Hong Kong
Hong Kong Rolls Out Red Carpet for Olympic Torch
Police remove protesters being barracked by hostile torch supporters, as more than 100,000 gather to celebrate flame's journey through China
Police Remove Hong Kong Torch Protesters 'for Own Protection'
Police removed human rights protesters as anger of pro-China supporters flared on first day of Olympic torch's domestic journey
China Critic Mia Farrow Allowed Into Hong Kong
Immigration officers allow actor to enter country despite banning of other campaigners before Olympic torch relay
Mia Farrow Questioned Over Hong Kong Torch Protests
Hollywood actor taken aside for questioning by immigration officials before being allowed to enter Hong Kong
Hong Kong Flu Scare Closes Schools and Kindergartens
Government gives half a million students two-week holiday after deaths of up to four children
Hong Kong Shuts Schools in Flu Outbreak
All kindergartens and primary schools in Hong Kong are to close for two weeks after the deaths of three young children in a flu outbreak
China Riveted By Stolen Sex Photos of Hong Kong Stars
Fight to stifle the biggest celebrity sex scandal in the history of the Chinese internet
After Seven Years, Dutch Diplomat Puts Adopted Daughter Back Up for Adoption
A Dutch couple living in Hong Kong yesterday found themselves at the center of an international controversy after they gave up their daughter for adoption seven years after they adopted her themselves
Land is to Hong Kong What Oil is to a Gulf State
Money is behind the absence of discontent and lack of political argument since the handover.
Protests and Celebrations in Hong Kong
The president of China, Hu Jintao, said political reform in Hong Kong must progress in a "gradual and orderly" way as thousands of people took to the streets to demand more democratic accountability.
Nina Wang
Obituary: Asia's richest woman, a Hong Kong property tycoon accustomed to living frugally.
Asia's Richest Woman Dies in Hong Kong
Asia's richest woman has died in Hong Kong little more than a year after winning a six-year battle to keep her missing husband's estate.
Life story of Glamorous Sammi Cheng
Sammi cheng, Cantonese female singer became top of the pop divas in Hong Kong. Not only Hong Kong she became popular in Taiwan and other asian countries. She was a brand ambassador of Panasonic in her time.
Woman Pays Asian Record £10m to Keep Qing Bowl in Family
A Hong Kong businesswoman paid £10m today for a Qing dynasty bowl that had been put up for auction by her own brother - setting a new record for art sold in Asia.
Chile Investigates Reports of Pinochet Gold
Chilean investigators were examining reports yesterday that 9 tonnes of gold had been found in a Hong Kong bank under the name of Augusto Pinochet.
Hong Kong Politician Attacked
Hong Kong police are searching for three men who savagely clubbed a pro-democracy politician with batons and baseball bats in a crowded McDonald's.
Hong Kong Politician Attacked After March
Hong Kong police are searching for three men who savagely beat a pro-democracy politician in a crowded McDonald's restaurant yesterday.
$15m on Latin Dance Lessons Only to Be Told: Move Your ****, Lazy ***
· Hong Kong banker sues her ballroom instructors · Tale of high-spending and sequins grips territory
Vase Bought for World Record - and Given Away
Once the slight, grey-haired American was recognised in the Hong Kong auction room, it was no great surprise that Steve Wynn went on to pay the world record price for a small, beautiful, copper red and white porcelain vase - 78,520,000 Hong Kong dollars (£5.5m).
Tycoon Found Murdered on Eve of Fraud Charges Hearing
The brother of a high-flying banker whose murder by poisoning shocked Hong Kong three years ago has been found dead, apparently also murdered, in his grand Connecticut home.
Eek! Baltic Goldrush As Britons Make Estonia Europe's Property Hotspot
Tallinn emerges as potential new Hong Kong with prices rising up to 70% per year.
Global Trade Riots Rock Hong Kong
Police fight running battles with protesters and break up demos with tear gas as WTO negotiations reach climax.
World Trade Negotiations Are Going Backwards, Says Peter Mandelson
Trade ministers from 149 countries were last night bracing themselves for failure in Hong Kong after admitting that four days of intense and bitter wrangling had made only minimal progress in breaking the deadlock in global liberalisation talks.
