Hong Kong/Taiwan/Macau bureau chief for AFP. Previously, SE Asia corr (Bangkok), Asia Pacific Editor (HK). Before that, The Independent https://t.co/sghdt2e4vE
May 10, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
This @SCMPNews piece contains a couple of quotes from HK govt insiders that suggest this new administration looks set to be ideologically in lockstep with Xi-era Beijing, with potential repercussions for international business in HK
scmp.com/news/hong-kong…
Incoming leader John Lee has been clear he wants to reboot Hong Kong's competitiveness AND further integrate the city with the mainland.
But if these quotes are anything to go by the latter will be the priority, even possibly at the expense of the former.
May 9, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Western multinationals and local tycoons published newspaper adverts on Monday congratulating John Lee on becoming Hong Kong's next leader, following a rubber-stamp selection process condemned by critics as anti-democratic — @AFP
sg.news.yahoo.com/western-multin…
Western businesses have found themselves in an increasingly precarious position in Hong Kong, especially as geopolitical tensions have risen with China.
Aug 24, 2021 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
Hong Kong commerce sec Edward Yau just announced that a new film censorship law will be passed.
Two big items stand out.
National security censorship will now extend to any past films (not just future ones).
Up to 3 years jail HK$1m fine for showing unapproved films.
This comes after authorities in June announced they had updated the city's film censorship ordinance to include any content that breaches "national security"
Someone was deeply unhappy about tonight’s visit to the vets
I must escape
Aug 17, 2021 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
Hong Kong has always been a pretty transient place for white collar immigrants (I hate the word expats) and foreigners get used to leaving dos.
But I feel like barely a week goes by now without me hearing of someone - both senior & middle management - deciding to head overseas
Of the anecdotal cases I’ve heard personally, Beijing’s crackdown is a partial cause.
While it doesn’t tend to personally effect the foreigners leaving, it has irrevocably changed the city & blanketed this once outspoken, freewheeling town in a very different atmosphere.
Aug 17, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
For the last few days pretty much every time I open @Twitter I get promoted content from these totes organic accounts that just happen to be push the Chinese gov’t’s narrative.
Most are new. This account opened in April. #FoBack
Aug 16, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Some pretty explosive allegations by @AP that China may be running a US-style "black site" facility in Dubai
apnews.com/article/middle…
The AP was unable to confirm or disprove Wu’s account independently, and she could not pinpoint the exact location of the black site.
Jun 18, 2021 • 6 tweets • 4 min read
Hong Kong's pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper hit the stands Friday a day after police raided its newsroom, with an extra-large print run and a characteristic message of defiance emblazoned on its front that read: "We must press on" -- @AFP
This time, they were surrounded by a gaggle of reporters from rival outlets documenting the seemingly inexorable decline of media freedoms in their city, an international media hub.
Jun 4, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read
Breaking: Hong Kong's Victoria Park empty for first time in 32 years on Tiananmen anniversary as police cordon off venue -- @AFP
Powerful combo picture has just hit the @AFP wire.
Shows Tiananmen anniversary vigils in Hong Kong's Victoria Park in 1990, 1999, 2004, 2011, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020 and... tonight
Jun 4, 2021 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Breaking: Hong Kong police detain democracy activist Chow Hang-tung (@zouxingtong) on Tiananmen anniversary, according to an @AFP reporter on scene
A police source tells me Chow was arrested under section 17A of the Public Order Ordinance -- that's the part that covers publicising unlawful assemblies
Having witnessed skeletons being pulled from their shallow graves in the jungle camps this guy's gang used to run, I'm struggling to muster much sympathy.
The two boys in the back of the Thai police pickup truck were terrified. Dressed in ragged clothes, they had been caught close to a remote people smugglers' camp in southern Thailand where authorities found the remains of 26 people. ucanews.com/news/thai-peop…
Jun 3, 2021 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
Hong Kongers are seeking innovative ways to commemorate the victims of China's deadly Tiananmen Square crackdown after authorities banned an annual vigil and vowed to stamp out any protests come Friday's anniversary -- @AFP
news.yahoo.com/hong-kongers-c…
Local artist Kacey Wong has collected hundreds of spent candle stubs from previous vigils and plans to give them to residents on Friday night.
May 11, 2021 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
A 7-month investigation by @AP & Oxford University's @oiioxford, found that China's rise on @Twitter has been powered by an army of fake accounts that have retweeted Chinese diplomats & state media tens of thousands of times.
money.yahoo.com/army-fake-fans…
"Beijing’s appetite for guiding public opinion – covertly, if necessary -- extends beyond its borders and beyond core strategic interests, like Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang."
May 11, 2021 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
I am in awe of my @AFP colleagues both inside and outside Myanmar who have worked tirelessly to provide accurate, verified and compelling coverage in what are truly difficult circumstances 💪🏼🇲🇲
Here are some of just a fraction of the remarkable images taken by @AFP colleagues over the last 100 days
May 10, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Breaking: Covid jab maker BioNTech says to build factory in Singapore -- @AFP
Covid jab maker BioNTech said Monday it would build a factory in Singapore that could produce hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines based on its mRNA technology per year in southeast Asia.
Jan 26, 2021 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Taiwan expelled nearly 4,000 Chinese vessels illegally dredging sand from its waters in 2020, authorities told @AFP, a more than six-fold increase on the year before as Beijing seeks to heap pressure on the democratic island.
ph.news.yahoo.com/taiwan-expelle…
This gets less interest than the surge of jet and bomber incursions last year but it is no less significant.
China has long used civilian boats & coastguard to press territorial claims in disputed waters & harass neighbouring vessels -- dubbed "grey zone" tactics.
Jan 25, 2021 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Pretty minimal coverage in Taiwanese media today on the arrest of alleged drug baron Tse Chi Lop despite the fact that Tse (acc to Aussie media) flew from Taiwan to Netherlands before his arrest & the fact that Taiwan-based Bamboo Union triad is part of Sam Gor network
Similarly, most Hong Kong media have simply run translations of wire copy.
Three HK triad groups are part of Sam Gor (14K, Wo Shing Wo, Sun Yee On) and much of the network are Cantonese origin -- Sam Gor means Brother Number Three in Cantonese, a reference to Tse
Jan 24, 2021 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
For anyone interested in Asia’s drug trade this is huge news.
Tse Chi Lop is often compared to El Chapo.
But a better comparison would be Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo in terms of influence & being able to unite even rival organised crime groups.
bbc.com/news/world-asi…
Most of what the public knows about Tse and his Sam Gor cartel is thanks to @tom_allard who wrote this brilliant piece in 2019.
(Police had been quietly on Sam Gor’s tail for years)
Interesting piece looking at some of the tensions within @SCMPNews newsroom as China tightens its grip on Hong Kong
theatlantic.com/international/…
“Journalists who spent hours, sometimes in a haze of tear gas saw their work drastically altered by editors before running in print & online. Police were typically portrayed as hero, the protesters villains, with little explanation or context of each side’s motives & grievances”
Jun 30, 2020 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
Breaking: Maximum sentence of life for Hong Kong security crimes: new law -- @AFP
New law says China has jurisdiction for 'serious' Hong Kong security cases -- @AFP
May 1, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Hong Kong democracy protesters are planning to hold multiple flashmob rallies later Friday, defying restrictions on gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic as anger towards Beijing rekindles — @AFP
news.yahoo.com/hong-kong-brac…
This is the kind of online flyer doing the rounds. We haven’t found a good explanation for why it’s being called Operation Pegasus (the name of a British rescue operation in WW2).
