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BUSINESSAug 23‘Huge influx’: expat retirees projected to drive Hong Kong’s premium home demandHong Kong is tipped to see more luxury home sales with expatriates increasingly choosing the city as their retirement base, drawn to its low-tax environment as well as business opportunities, according to analysts. “A huge influx of expats who used to live in Hong Kong are moving back with a long-term view to retirement,” said Victoria Allan, founder and CEO of Habitat Property. “Many expats who previously would have left to retire are staying and purchasing [property] for the first...South China Morning Post
POLITICSAug 23Hong Kong convicts two pro - democracy activistsTwo pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have been convicted, reflecting ongoing political developments concerning activism and governance in the region. This event highlights challenges to democratic movements.bignewsnetwork.com · United States
BUSINESSAug 23Chinese, Southeast Asian ride-hailing firms eye Hong Kong amid licensing roll-outMore ride-hailing platform operators from mainland China and Southeast Asia have approached the Hong Kong government about entering the city’s market ahead of the launch of licensed operations, the transport minister has revealed. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan also said on Sunday that more than 7,500 people had applied for the new combined taxi and ride-hailing vehicle written test, calling the number a “very good and positive” sign. “We hope there will be more competition and...South China Morning Post
SCI & TECHAug 23Major tech firms to help upskill Hong Kong workers under ‘AI for All’: Paul ChanHong Kong will partner with major tech firms to launch an AI training programme for the working population in November, the city’s finance chief has said. In his Sunday blog, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said the HK$50 million (US$6.4 million) “AI for All” inclusive programme announced in February would feature more than 200 activities and was expected to benefit 50,000 people within two years. “The development and application of frontier technology will pose challenges to the job market....South China Morning Post
BUSINESSAug 23Licence to savour: Hong Kong craft brewers push for on-site beer permitsWhen a 100-strong South Korean tour group approached a Hong Kong craft beer manufacturer for a tour and tasting session, the operator declined their request. The refusal was not down to a lack of confidence in the product or a staff shortage. It was regulatory: the brewery simply lacked a licence to serve its beer on the premises. “It is not easy doing manufacturing in Hong Kong,” said Luke Yardley, founder of local craft beer brewery Yardley Brothers. “It is just a missed opportunity when in...South China Morning Post
DISASTERAug 23Patient arrested after bedding, restraint belts set ablaze at Hong Kong hospitalA patient has been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to bedding and restraint belts at a Hong Kong hospital, with no injuries reported. Police arrested the 25-year-old man surnamed Wong at Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for alleged arson. He remained in custody pending further investigation. The fire was reported at 12.36am on Sunday after a security guard alerted police. The suspect allegedly set fire to mattresses and restraint belts at the hospital. After a preliminary investigation,...South China Morning Post
DISASTERAug 23Hong Kong may issue typhoon signal on Tuesday or Wednesday as Narra approachesThe Hong Kong Observatory may issue a typhoon signal on Tuesday or Wednesday as a tropical storm edges closer to the region. “Tropical Cyclone Narra is expected to linger over the vicinity of Beibu Wan today and tomorrow, and then turn northeastwards gradually later on Monday to Tuesday, edging closer to the vicinity of Leizhou Peninsula,” the forecaster said on Sunday. Leizhou Peninsula sits at the far southwestern tip of Guangdong province, located at 400km (248.5 miles) west-southwest of Hong...South China Morning Post