No Breakthrough in Sight As Wto Deadline Nears
World trade talks in Hong Kong were tonight fighting the clock as well as the entrenched positions of the EU, America and developing nations as the deadline for a deal approached with little sign of rapprochement.
Developing States Defy Eu Push to Open Up Services
Despite reports of arm-twisting by Peter Mandelson, the European trade commissioner, at the Hong Kong summit, the World Trade Organisation said it had received a proposal from the G90 group of developing nations that would water down any plans to liberalise services.
Developing Countries Voice Fury at Farm Subsidies
Developing world economies today turned on rich nations at the World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong over their reluctance to open up farming markets.
Trade Negotiators Locked in Secret Talks
Trade negotiators from leading developed and developing nations spent three hours behind closed doors yesterday, seeking to break the logjam in global talks amid growing fears the six days of negotiations in Hong Kong were heading for failure.
US Accuses Eu of Blocking Trade Deal
The United States today accused the European Union of deadlocking the World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong with its position on farm subsidies. As South Korean farmers clashed for a second day with police protecting the summit venue, the US trade representative, Rob Portman, told...
Lamy's Plea to Unblock Talks Falls on Deaf Ears
Director-general's 'give and take' call is spurned while America and Europe clash again over aid to farmers, writes Larry Elliott from Hong Kong.
Korean Farmers Take Lemming-like Plunge Into Hong Kong Harbour
Hundreds of South Korean farmers stripped off to their boxer shorts and leapt into Hong Kong harbour in a back-door attempt to sink the world trade talks.
Local Radicals Warn Against Violent Protests
As far as anti-globalisation protests go, Hong Kong has a lot to live up to. The cycle of big and often violent protests began when Bill Clinton decided to hold a WTO meeting in Seattle in 1999 to launch trade talks. The chaos on the streets was matched by the bad blood among the delegates inside the conference hall.
Strong Sense of Deja Vu Blights Ambitions of Poor
Hong Kong will represent the WTO's third spell in intensive care in six years.
Hong Kong on High Alert As Thousands of Protesters Fly in
Hong Kong was braced yesterday for its biggest security operation since the handover from British rule in 1997 as thousands of international protesters began flying in to try to derail the World Trade Organisation summit later this week.
Mass Protest Demands Full Democratic Reform
Tens of thousands of democracy supporters took to the streets of Hong Kong yesterday to protest at lukewarm political reforms proposed by new chief executive, Donald Tsang.
Fears Growing That Wto Summit is Heading for Failure
Fears were growing last night that the crucial meeting of the World Trade Organisation in Hong Kong next month is heading for failure.
Mandelson Hopes for Trade Talks Breakthrough
The EU trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, today rejected suggestions he should scale down expectations for next month's trade talks in Hong Kong. Negotiators failed to make much headway after six hours of talks in London yesterday, and the director general of the World Trade...
Shaolin in Film Fightback
Until now, Shaolin monks have had to watch passively as their trademark martial arts have made millions for film studios in Hollywood and Hong Kong.
Life Jail for Wife in Hong Kong Sex and Drugs Murder
An American woman was sentenced to life in prison in Hong Kong yesterday after being found guilty of drugging her husband with a spiked milkshake and then bludgeoning him to death.
No Contest As Beijing's Man Takes Top Hong Kong Job
Donald Tsang, a career civil servant with a knighthood and a degree from Harvard, will be named as Hong Kong's chief executive today without a single ballot being cast.
US Banker Murder Case Enthrals Hong Kong
A wealthy American banker was drugged with a spiked strawberry milkshake and then bludgeoned to death by his wife, a court in Hong Kong heard yesterday.
Hong Kong Leader Bows Out Early
Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, Tung Chee-hwa, bowed out of office prematurely yesterday, prompting claims of a victory for the pro-democracy movement that brought hundreds of thousands of protesters on to the streets in the past two years.
Hong Kong Democrats Threaten Battle Over Leadership Succession
Hong Kong will enter uncharted constitutional waters today when its unpopular chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, is expected to announce he is standing down in favour of his deputy, Donald Tsang.
