Yearly Archives: 2024

Not a great day for Hong Kong justice Seven people, including former legislator Lam Cheuk-ting, are convicted of rioting after going to Yuen Long MTR station (unlike the police, who mysteriously failed to show up) when a violent mob ambushed … Continue reading →

Chart of the day: monthly remuneration of ‘politically appointed officials’ in the Hong Kong government… Rank and file civil servants’ pay – look at the ads in the SCMP on Saturdays – is similarly generous. People who work in the … Continue reading →

The amazing things that happen when you don’t get tried by a National Security court: Grandpa Chan cleared of unauthorized display of banners in a park… Siding with 78-year old Chan Ki-kau at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday, … Continue reading →

Too Simple, Sometimes Naive (possibly paywalled) sees an easing in China’s Wolf Warrior diplomacy… Wolf Warriorism’ became the accepted term for [a] nationalistic, aggressive form of discourse. No more demure Asian state. China had summoned a new-found arrogance, belligerence. In … Continue reading →

The Hong Kong government launches a competition to find new names for a pair of pandas hitherto called An An and Ke Ke, and then scraps it…  …the judges … selected the suggestion to keep the original names of the … Continue reading →

The Hong Kong government replaces two senior officials. One of them – the tourism, pandas and mega-events minister Kevin Yeung – recently complained bitterly when an RTHK reporter asked him a pointed question, prompting the station to remind its reporters … Continue reading →

The SCMP reports experts’ suggestions for fixing the government’s budget deficit… The Hong Kong government could reduce land sale prices, improve the efficiency of 167,000 civil servants and temporarily freeze their pay as possible solutions to ease the HK$100 billion … Continue reading →

In an interesting test of how much has changed in the last five years, Hong Kong and Mainland authorities  are permitting unlimited cross-border visits by Shenzhen residents. Last time this happened, Sheung Shui and other New Territories towns were flooded … Continue reading →

Let’s pretend it’s not structural, part 2. According to the Basic Law, the Hong Kong government should balance its budget. Instead, for many years, it reported vast surpluses. And these days, it’s vast deficits. (I suppose you could try arguing … Continue reading →

The Economist (probably paywalled) suggests that the decline in Hong Kong real-estate prices is not a passing phase… Home prices have fallen by over a quarter since late 2021. In September they reached their lowest level in eight years; the … Continue reading →