POLITICSAug 23Hong Kong rules out Wang Fuk Court buy-back extension as 100 owners hesitateAbout 100 homeowners, or 5 per cent, at fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong have yet to accept the government’s buy-back offer with a week left before the deadline, Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun has said, stressing that the acquisition scheme will not be extended. “The deadline is a very serious timeline … it will not be extended, nor will better terms and a higher acquisition price suddenly be offered … I hope [the homeowners] will understand and take the appropriate...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSAug 23Hong Kong can open a lucrative new frontier as Chinese tech IP hubSince 2021, Hong Kong’s development as a regional intellectual property (IP) trading centre has featured in China’s five-year plans and the policy addresses of chief executives Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and John Lee Ka-chiu. There are good strategic reasons to see considerable potential in developing the city as an IP servicing centre for the Greater Bay Area, and potentially the whole of China and wider Asia-Pacific region. Hong Kong has several natural advantages. Major international IP...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSAug 23How Opatra’s ‘coercive’ tactics in Hong Kong echo global ‘Dead Sea sales scams’Allegedly aggressive sales tactics and business operations in Hong Kong’s beauty product sector closely mirror the global “Dead Sea sales scams” uncovered years ago, documents on WikiLeaks have shown. The controversy has prompted calls from experts for the city’s government to strengthen regulation by expanding proposed cooling-off period legislation to cover retail beauty goods. A check of the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks by the South China Morning Post found that shops and kiosks selling...South China Morning Post
POLITICSAug 22Hong Kong must abandon superiority complex over mainland ChinaAfter many years in Hong Kong, with some sadness, I left the city for greener pastures, though my link with it remains an emotional one. When I moved my two dogs across the border to Shenzhen, I was told by agents, officials, even artificial intelligence, that the mainland bureaucracy would be rigid and unhelpful. My experience was the opposite. The young customs officers at Shenzhen Bay answered my phone calls, gave candid advice and treated my situation – a single parent relocating with a...South China Morning Post
WORLDAug 22Hong Kong and Shenzhen test crossings at revamped Huanggang Port ahead of openingHong Kong has conducted its first test involving Shenzhen authorities of clearance procedures and private car access at the revamped Huanggang border crossing, ahead of a massive exercise next week involving 20,000 people to fully assess the facility’s capacity. No 2 official Eric Chan Kwok-ki said Saturday’s drill went smoothly and passenger flows were orderly, with speedy pickup by public transport, although a motorist association reported traffic jams along the San Tin Interchange roundabout...South China Morning Post
SCI & TECHAug 22Hong Kong-built greenhouse gas tracker device ‘functioning well’ on space stationA greenhouse gas monitoring instrument developed by a university in Hong Kong is operating successfully aboard the Tiangong space station and is expected to contribute to sustainable development, the city’s technology minister has said. Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong also revealed more details in a blog post on Saturday about the life of the city’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying, who he said had a busy schedule at the space station. The Multi‑Spectral Imaging Carbon...South China Morning Post
CYBERAug 22Hong Kong police arrest 2 men allegedly linked to HK$500,000 phishing scamHong Kong police have arrested two men suspected of using 110 SIM cards to send phishing messages from a base of operations in a hotel and conning victims out of more than HK$500,000 (US$63,766). The force said on Saturday the men, aged 31 and 44, were arrested last Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud. They were allegedly linked to recent phishing scams in which fraudsters posed as delivery company staff, claiming victims had undelivered parcels, or as employees of online payment...South China Morning Post
POLITICSAug 22Government still weighing decision on restricting proxy voters, Hong Kong official saysHong Kong authorities have yet to decide whether to restrict proxy voters at homeowners’ meetings to relatives or other flat owners of the same estate under proposed law amendments meant to combat bid-rigging, the home affairs director has said, arguing such a move could be overly strict. Director of Home Affairs Priscilla To Kit-lai said on Saturday that the proposed amendments to the Building Management Ordinance were aimed at enhancing the legitimacy of proxy votes amid concerns that voting...South China Morning Post
POLITICSAug 22Hong Kong hits back at Western ‘slander’ over verdict on Tiananmen vigil leadersHong Kong authorities have hit out at what they called “baseless slander and smearing” by Western countries over the conviction of the now-disbanded alliance behind the annual Tiananmen Square vigil and its leaders for inciting subversion, stressing the court’s verdict is “well-reasoned and sound”. The government issued a strongly worded statement on Saturday after the closely-watched verdict on the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China a day earlier sparked a...South China Morning Post