The Editor: What They Said About ... the Hong Kong Succession
Speculation about the possible early departure of Hong Kong's chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, went into overdrive on Tuesday, when the Hong Kong papers reported he is expected to resign next week after being nominated to fill a senior post in Beijing.
Hong Kong's Unpopular Chief May Be Ousted
Hong Kong yesterday faced the possibility of its first change of leadership since the handover from British rule amid reports that its unpopular chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, has resigned two years before the end of his term.
Pair Jailed for Spying for Britain
A Chinese court has jailed two British spies for at least 15 years, it was reported yesterday after a secret trial of the biggest bilateral espionage case since the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. Cai Xiaohong, the former secretary general of Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong, was...
Hong Kong Demands Democracy
More than 250,000 people marched through the sweltering streets of Hong Kong yesterday in a pro-democracy demonstration which will have embarrassed the communist mainland government on the anniversary of the territory's handover from British rule. Waving inflatable dolls of the unpopular...
Democrats Threatened in Hong Kong
Hong Kong's democrats say they are under attack, and today hundreds of thousands are expected to take to the streets in defence of freedoms many fear are being eroded by the government in Beijing.
Beijing 'intimidating' Hong Kong Critics
Chinese officials are using scare tactics to force influential critics in the Hong Kong media to quit their posts, a former lawmaker and radio DJ said yesterday. Raising fresh fears about the erosion of free speech in the former British colony, Allen Lee said he and two other radio...
One Party, One System
Moves towards reform in Hong Kong and elsewhere have triggered Beijing's old allergy to democracy, says Jonathan Watts.
Chinese Battle Fleet Stages Hong Kong Show of Force
Navy seeks to woo locals and warn Taiwan against independence bid.
China Rejects British Critics
China accused Britain of meddling hypocrisy yesterday as it fended off domestic and international criticism of its decision to block democratic reform in Hong Kong. The foreign minister, Li Zhaoxing, said Britain and the United States had no right to interfere in the running of the...
China Deals Blow to Hong Kong Democracy
US and Britain protest over move in Beijing to ban elections.
Hong Kong Protests at China's Intervention
Thousands of people marched through Hong Kong yesterday to protest against Beijing's increasingly heavy-handed moves to slow the pace of democratic reform.
Hong Kong Democrats Angered By Beijing's Interference in Reform
China stamped on the aspirations of Hong Kong democrats yesterday by assuming a veto on political reform in the territory, which was supposed to have a high degree of autonomy under the one nation, two systems formula by which it was transferred from British rule. The standing committee...
Democracy on the Retreat
Beijing's increasing control over Hong Kong's politics has hit hopes of democratic reform on the island, writes Jonathan Watts.
Hong Kong leader backs down on bill
Hong Kong's unpopular leader, Tung Chee-hwa, has abandoned plans to enact a controversial anti-subversion law this year rather than risk a repeat of July's huge protests that plunged the territory into its worst crisis since the handover from British rule in 1997.
Hong Kong Braced for Typhoon
Two people were killed, half a million homes suffered power cuts and hundreds of schools were evacuated yesterday as the most ferocious typhoon of the year tore through Taiwan and headed for Hong Kong. The government in Hong Kong opened 27 temporary shelters as the territory braced itself...
Hong Kong Animal Ban Forces Tenants To Relinquish Pets
A plan to improve cleanliness in Hong Kong’s public housing units has drawn sharp criticism from animal lovers and animal rescue groups because it includes a strict ban on animals - except for a limited number of birds and fish - and requires tenants to remove even their existing pets, as well as forbidding new ones.
Hong Kong Leader Fights for Political Life
Hong Kong's leader, Tung Chee-hwa, acknowledged yesterday that he had lost the trust of the people as thousands of protesters demanded his resignation Amid the territory's worst political crisis since the 1997 handover to Chinese rule, the chief executive's authority was further...
The Marchers Make Democracy Work - and Throw Hong Kong Into Crisis
Dilemma for China after humiliating climbdown.
Hong Kong Takes to the Streets to Defend Freedoms
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Hong Kong yesterday to march against a planned anti-subversion law, the biggest demonstration since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Marchers fear that the freedoms of expression, press and assembly granted under the "one-country,...
