A Hong Kong court has sentenced 12 people to jail terms of up to almost seven years in a high-profile rioting case linked to the storming of the city legislature during a pro-democracy protest in 2019. The incident was a pivotal moment in the months-long protests that embroiled the territory in the boldest populist uprising against Chinese Communist party rule since the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing. Demonstrators broke into Hong Kong’s legislative council building on 1 July 2019, smashing windows and streaming inside as public anger mounted over…
Tag: Carrie Lam
EU voices concerns as former Hong Kong security chief made new leader
The European Union has condemned the appointment of Hong Kong’s former security tsar, who oversaw the crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, as the Chinese territory’s new chief executive with 99% of the vote in a secret ballot on Sunday. Josep Borrell, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, said the selection process that led to John Lee being elected is yet “another step in the dismantling of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle”. The EU “calls on Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to abide by their national and international commitments, notably…
Dozens of Hong Kong officials in Covid quarantine after birthday party
Dozens of senior officials and legislators in Hong Kong have been sent into a 21-day quarantine after they attended a birthday party despite the government’s own pandemic warning. The embarrassing incident came as the city’s new “patriots only” legislature is scheduled to hold its first meeting next week. Concerns had been raised in recent weeks after a number of Omicron cases were identified in Hong Kong. Health officials say they cannot rule out hidden clusters in the community. Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, said it was a “deep disappointment”…