China

An elderly woman tried to fight a younger one over priority seating inside an MTR train carriage in Hong Kong, with a clip capturing the dispute going viral on Saturday. In the clip posted on the social media platform Threads, the elderly woman in one of two adjacent priority seats is seen forcefully trying to remove the younger woman beside her. The older […]

The funeral for the father of Mo Li Kai-yin, the dancer left paralysed after being struck by a falling giant screen during a concert by Hong Kong boy band Mirror, will be held early next month. The family said on Saturday that Reverend Derek Li Shing-lam’s funeral would be held at 10.30am on June 6 at St Andrew’s Church, Kowloon. The 71-year-old Li died […]

About 100 ships registered in Hong Kong or locally managed or owned are stranded in the Strait of Hormuz along with an estimated 2,300 seafarers, an industry leader has said. Richard Hext, chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association, told the South China Morning Post on Friday that it was very risky to sail vessels through the strait due to the risk of […]

Hong Kong homebuyers snapped up new flats on offer on Saturday, fuelling optimism that the bull run in the city’s property market will continue. All 154 units at Sun Hung Kai Properties’ Lime Spark project sold out as of 4.30pm, while 147 homes, or 93 per cent of the 158 flats available at Henderson Land’s Highwood Phase 2 project, found buyers, […]

Stories filled with tragic bravery, outrage at heedless officials and horror as loved ones perished were among those shared by 24 residents of the fire-ravaged Wang Fuk Court estate, as they testified at a public hearing investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades. Over multiple sessions that began on March 19, some told the presiding committee […]

A wanted member of the overseas group “Hong Kong Parliament” has been arrested in Thailand for overstaying her visa and is reportedly set to be deported to mainland China. The organisation said on Friday that Zhang Xinyan, who took part in what it called a parliamentary election and was sworn in as a member last year, was recently arrested in Thailand […]

An exclusive Hong Kong sports club will press ahead with an imminent change of operator for its Central clubhouse despite objections by some of its members about unfair access and incompatibility of their client profiles, the South China Morning Post has learned. The controversy began about a fortnight ago after private members’ club Carlyle & Co […]

Hongkongers packed the aisles of supermarkets with carts full of daily necessities as the city’s major grocery chains engaged in what some called a “price war” ahead of Mother’s Day. CK Hutchison Holdings-backed ParknShop and Jardine Matheson’s Wellcome each offered 12 per cent off everything in their stores for those who spent a certain amount on […]

Competition among Hong Kong florists heated up on the day before Mother’s Day as stores slashed bouquet prices and offered more innovative products, with some vendors reporting weaker business and lower profit margins compared with last year. Despite the wet weather on Saturday, vendors at the Mong Kok Flower Market touted colourful bouquets of […]

Hong Kong’s MTR Corporation will launch a large-scale railway exhibition at Hung Hom station on May 16, featuring four retired trains and a new immersive driving simulator. The rail giant said on Saturday that “Station Rail Voyage: Explorer” would feature an expanded layout with a refreshed look. “The exhibition retains four iconic retired trains on […]

Hong Kong has proved a brutal market for companies offering online bike sharing. The number of operators rose to a peak of seven in 2017 before falling to just two today: home-grown Locobike and mainland China’s Helloride. They are going head to head in several districts as they seek to overcome challenges in a city that has proven fatal for past […]

Hong Kong schools have recorded net student rises for two consecutive years, with the current academic year seeing an increase of about 7,200 pupils, a surge that an industry leader has attributed to the influx of dependants of admitted talent. The Education Bureau published enrolment figures on its website on April 28. The data covers all government, […]

Hong Kong has raised HK$27.6 billion (US$3.5 billion) through a green and infrastructure bond sale to finance the Northern Metropolis and low-carbon transformation projects. The offering drew investors from more than 30 markets across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, signalling global institutional investors’ confidence in Hong Kong’s […]

The South China Morning Post has taken home three honours at the International News Media Association’s 2026 Global Media Awards, with its infographic on Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po fire winning first place for the best use of visual journalism. The awards were announced and presented in Berlin on Thursday, with the SCMP being the only Hong Kong media […]

A Hong Kong court has convicted two footballers and a betting agent of bribing fellow players to rig game outcomes in the city’s largest match-fixing case in recent years. Former Hong Kong Under-23 player Brian Fok was convicted on Friday of five charges, including three counts of offering an advantage to an agent in violation of the Prevention of Bribery […]