Hong Kong Sars Outbreak Ends
Hong Kong breathed a huge sigh of relief yesterday when the World Health Organisation removed it from the list of Sars-affected areas, after four months in which almost 300 people died and 1,750 were infected. No new cases have been reported in the territory for 20 days, allowing the WHO...
Irish doctors call for end to Sars ban on Special Olympics competitors
The Irish Government is under growing pressure to remove its ban on Special Olympics athletes travelling to Ireland from Sars-affected countries, after the World Health Organisation lifted its travel warning on Hong Kong this weekend.
In China the Civet Cat is a Delicacy - and May Have Caused Sars
The question has stumped scientists since the Sars virus first emerged in China and spread around the world: where did it come from? Now, researchers in Hong Kong have identified the culprit - the masked palm civet, a small cat-like mammal that is treated as a culinary delicacy in some...
WHO drops Hong Kong travel warning
The World Health Organisation today lifted its travel advisory against visiting Hong Kong and Guangdong, the southern Chinese province where the Sars virus is thought to have originated.
Sars Hurts Stagecoach in Hong Kong
Stagecoach yesterday revealed a slump in the number of people using its local bus network in Hong Kong as people have been staying at home for fear of catching the deadly Sars virus. The transport company said revenue from its Citybus business in Hong Kong was likely to be down 25% during...
Hong Kong mops up as Sars toll rises
Twelve more Sars patients have died in Hong Kong, pushing the death toll there to 81, officials said today, following a largely symbolic cleanup organised by government leaders struggling to restore the territory's badly tarnished image.
Sars Claims Young Victims in Hong Kong
Chinese president ends silence on epidemic. Health officials in Hong Kong are trying to establish why six relatively young patients suffering from Sars - the pneumonia-like disease which has spread from the mainland - have died.
Hong Kong Sars Toll Reaches 40
Five more Sars patients have died in Hong Kong, health officials said yesterday. The latest deaths from the flu-like, severe acute respiritory syndrome pushed Hong Kong's total to 40 and, together with three more fatalities reported in Singapore, took the global toll to at least 133...
Hong Kong bans Sars travellers
Indonesia and the Philippines joined the list of countries affected by the deadly atypical pneumonia sweeping the world yesterday.
Hong Kong hit by Sars costs
The pneumonia-like illness spreading through Hong Kong is threatening to have a major impact on the former British territory's economy as tourists stay away, business travel is axed and local residents shun bars and shopping centres.
Don't Go to Hong Kong, Britons Urged
The government strongly advised Britons yesterday not to travel to Hong Kong and Guangdong province, southern China, as the mystery bug that has so far killed 78 people and infected 2,223 continued to spread panic through south-east Asia. The Department of Health said it might add other...
Hong Kong idol Cheung found dead
Hong Kong actor and singer Leslie Cheung is reported to have leapt to his death from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hong Kong's central district yesterday. Police found a note in his room saying he was suffering from "emotional problems".
Hong Kong Telecoms Firm Scraps Cable & Wireless Takeover
PCCW, the Hong Kong telecoms and internet company, today walked away from takeover plans for Cable & Wireless, the struggling UK telecoms group, amid investor concern. The company has concluded that it is not in the its interests for the continuing uncertainty regarding any possible...
Clampdown Marks the End of Hong Kong's Honeymoon
The city fears that the 'real handover' to China is about to begin. The fate of the free city of Hong Kong is a matter of some considerable importance to the world as well as to the nearly 7 million people who live there.
Protests surround Hong Kong handover anniversary
The fifth anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China was today marked by protests against Beijing's "murderous regime" and a call from the Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, for the former colony to better support the mainland.
Depression Settles Over Hong Kong
The celebration of the fifth anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China has been overshadowed by a set of opinion polls showing low public confidence in the territory's government.
Migrants Defy Order to Leave Hong Kong
Chinese migrants restated their defiance of Hong Kong's decision to repatriate them yesterday when all but one of the first batch of 130 scheduled for forcible deportation refused to give themselves up. Hundreds of angry demonstrators also marched to Hong Kong's court of final appeal,...
