which prompted swift criticism by several democracies and rights organizations, will work in tandem with a 2020 Beijing-imposed version that has silenced nearly all dissent in Hong ...
AFP
Hong Kong (AFP) - Hong Kong-born American pop singer Coco Lee, beloved in Asia for her diva riffs and as the voice of Disney's "Mulan" in Mandarin, died Wednesday, according to an announcement from her family. The 48-year-old had suffered from depression in recent years, "but her condition deteriorated drastically over the last few months", sisters Carol Lee and Nancy Lee said in an Instagram post. She was hospitalised Sunday after attempting to take her own life, they said. "Despite the best efforts of the hospital team to rescue and treat her from her coma, she finally passed away on 5 Ju...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - The United States is flouting international trade rules by labeling imports from Hong Kong as those from China, the World Trade Organization ruled Wednesday, an outcome that Washington rejects. The WTO ruling addressed a decision under former president Donald Trump's administration after Beijing imposed a sweeping security law on the financial hub in 2020 to stamp out dissent. Trump retaliated by removing special trading privileges for the city and US customs authorities later said goods produced there could no longer be stamped "Made in Hong Kong", sparking the complaint. H...
AFP
Hong Kong (AFP) - Eagle-eyed Hong Kong fans of the adult cartoon sitcom "Rick and Morty" have spotted oblique references to the city's democracy movement in the latest episode of the cult sci-fi show. "Final DeSmithation", the fifth episode of the sixth season, aired on Sunday and featured a characteristically chaotic storyline involving an imprisoned alien making fortune cookies. Towards the climax a series of numbers and letters flash up on the screen that, to the uninitiated, might look random. But the codes -- GFHG19SDGM, 721DLLM and 19HK831 -- were quickly seized on by Hong Kongers who s...
AFP
New York (AFP) - Sotheby's announced Wednesday that it would offer the largest-ever blue diamond to go up for auction at a sale in Hong Kong in April. The auction house said it expected the 15.10-carat De Beers Cullinan Blue diamond to sell for more than $48 million. The diamond is the "largest internally flawless step cut vivid blue diamond" ever graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), Sotheby's said in a statement. The sale will mark the first time a blue diamond of more than 15 carats has ever gone under the hammer, the press release added. Sotheby's said the diamond, which pr...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - Prominent Hong Kong democracy activists who fled overseas are calling for residents to boycott upcoming legislature polls, defying a new law that criminalises incitement -- even for those based abroad. Hong Kong's political elite will select a 90-seat lawmaking body on December 19 under a new "patriots only" system imposed by Beijing after huge and often violent democracy protests two years ago. Only 20 seats will now be directly elected -- down from half the last time polls were held -- while all those standing for office must first be vetted for their patriotism and politi...
AFP
Montreal (AFP) - Four Sri Lankan refugees who hid Edward Snowden in their tiny Hong Kong apartments when he was on the run after exposing NSA spying landed in Canada on Tuesday where they were granted asylum, ending years in limbo. Supun Thilina Kellapatha and Nadeeka Dilrukshi Nonis touched down in Toronto with their children Sethumdi and Dinath and were due to go on to Montreal to "start their new lives," non-profit For the Refugees said in a statement. The family were part of a group of seven poverty-stricken refugees from Sri Lanka and the Philippines living in Hong Kong who nonetheless ag...
AFP
Beijing (AFP) - Beijing announced sanctions on seven American citizens and entities Friday in response to a US advisory on deteriorating freedoms in Hong Kong, just days ahead of a visit from a senior Biden administration official. Tensions between Beijing and Washington have soured on a number of fronts, including human rights, trade, cybersecurity and the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic. Last week, the United States warned its business community of the growing risks of operating in Hong Kong, following a clampdown by China in the major financial hub. US government agencies led by the State ...
AFP
Hong Kong (AFP) - US businesses in Hong Kong fear mainland Chinese internet curbs and want local authorities to commit to the free flow of information, the head of the city's American Chamber of Commerce said Monday. Hong Kong has long marketed itself as an international business centre, free from China's controls and the "Great Firewall" used to censor online content. But Beijing has started remoulding the city in its own authoritarian image as it cracks down on dissent following huge and often violent pro-democracy protests two years ago. A sweeping new security law imposed last year has cri...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - The United States on Friday warned its business community of growing risks of operating in Hong Kong due to China's clampdown, as an increasing number of Western companies consider abandoning the historic financial hub. The United States also imposed sanctions on seven more Chinese officials in Hong Kong as it vowed there would be a price for Beijing's imposition of a draconian security law a year ago. "Beijing has chipped away at Hong Kong's reputation of accountable, transparent governance and respect for individual freedoms and has broken its promise to leave Hong Kong's ...
AFP
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