Hong Kong is holding its first legislative council election since China introduced sweeping changes that have altered the city's political landscape.The government says the revamped electoral system will ensure only "patriots" will be allowed to stand for election and eventually hold positions of political power.However, critics say it has weakened the city's democratic voice, eradicating whatever opposition is left.How Is Hong Kong Run?Hong Kong used to be under British c

As the world’s largest, strongest, and longest-surviving dictatorship, contemporary China lacks the rule of law. Yet it is increasingly using its rubber-stamp parliament to enact domestic legislation asserting territorial claims and rights in international law.

President Joe Biden told Southeast Asian nations on Wednesday the United States (US) would stand with them in defending the freedom of the seas and democracy and called China's actions towards Taiwan "coercive" and a threat to peace and stability.Speaking at a virtual East Asia Summit attended by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Biden said Washington would start talks with partners in the Indo-Pacific about developing a regional economic framework, something critics say his regional

Activists on Tuesday called for the postponement of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics as China prepared to receive the Olympic flame, a day after a protest disrupted the lighting ceremony in Olympia."This is sports-washing.

A Hong Kong court convicted a former waiter of terrorism and inciting secession on Tuesday in the first trial conducted under a national security law that was imposed by China to stamp out dissent.The watershed ruling lays down a new marker in the city's changing legal landscape and confirms that certain political slogans are now outlawed in the international finance hub. Tong Ying-kit, 24, was charged with secession and terrorism after he drove a motorbike into three police off

Scuttled listings and share prices hammered by official threats: Beijing has launched a withering and very public assault on some of China's biggest tech names.The travails of ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing this week carried a cautionary tale for digital big hitters: what goes up, can come down...

Hong Kong's leader on Tuesday brushed off a warning by major tech companies including Google, Facebook and Twitter that they may quit the financial hub if authorities push ahead with a new privacy law.City authorities have unveiled plans to pass a new law targeting "doxxing" – the act of publishing someone's private details online so they can be harassed by others.But the broad wording of the proposed legislation has spooked major tech companies who fear they could be held

President Xi Jinping has hailed China's "irreversible" course from humiliated colony to great power at the centenary celebrations for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Thursday, in a speech reaching deep into history to remind patriots at home and rivals abroad of his nation's – and his own – ascendancy.Speaking above the giant portrait of Mao Zedong, which dominates Tiananmen Square, from the podium where the famous chairman proclaimed the People's Republic of Chi

Authorities last week froze HK$18 million (US$2.3 million) of assets owned by three companies linked to Apple Daily.Mark Simon told the BBC that the paper could "do nothing while none of its bank accounts are functioning".Apple Daily, a well-read tabloid, is frequently critical of Hong Kong and mainland Chinese leadership."If you don't have money, you can't order services.

Late last month, the American actor John Cena issued a grovelling public apology after having referred to Taiwan as a “country” in an interview to promote his latest film. Though he was using the term to refer to a linguistic media market with a discrete distribution channel, not to the status of the island of Taiwan in international law, the Chinese government would make no allowance for such distinctions. What are we to make of this episode?