Migrants forced out of Hong Kong
Nearly 5,000 Chinese migrants with families in Hong Kong will be forced to return to the mainland by the final failure yesterday of their long battle to stay. The Hong Kong court of final appeal ruled by four to one that the migrants, who all have at least one parent living in the...
Immigration officers allow actor to enter country despite banning of other campaigners before Olympic torch relay
Mia Farrow Questioned Over Hong Kong Torch Protests
Hollywood actor taken aside for questioning by immigration officials before being allowed to enter Hong Kong
Hong Kong Flu Scare Closes Schools and Kindergartens
Government gives half a million students two-week holiday after deaths of up to four children
Hong Kong Shuts Schools in Flu Outbreak
All kindergartens and primary schools in Hong Kong are to close for two weeks after the deaths of three young children in a flu outbreak
China Riveted By Stolen Sex Photos of Hong Kong Stars
Fight to stifle the biggest celebrity sex scandal in the history of the Chinese internet
After Seven Years, Dutch Diplomat Puts Adopted Daughter Back Up for Adoption
A Dutch couple living in Hong Kong yesterday found themselves at the center of an international controversy after they gave up their daughter for adoption seven years after they adopted her themselves
Land is to Hong Kong What Oil is to a Gulf State
Money is behind the absence of discontent and lack of political argument since the handover.
Protests and Celebrations in Hong Kong
The president of China, Hu Jintao, said political reform in Hong Kong must progress in a "gradual and orderly" way as thousands of people took to the streets to demand more democratic accountability.
Nina Wang
Obituary: Asia's richest woman, a Hong Kong property tycoon accustomed to living frugally.
Asia's Richest Woman Dies in Hong Kong
Asia's richest woman has died in Hong Kong little more than a year after winning a six-year battle to keep her missing husband's estate.
Life story of Glamorous Sammi Cheng
Sammi cheng, Cantonese female singer became top of the pop divas in Hong Kong. Not only Hong Kong she became popular in Taiwan and other asian countries. She was a brand ambassador of Panasonic in her time.
Woman Pays Asian Record £10m to Keep Qing Bowl in Family
A Hong Kong businesswoman paid £10m today for a Qing dynasty bowl that had been put up for auction by her own brother - setting a new record for art sold in Asia.
Chile Investigates Reports of Pinochet Gold
Chilean investigators were examining reports yesterday that 9 tonnes of gold had been found in a Hong Kong bank under the name of Augusto Pinochet.
Hong Kong Politician Attacked
Hong Kong police are searching for three men who savagely clubbed a pro-democracy politician with batons and baseball bats in a crowded McDonald's.
Hong Kong Politician Attacked After March
Hong Kong police are searching for three men who savagely beat a pro-democracy politician in a crowded McDonald's restaurant yesterday.
$15m on Latin Dance Lessons Only to Be Told: Move Your ****, Lazy ***
· Hong Kong banker sues her ballroom instructors · Tale of high-spending and sequins grips territory
Vase Bought for World Record - and Given Away
Once the slight, grey-haired American was recognised in the Hong Kong auction room, it was no great surprise that Steve Wynn went on to pay the world record price for a small, beautiful, copper red and white porcelain vase - 78,520,000 Hong Kong dollars (£5.5m).
Tycoon Found Murdered on Eve of Fraud Charges Hearing
The brother of a high-flying banker whose murder by poisoning shocked Hong Kong three years ago has been found dead, apparently also murdered, in his grand Connecticut home.
Eek! Baltic Goldrush As Britons Make Estonia Europe's Property Hotspot
Tallinn emerges as potential new Hong Kong with prices rising up to 70% per year.
Global Trade Riots Rock Hong Kong
Police fight running battles with protesters and break up demos with tear gas as WTO negotiations reach climax.
World Trade Negotiations Are Going Backwards, Says Peter Mandelson
Trade ministers from 149 countries were last night bracing themselves for failure in Hong Kong after admitting that four days of intense and bitter wrangling had made only minimal progress in breaking the deadlock in global liberalisation talks.
No Breakthrough in Sight As Wto Deadline Nears
World trade talks in Hong Kong were tonight fighting the clock as well as the entrenched positions of the EU, America and developing nations as the deadline for a deal approached with little sign of rapprochement.
