Category Archives: Blog

Some cynics among us might assume that Hong Kong’s first Five-Year Plan is mainly box-ticking symbolism – a big box of economic and patriotic buzzwords wrapped in a Mainland-sounding package. But a (paywalled) Bloomberg op-ed sees it as a decisive … Continue reading →

The 2026 Policy Address is here, and the first Five-Year Plan is here. Or is it the other way round? One has a green cover, while the other is blue. The Policy Address starts by saying the Five-Year Plan is … Continue reading →

An all-patriots district council member is convicted of sex with a minor. (HKFP reports that the court heard evidence from a tree expert.) We now await the sentence. The girl was 13. Shall we take Chow Hang-tung’s seven years – … Continue reading →

Brian Hioe in New Bloom Mag critiques a now-notorious Atlantic piece by yet another Western journalist who is clueless about Taiwan… Fittingly, Shuster opens with two paragraphs of fawning awe over Chinese President Xi Jinping. From this, one generally has … Continue reading →

Tung Chee-hwa dies. The Economist says… He had an impossible job, and did it badly. Although mercilessly mocked while in office, old ‘Tofu-for-Brains’ will probably be remembered by Hong Kong’s handover-straddling generation as the least bad of post-1997 chief executives … Continue reading →

I’m off to Hokkaido. In a tragic case of mis-timing, I will be back before the Five Year Plan-cum-Policy Address on September 16. Indeed, I will barely miss the 11th Belt-cum-Road Summit. Some stuff… Joshua Wong will be in court … Continue reading →

Jimmy Lai biographer Mark Clifford op-ed in Japan Times on the HK Alliance convictions… Chow Hang-tung first went to jail for lighting a candle…  …Defendants in Hong Kong supposedly have a constitutional right to trial by jury, part of the … Continue reading →

In HKFP – Chow Hang-tung’s mitigation… Believing that dictatorship is wrong and democracy is right – if that isn’t a belief, then what is? Even if the courts and the government attempt to claim, like a chanted mantra, that they … Continue reading →

In China File, Jeremy Goldkorn goes back to China for the first time in years…  It may be hard to make money in China in 2026, but it is very pleasant to spend it. A major element of involution is … Continue reading →

Prospect Magazine on Chow Hang-tung… …she advocated for labourers in mainland China and built connections with Chinese dissidents. During frequent visits to friends there, Chow gained a reputation for her bravery, as well as her capacity to drink large quantities … Continue reading →