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Janice Tse Siu-wa has emerged as the biggest landlord among Hong Kong ministers after declaring that she has 25 properties in her name in the city, mainland China and the UK. The 61-year-old constitutional affairs chief also revealed that she or her family held shareholdings of more than 1 per cent in eight […]

The operations of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London will remain unaffected by a UK spying verdict, observers have said, arguing that the British government is unlikely to seek its closure so as to maintain relations with Beijing. A British court on Thursday found Bill Yuen Chung-biu, the London HKETO’s manager, and Peter Wai […]

The “mechanical mindset” of Hong Kong building authorities has come under scrutiny at a hearing into the deadly Wang Fuk Court blaze, with a former inspection director conceding his team had “blindly” followed outdated guidelines when deciding not to conduct on-site audits of renovation work at the estate. Rudolf Lau Fu-kwok, who was the head of the […]

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) will dip into its reserves to repay a HK$4 billion (US$510.9 million) government loan owed by its debt-ridden private hospital, the institution’s council chairman has said. The finances of the CUHK Medical Centre were on the agenda of Friday’s Legislative Council health panel meeting, but the discussion was […]

Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways will lower its fuel surcharges for passenger flights by as much as 12.9 per cent from May 16, after a series of increases that began in March. For long-haul flights, the surcharge will fall from HK$1,560 (US$199) to HK$1,362 per leg of the trip. The rate for medium-haul journeys, such as those between Hong Kong […]

Hong Kong authorities have appointed veteran politician Jeffrey Lam Kin-fung to chair the board of directors of the Hung Shui Kiu Industry Park Company – the first government-owned entity established to accelerate the development of the Northern Metropolis megaproject. The Development Bureau said on Friday that the board of directors comprised five bureau […]

An Australian man has been remanded in custody and hit with fresh charges in Hong Kong for fleeing restaurants without paying more than HK$2,000 (US$255) in bills, just a day after being fined for similar offences. Samuel Anthony Monkivitch, 50, was detained soon after pleading guilty at Eastern Court on Thursday to three charges – two of failing to pay […]

An intergovernmental mediation body headquartered in Hong Kong resolved a maritime dispute between parties from mainland China and Singapore this month, a success hailed as a milestone for the organisation that has attracted more members since its launch last year. Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, secretary general of the International Organisation for Mediation […]

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The deputy director of the Home Affairs Department and the former head of the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU) were the latest Hong Kong officials to testify at a public hearing on the city’s […]

For decades, Hong Kong thrived as the world’s freest economy without five-year plans, while mainland China rose to become the world’s second largest economy through them. Now Hong Kong has the rare advantage of both: market dynamism and strategic direction. Harnessed through the collective wisdom of the people, this combination can deliver more than […]

A Hong Kong homemaker sits alone at a pinball machine at a shopping centre in Sham Shui Po on a weekday morning, engrossed in the game for an hour before picking up her sons from school for lunch. The 47-year-old mother-of-two, who only identified herself as Mrs Cheung, said she played pinball machines at least twice a week at Dragon Centre, including once […]

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned the UK for “abusing the law and judicial process” after a British court found two men linked to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London guilty of spying on activists. Bill Yuen Chung-biu, the London office’s manager, and Peter Wai Chi-leung, who ran a security firm, were found […]

Hong Kong education authorities have ordered a primary school to submit a report after a national flag was found hanging upside down on campus. The Education Bureau said on Thursday that it had followed up on the incident at F.S.F.T.F. Fong Shu Chuen Primary School in Fanling. Online images earlier showed that the national flag was hanging upside down on […]

Hong Kong health authorities are seeking more information from the World Health Organization (WHO) on an outbreak of a deadly hantavirus strain capable of limited human-to-human transmission reported on a cruise ship in the Atlantic, while ramping up efforts to prevent the rare disease from reaching the city’s shores. The Department of Health’s Centre […]

The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) is pressing ahead with the relaunch of gold futures as mainland China’s appetite for the metal continues to grow. The city would continue to introduce new gold products and facilities to capture the growing opportunities of the gold market, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Thursday at the LME Asia […]