Developing States Defy Eu Push to Open Up Services
Despite reports of arm-twisting by Peter Mandelson, the European trade commissioner, at the Hong Kong summit, the World Trade Organisation said it had received a proposal from the G90 group of developing nations that would water down any plans to liberalise services.
Developing Countries Voice Fury at Farm Subsidies
Developing world economies today turned on rich nations at the World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong over their reluctance to open up farming markets.
Trade Negotiators Locked in Secret Talks
Trade negotiators from leading developed and developing nations spent three hours behind closed doors yesterday, seeking to break the logjam in global talks amid growing fears the six days of negotiations in Hong Kong were heading for failure.
US Accuses Eu of Blocking Trade Deal
The United States today accused the European Union of deadlocking the World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong with its position on farm subsidies. As South Korean farmers clashed for a second day with police protecting the summit venue, the US trade representative, Rob Portman, told...
Lamy's Plea to Unblock Talks Falls on Deaf Ears
Director-general's 'give and take' call is spurned while America and Europe clash again over aid to farmers, writes Larry Elliott from Hong Kong.
Korean Farmers Take Lemming-like Plunge Into Hong Kong Harbour
Hundreds of South Korean farmers stripped off to their boxer shorts and leapt into Hong Kong harbour in a back-door attempt to sink the world trade talks.
Local Radicals Warn Against Violent Protests
As far as anti-globalisation protests go, Hong Kong has a lot to live up to. The cycle of big and often violent protests began when Bill Clinton decided to hold a WTO meeting in Seattle in 1999 to launch trade talks. The chaos on the streets was matched by the bad blood among the delegates inside the conference hall.
Strong Sense of Deja Vu Blights Ambitions of Poor
Hong Kong will represent the WTO's third spell in intensive care in six years.
Hong Kong on High Alert As Thousands of Protesters Fly in
Hong Kong was braced yesterday for its biggest security operation since the handover from British rule in 1997 as thousands of international protesters began flying in to try to derail the World Trade Organisation summit later this week.
Mass Protest Demands Full Democratic Reform
Tens of thousands of democracy supporters took to the streets of Hong Kong yesterday to protest at lukewarm political reforms proposed by new chief executive, Donald Tsang.
Fears Growing That Wto Summit is Heading for Failure
Fears were growing last night that the crucial meeting of the World Trade Organisation in Hong Kong next month is heading for failure.
Mandelson Hopes for Trade Talks Breakthrough
The EU trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, today rejected suggestions he should scale down expectations for next month's trade talks in Hong Kong. Negotiators failed to make much headway after six hours of talks in London yesterday, and the director general of the World Trade...
Shaolin in Film Fightback
Until now, Shaolin monks have had to watch passively as their trademark martial arts have made millions for film studios in Hollywood and Hong Kong.
Life Jail for Wife in Hong Kong Sex and Drugs Murder
An American woman was sentenced to life in prison in Hong Kong yesterday after being found guilty of drugging her husband with a spiked milkshake and then bludgeoning him to death.
No Contest As Beijing's Man Takes Top Hong Kong Job
Donald Tsang, a career civil servant with a knighthood and a degree from Harvard, will be named as Hong Kong's chief executive today without a single ballot being cast.
US Banker Murder Case Enthrals Hong Kong
A wealthy American banker was drugged with a spiked strawberry milkshake and then bludgeoned to death by his wife, a court in Hong Kong heard yesterday.
Hong Kong Leader Bows Out Early
Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, Tung Chee-hwa, bowed out of office prematurely yesterday, prompting claims of a victory for the pro-democracy movement that brought hundreds of thousands of protesters on to the streets in the past two years.
Hong Kong Democrats Threaten Battle Over Leadership Succession
Hong Kong will enter uncharted constitutional waters today when its unpopular chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, is expected to announce he is standing down in favour of his deputy, Donald Tsang.
The Editor: What They Said About ... the Hong Kong Succession
Speculation about the possible early departure of Hong Kong's chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, went into overdrive on Tuesday, when the Hong Kong papers reported he is expected to resign next week after being nominated to fill a senior post in Beijing.
