LATEST NEWS & VIEWS
Security Law: Hong Kong authors look for safety and freedom in Taiwan
By Su Xinqi China’s new security law has cast a threatening shadow over Hong Kong’s dynamic book industry, with anxious publishers combing through back catalogues for potentially “subversive” material, and looking to Taiwan as a safe haven for printing fresh titles. The city has long been a refuge for intellectuals, free from the authoritarian grip […]
Sweden puts ex-envoy on trial over China dissident negotiations
by Johannes Ledel Sweden’s former ambassador to China went on trial in Stockholm on Friday accused of overstepping her mandate and risking national security by trying to negotiate the release of a dissident. Anna Lindstedt faces up to two years in prison if she is convicted of brokering an unauthorised meeting in January last year when she […]
COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS
Hong Kong extradition law is a death sentence for Hong Kong, says exiled bookseller Lam Wing-kee
“If the extradition law is passed, it is a death sentence for Hong Kong,” said Lam Wing-kee in a crowded coffee shop in Taipei. “Beijing will use this law to control Hong Kong completely. Freedom of speech will be lost. In the past, the regime kidnapped its critics, like me, illegally. With this law, they […]
The trust deficit: Why Hongkongers simply don’t believe gov’t reassurances over its China extradition law
It seemed like old times: last Sunday’s afternoon protest march was organised – at short notice – by the Civil Human Rights Front in its role as coordinator for every major protest since 2003. Only this time, the rally was for an obscure cause that had lain dormant since 1997. Yet like many such low-key […]
FEATURES
Beijing is taking Hong Kong back 100 years, says Baggio Leung, new spokesperson for pro-independence group HKNF
It is often said that Hong Kong independence is a lost cause, but for Baggio Leung – a disqualified lawmaker and now the new spokesperson of a pro-Hong Kong independence group – the case for a full separation from China grows only stronger each day. The latest evidence, he said in an interview with HKFP, […]
Interview: Only one breach of One Country Two Systems a ‘remarkable achievement’ says outgoing British consul
The outgoing British Consul-General Caroline Wilson has said it is a “remarkable achievement” that there has been only one breach of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle in the almost 20 years since its implementation. Wilson, who was stationed at the Beijing embassy just after the 1997 handover until 2000, said in an interview with HKFP: “It is always really […]
HKFP History: How the July 1 democracy rally provides an annual reading of the political temperature
The annual July 1 demonstration acts as a thermometer for dissatisfaction levels and grievances in Hong Kong. Officially the anniversary of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover, when Britain gave the former colony back to China, it is also the day of one of the most significant protests of the year. Article 23 (2003) In 2003, hundreds of thousands of […]