A Hong Kong appellate court has quashed the murder conviction of a jobless man who allegedly beat his girlfriend to death and hid her body under a mattress seven years ago, ruling that the trial judge had not properly directed the jury to fully consider the alleged perpetrator’s violent personality traits. The Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled in favour […]

Hong Kong restaurants will be able to apply for licences from May 18 to allow dogs under a new scheme, with the first designated venues expected to admit pets from July. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said on Thursday that applications would open on May 18 and close on June 8. In the first phase, applications will be capped at 1,000 […]

A Hong Kong building inspector mistook illegal alterations to emergency staircases at a housing estate ravaged in a deadly fire for protective measures on “broken” windows, because he based his assessment solely on documents and did not carry out a site visit, a public inquiry has heard. Senior maintenance surveyor Nick Yung Siu-lun, the head of the […]

A Hong Kong man who allegedly stole HK$50,000 (US$6,380) worth of Gundam models was injured while leaping from a building in To Kwa Wan after police came to arrest him on suspicion of burglary. Police said on Thursday that the man, aged 40, was linked to the burglary at a building on Mok Cheong Street two days earlier, which resulted in the theft of 10 […]

Hong Kong authorities have urged the public to stop using a certain model of Zwilling electric kettle over concerns that the handle may detach, posing a risk of scalding. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department on Thursday issued a safety recall for the kettle (model 53005). Consumers should contact the supplier, Cheong Hing (1917) Company […]

Hong Kong police are investigating an allegation that a four-year-old boy was indecently assaulted at an international school in Stanley, with the institution saying its security footage showed “no evidence of any wrongdoing” on the day of the suspected incident. A source said on Wednesday that the International Montessori School kindergarten pupil […]

Canadian singer-songwriter The Weeknd will perform in Hong Kong for the first time in eight years as part of the final leg of his “After Hours Til Dawn” tour, with sources telling the South China Morning Post that the concert is set to take place at Kai Tak Sports Park in October. Concert giant Live Nation on Wednesday posted a cryptic teaser video […]

A Hong Kong court has fined an Australian lawyer HK$3,000 (US$383) after he admitted to fleeing a restaurant and a massage parlour without paying bills totalling about HK$1,200. Samuel Anthony Monkivitch, 50, pleaded guilty at Eastern Court on Thursday to three charges, including two counts of making off without payment. In the first case, he failed to pay […]

An elderly man in Hong Kong is believed to have killed his ex-wife before hanging himself at a public housing estate, as he reportedly felt “hopeless” after their separation following years of marital conflict worsened by their son’s suicide, police have revealed. Terry Wan King-hang, the Sau Mau Ping assistant district commander of crime, said on […]

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. The second of three witnesses from the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit (ICU) testified on Thursday at a hearing into Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades. The government-appointed independent committee […]

A Hong Kong motorcyclist has been killed after reportedly losing control of his vehicle, which overturned inside the Eastern Harbour Crossing, with police launching an investigation. Police said on Thursday that the accident occurred in Kwun Tong shortly after midnight, at about 12.51am, as the motorcycle was travelling through the tunnel towards Hong Kong […]

Traffic accidents involving animals in Hong Kong have surged more than 11-fold over the past four years, with advocacy groups attributing it to a wave of pet abandonments and the blurring of urban-rural boundaries caused by large-scale development. The latest data submitted to the Legislative Council on Wednesday showed reports of animal-related traffic […]

The finance director of Hong Kong Chu Hai College has been arrested on suspicion of embezzling HK$770,000 (US$98,262) after the head of the institution reported the case to the police. Jane Zhang, president of the Tuen Mun‑based college, contacted police on April 29 after the Bank of China alerted her on April 17 to three unusual transactions from the […]

A young woman has been accused of helping to rob four people as a teenager by luring them to a remote area in Hong Kong where her gang was waiting to use violence and take nude photos to force them to pay. Hau Yan-ki, an unemployed 23-year-old, is on trial at the High Court on Wednesday for her role in three alleged robberies that took place in a row […]

Government inspectors did not foresee engineering firms colluding to deceive authorities over the use of substandard renovation materials at a Hong Kong residential estate devastated in the city’s deadliest fire in decades, a public inquiry has heard. Andy Ku Siu-ping, a senior maintenance surveyor with the Housing Bureau’s Independent Checking Unit, on […]