Hong Kong's Unpopular Chief May Be Ousted
Hong Kong yesterday faced the possibility of its first change of leadership since the handover from British rule amid reports that its unpopular chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, has resigned two years before the end of his term.
Pair Jailed for Spying for Britain
A Chinese court has jailed two British spies for at least 15 years, it was reported yesterday after a secret trial of the biggest bilateral espionage case since the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. Cai Xiaohong, the former secretary general of Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong, was...
Hong Kong Demands Democracy
More than 250,000 people marched through the sweltering streets of Hong Kong yesterday in a pro-democracy demonstration which will have embarrassed the communist mainland government on the anniversary of the territory's handover from British rule. Waving inflatable dolls of the unpopular...
Democrats Threatened in Hong Kong
Hong Kong's democrats say they are under attack, and today hundreds of thousands are expected to take to the streets in defence of freedoms many fear are being eroded by the government in Beijing.
Beijing 'intimidating' Hong Kong Critics
Chinese officials are using scare tactics to force influential critics in the Hong Kong media to quit their posts, a former lawmaker and radio DJ said yesterday. Raising fresh fears about the erosion of free speech in the former British colony, Allen Lee said he and two other radio...
One Party, One System
Moves towards reform in Hong Kong and elsewhere have triggered Beijing's old allergy to democracy, says Jonathan Watts.
Chinese Battle Fleet Stages Hong Kong Show of Force
Navy seeks to woo locals and warn Taiwan against independence bid.
China Rejects British Critics
China accused Britain of meddling hypocrisy yesterday as it fended off domestic and international criticism of its decision to block democratic reform in Hong Kong. The foreign minister, Li Zhaoxing, said Britain and the United States had no right to interfere in the running of the...
China Deals Blow to Hong Kong Democracy
US and Britain protest over move in Beijing to ban elections.
Hong Kong Protests at China's Intervention
Thousands of people marched through Hong Kong yesterday to protest against Beijing's increasingly heavy-handed moves to slow the pace of democratic reform.
Hong Kong Democrats Angered By Beijing's Interference in Reform
China stamped on the aspirations of Hong Kong democrats yesterday by assuming a veto on political reform in the territory, which was supposed to have a high degree of autonomy under the one nation, two systems formula by which it was transferred from British rule. The standing committee...
Democracy on the Retreat
Beijing's increasing control over Hong Kong's politics has hit hopes of democratic reform on the island, writes Jonathan Watts.
Hong Kong leader backs down on bill
Hong Kong's unpopular leader, Tung Chee-hwa, has abandoned plans to enact a controversial anti-subversion law this year rather than risk a repeat of July's huge protests that plunged the territory into its worst crisis since the handover from British rule in 1997.
Hong Kong Braced for Typhoon
Two people were killed, half a million homes suffered power cuts and hundreds of schools were evacuated yesterday as the most ferocious typhoon of the year tore through Taiwan and headed for Hong Kong. The government in Hong Kong opened 27 temporary shelters as the territory braced itself...
Hong Kong Animal Ban Forces Tenants To Relinquish Pets
A plan to improve cleanliness in Hong Kong’s public housing units has drawn sharp criticism from animal lovers and animal rescue groups because it includes a strict ban on animals - except for a limited number of birds and fish - and requires tenants to remove even their existing pets, as well as forbidding new ones.
Hong Kong Leader Fights for Political Life
Hong Kong's leader, Tung Chee-hwa, acknowledged yesterday that he had lost the trust of the people as thousands of protesters demanded his resignation Amid the territory's worst political crisis since the 1997 handover to Chinese rule, the chief executive's authority was further...
The Marchers Make Democracy Work - and Throw Hong Kong Into Crisis
Dilemma for China after humiliating climbdown.
Hong Kong Takes to the Streets to Defend Freedoms
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Hong Kong yesterday to march against a planned anti-subversion law, the biggest demonstration since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Marchers fear that the freedoms of expression, press and assembly granted under the "one-country,...
Hong Kong Sars Outbreak Ends
Hong Kong breathed a huge sigh of relief yesterday when the World Health Organisation removed it from the list of Sars-affected areas, after four months in which almost 300 people died and 1,750 were infected. No new cases have been reported in the territory for 20 days, allowing the WHO...