POLITICSAug 22What’s so bad about a planned Hong Kong economy? Just look at SingaporeWhy is the idea of a planned economy anathema to so many people despite China’s success? And why do so many retain faith in market economies given the economic chaos much of the Western world is descending into? These questions have acquired a particular piquancy as Hong Kong embraces long-term planning for the first time, attracting criticism from some that it is falling into Chinese-style error. Having been in Asia for 50 years – in Singapore, which I consider a planned economy, and Hong Kong...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSAug 22Beyblade battles drive up sales at Hong Kong malls, but how long will the trend last?The sharp clatter of spinning metal tops, cheers, sighs of frustration and shouts of “three, two, one … Go shoot!” echo across a shopping centre in Hong Kong’s New Territories on a weekday. In shops across Tuen Mun Town Plaza, children, teens and young adults hunch over small plastic battle arenas, unleashing the spinning tops into the “Beystadiums” in head-to-head competitions. The toy popularised by Japanese anime in the early 2000s made a comeback in Hong Kong and elsewhere in Asia early this...South China Morning Post
SCI & TECHAug 22Electrochemist Liu Jiawei moves from Singapore to Hong Kong to start her own labFor materials scientist and chemist Liu Jiawei, moving to Hong Kong supported her pivot into launching her own research group. After a decade immersed in Singapore’s research ecosystem, Liu sought a transition that would keep her closer to family in mainland China while maintaining an international, high-standard research environment. Now establishing her laboratory at City University of Hong Kong (CityU), two years after her move, Liu said Hong Kong’s academic landscape operated on an...South China Morning Post
DISASTERAug 22Hong Kong to assess cyclone warning as Tropical Storm Narra nears Guangdong coastHong Kong’s weather forecaster will assess next week whether to issue a tropical cyclone warning as Tropical Storm Narra is expected to edge closer to the western Guangdong coast. The Hong Kong Observatory said on Saturday morning that the storm was expected to linger over the vicinity of Beibu Wan, also known as the Gulf of Tonkin, before having a higher chance to turn east to northeast gradually early next week. “The Observatory will closely monitor its movement and the change in local wind...South China Morning Post
DISASTERAug 22Hong Kong to assess typhoon warning as Tropical Storm Narra nears Guangdong coastHong Kong’s weather forecaster will assess next week whether to issue a typhoon warning as Tropical Storm Narra is expected to edge closer to the western Guangdong coast. The Hong Kong Observatory said on Saturday morning that the storm was expected to linger over the vicinity of Beibu Wan, also known as the Gulf of Tonkin, before having a higher chance to turn east to northeast gradually early next week. “The Observatory will closely monitor its movement and the change in local wind conditions,...South China Morning Post
WORLDAug 22Hong Kong physiotherapists face job crunch amid oversupply and budget cutsHong Kong physiotherapy graduates are facing a job crunch amid ongoing healthcare budget cuts and a surge in new practitioners entering the industry, with one representative saying 60 applicants had competed for one position in a remote care facility for elderly residents. Data also showed that the proportion of applicants admitted to Polytechnic University’s (PolyU) prestigious physiotherapy programme who ranked it among their top three choices – known as “Band A” – fell by around 9 percentage...South China Morning Post
BUSINESSAug 22Why Hong Kong’s SK Hynix fund stayed at full leverage amid market volatilitySouth Korean investor Carol Kim thought Hong Kong-based CSOP Asset Management’s new flexible leverage structure would cushion losses in its SK Hynix leveraged product, only to take a 77.2 per cent hit after the fund maintained its maximum exposure every day following the revised rules. “I expected the flexible leverage structure to soften the blow, but it actually felt like it was dropping even harder than the product in South Korea,” the 32-year-old Seoul-based retail investor said. The CSOP SK...South China Morning Post
POLITICSAug 21Why are Hong Kong’s Tiananmen vigil organisers facing prison?Amnesty International said they ‘must be released immediately and unconditionally’.Al Jazeera [en]