Three former members of a Hong Kong group that organised annual vigils to mark China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown have been found guilty of not complying with a national security police request for information. Chow Hang-tung, 38, a prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activist and former vice-chairperson of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, was among those convicted by the magistrate court. Two other former standing committee members of the alliance, Tang Ngok Kwan and Tsui Hon Kwong, were also found guilty. The now-disbanded alliance was…
Tag: Hong Kong
Missing Chinese billionaire banker Bao Fan assisting authorities in investigation, company says
The Chinese billionaire tech banker Bao Fan, who was reported missing 10 days ago, is cooperating with Chinese authorities conducting an investigation, a China-based boutique bank has said. It is the first time China Renaissance Holdings has given a reason for the disappearance of its founder and chairman, though no details about the investigation were shared. “The board would like to reiterate that the business and operations of the group are continuing normally,” the bank said in the exchange filing on Sunday. Reuters previously reported, citing sources, that authorities took…
How a Chinese cafe above a DIY store became the best place to eat in Canada
The checkerboard floors of Vancouver’s Northern Cafe are warped, the only views are of nearby industrial warehouses, and diners waiting for a table must navigate the hazards of an active lumber yard. And yet the tottering Chinese Canadian restaurant, with its red vinyl booths and mismatched porcelain mugs, is so busy on a weekday morning that a scattered line forms between pickup trucks and forklifts. The rickety structure of the eatery, which sits above a hardware store, holds the unlikely honour of being the best place to dine Canada, according…
Karen Clarke obituary
My wife, Karen Clarke, who has died of cancer aged 60, was a special needs teacher who improved the lives of scores of marginalised young people in south London. Her lessons, influenced by her earlier life as an archaeologist, translator, marketing consultant and cookery book author, were inspirational; and it was this work, and her output as a writer, that gave her a true feeling that she had made a positive and lasting contribution. Karen was born in Fareham, Hampshire. Her parents had met in Hong Kong; her father, Basil…
Scientist convicted of editing babies’ genes granted visa for Hong Kong
The controversial bioethicist He Jiankui has been granted a talent visa to Hong Kong, despite having a criminal record in China for illegal medical practices. At a press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday, the disgraced scientist said he was in contact with universities in Hong Kong and planned to research gene therapy for rare hereditary diseases, the Associated Press reported. He shot to fame in 2018 when he revealed that he had edited the genes of twin girls, known as Lulu and Nana, before birth, to try to make them…
Bao Fan, Star Banker, Goes Missing in China
Bao Fan, a renowned investment banker in China, has disappeared and is unreachable, raising concerns that Beijing’s crackdown on the country’s business elite is continuing. In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday, China Renaissance Holdings said that it has been unable to contact Mr. Bao, the company’s chairman and chief executive. China Renaissance said its board was “unaware” of any information that indicated his disappearance was tied to the company’s operations. The company’s share price plunged on the news, falling 28 percent on Friday. The disappearance…
Chinese billionaire tech banker Bao Fan goes missing
A billionaire Chinese dealmaker has gone missing, plunging one of the country’s top investment banks into turmoil. Bao Fan, the founder and executive director of China Renaissance, is a major figure in the Chinese tech industry and has played an important role in the emergence of a string of large domestic internet startups. Shares in China Renaissance slumped after the bank announced to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday that it had been unable to contact Bao, without giving further details. The stock plunged 50% at one point after…
UK MPs and peers find HSBC complicit in Hong Kong human rights abuses
HSBC is complicit in human rights abuses against Hong Kong residents by siding with Chinese authorities and denying pension payouts to those who fled the authoritarian crackdown, an inquiry by peers and MPs has concluded. The report by the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on Hong Kong took issue with the fact that banks including HSBC – which help to manage the compulsory pension fund that all residents pay into – have bowed to local authorities and refused to recognise the documentation of tens of thousands of residents who have tried…
Simpsons censored in Hong Kong for mentioning China ‘labour camps’
An episode of the Simpsons that references “forced labour camps” in China has been removed from Disney+ streaming services in Hong Kong. The episode is the second in the long-running US cartoon’s latest season. One Angry Lisa sees Marge buy an interactive training exercise bike, similar to a Peloton bike. On an interactive tour, the guide takes Marge to the Great Wall of China with its wonders of “bitcoin mines, forced labour camps where children make smartphones, and romance”. China’s government has long faced accusations of operating forced labour camps,…
Hong Kong: landmark national security trial of 47 democracy advocates begins
Hong Kong’s largest national security trial began on Monday, involving 47 of the city’s most high-profile democracy advocates, in a hearing that has been labelled a trial of the territory’s pro-democracy movement itself. The group of former politicians, activists, campaigners, and community workers are accused of “conspiracy to commit subversion” over the holding of unofficial pre-election primaries in July 2020. The case is at the centre of the Hong Kong and Beijing governments’ crackdown on opposition and dissent in the city, after the mass pro-democracy protests in 2019. Among the…