Irish doctors call for end to Sars ban on Special Olympics competitors
The Irish Government is under growing pressure to remove its ban on Special Olympics athletes travelling to Ireland from Sars-affected countries, after the World Health Organisation lifted its travel warning on Hong Kong this weekend.
In China the Civet Cat is a Delicacy - and May Have Caused Sars
The question has stumped scientists since the Sars virus first emerged in China and spread around the world: where did it come from? Now, researchers in Hong Kong have identified the culprit - the masked palm civet, a small cat-like mammal that is treated as a culinary delicacy in some...
WHO drops Hong Kong travel warning
The World Health Organisation today lifted its travel advisory against visiting Hong Kong and Guangdong, the southern Chinese province where the Sars virus is thought to have originated.
Sars Hurts Stagecoach in Hong Kong
Stagecoach yesterday revealed a slump in the number of people using its local bus network in Hong Kong as people have been staying at home for fear of catching the deadly Sars virus. The transport company said revenue from its Citybus business in Hong Kong was likely to be down 25% during...
Hong Kong mops up as Sars toll rises
Twelve more Sars patients have died in Hong Kong, pushing the death toll there to 81, officials said today, following a largely symbolic cleanup organised by government leaders struggling to restore the territory's badly tarnished image.
Sars Claims Young Victims in Hong Kong
Chinese president ends silence on epidemic. Health officials in Hong Kong are trying to establish why six relatively young patients suffering from Sars - the pneumonia-like disease which has spread from the mainland - have died.
Hong Kong Sars Toll Reaches 40
Five more Sars patients have died in Hong Kong, health officials said yesterday. The latest deaths from the flu-like, severe acute respiritory syndrome pushed Hong Kong's total to 40 and, together with three more fatalities reported in Singapore, took the global toll to at least 133...
Hong Kong bans Sars travellers
Indonesia and the Philippines joined the list of countries affected by the deadly atypical pneumonia sweeping the world yesterday.
Hong Kong hit by Sars costs
The pneumonia-like illness spreading through Hong Kong is threatening to have a major impact on the former British territory's economy as tourists stay away, business travel is axed and local residents shun bars and shopping centres.
Don't Go to Hong Kong, Britons Urged
The government strongly advised Britons yesterday not to travel to Hong Kong and Guangdong province, southern China, as the mystery bug that has so far killed 78 people and infected 2,223 continued to spread panic through south-east Asia. The Department of Health said it might add other...
Hong Kong idol Cheung found dead
Hong Kong actor and singer Leslie Cheung is reported to have leapt to his death from the 24th floor of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Hong Kong's central district yesterday. Police found a note in his room saying he was suffering from "emotional problems".
Hong Kong Telecoms Firm Scraps Cable & Wireless Takeover
PCCW, the Hong Kong telecoms and internet company, today walked away from takeover plans for Cable & Wireless, the struggling UK telecoms group, amid investor concern. The company has concluded that it is not in the its interests for the continuing uncertainty regarding any possible...
Clampdown Marks the End of Hong Kong's Honeymoon
The city fears that the 'real handover' to China is about to begin. The fate of the free city of Hong Kong is a matter of some considerable importance to the world as well as to the nearly 7 million people who live there.
Protests surround Hong Kong handover anniversary
The fifth anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China was today marked by protests against Beijing's "murderous regime" and a call from the Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, for the former colony to better support the mainland.
Depression Settles Over Hong Kong
The celebration of the fifth anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China has been overshadowed by a set of opinion polls showing low public confidence in the territory's government.
Migrants Defy Order to Leave Hong Kong
Chinese migrants restated their defiance of Hong Kong's decision to repatriate them yesterday when all but one of the first batch of 130 scheduled for forcible deportation refused to give themselves up. Hundreds of angry demonstrators also marched to Hong Kong's court of final appeal,...
Migrants forced out of Hong Kong
Nearly 5,000 Chinese migrants with families in Hong Kong will be forced to return to the mainland by the final failure yesterday of their long battle to stay. The Hong Kong court of final appeal ruled by four to one that the migrants, who all have at least one parent living in the...