By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Police pepper-sprayed some Hong Kong protesters on Thursday who defied a ban to stage candlelight rallies in memory of China’s bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy crackdown, accusing Beijing of stifling their freedoms too.Scuffles broke out briefly in the working-class Mong Kok area where hundreds had gathered and some demonstrators tried to set up roadblocks with metal barriers, prompting officers to use spray to disperse them, according to Reuters witnesses.It was the first time there had been unrest during the annual Tiananmen vigil in Hong Kong, which...…By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Police pepper-sprayed some Hong Kong protesters on Thursday who defied a ban to stage candlelight rallies in memory of China’s bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy crackdown, accusing Beijing of stifling their freedoms too.Scuffles broke out briefly in the working-class Mong Kok area where hundreds had gathered and some demonstrators tried to set up roadblocks with metal barriers, prompting officers to use spray to disperse them, according to Reuters witnesses.It was the first time there had been unrest during the annual Tiananmen vigil in Hong Kong, which...WW…

By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Senior Hong Kong lawyers expressed alarm on Sunday at plans for the city’s leader to select judges for national security cases, calling it the most serious challenge to the territory’s vaunted judicial independence since the 1997 handover to Chinese rule.The move was among details of a new national security law for Hong Kong released by the official Xinhua news agency on Saturday - legislation that is expected to be passed soon by the standing committee of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress.As well as heading a new local national security council...…By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Senior Hong Kong lawyers expressed alarm on Sunday at plans for the city’s leader to select judges for national security cases, calling it the most serious challenge to the territory’s vaunted judicial independence since the 1997 handover to Chinese rule.The move was among details of a new national security law for Hong Kong released by the official Xinhua news agency on Saturday - legislation that is expected to be passed soon by the standing committee of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress.As well as heading a new local national security council...WW…

By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Small groups of Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrators gathered on Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of an attack in a train station by an armed crowd wearing white shirts, and demanded justice for victims of the violence and broader freedoms.The Yuen Long attack, and the police’s apparent failure to prevent it, exacerbated tensions during protests last year, plunging the global financial hub into its deepest crisis since Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997.Scattered individuals around the Yoho mall and Yuen Long train station chanted...…By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Small groups of Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrators gathered on Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of an attack in a train station by an armed crowd wearing white shirts, and demanded justice for victims of the violence and broader freedoms.The Yuen Long attack, and the police’s apparent failure to prevent it, exacerbated tensions during protests last year, plunging the global financial hub into its deepest crisis since Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997.Scattered individuals around the Yoho mall and Yuen Long train station chanted...WW…

By , , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Global wealth managers are examining whether their clients in Hong Kong have ties to the city’s pro-democracy movement, in an attempt to avoid getting caught in the crosshairs of China’s new national security law, according to six people with knowledge of the matter.The designation, called politically exposed persons, can make it more difficult or altogether prevent people from accessing banking services, depending on what the bank finds about the person’s source of wealth or financial transactions.The checks at some wealth managers have involved combing through...…By , , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Global wealth managers are examining whether their clients in Hong Kong have ties to the city’s pro-democracy movement, in an attempt to avoid getting caught in the crosshairs of China’s new national security law, according to six people with knowledge of the matter.The designation, called politically exposed persons, can make it more difficult or altogether prevent people from accessing banking services, depending on what the bank finds about the person’s source of wealth or financial transactions.The checks at some wealth managers have involved combing through...WW…

By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong’s legislature plunged into chaotic scuffles for a second time this month, as pro-Beijing lawmakers on Monday took control of a key committee, paving the way for a debate on a bill that would criminalise abuse of China’s national anthem.Pro-democracy legislators charged at security guards surrounding pro-establishment lawmaker Chan Kin-Por, who had taken the chairman’s seat in the meeting against procedural objections by the opposition.Guards hauled several legislators out of the chamber, some kicking and shouting. Some tried leaping over the guards from...…By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong’s legislature plunged into chaotic scuffles for a second time this month, as pro-Beijing lawmakers on Monday took control of a key committee, paving the way for a debate on a bill that would criminalise abuse of China’s national anthem.Pro-democracy legislators charged at security guards surrounding pro-establishment lawmaker Chan Kin-Por, who had taken the chairman’s seat in the meeting against procedural objections by the opposition.Guards hauled several legislators out of the chamber, some kicking and shouting. Some tried leaping over the guards from...WW…

By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - The independence of Hong Kong’s judicial system is under assault from the Communist Party leadership in Beijing, senior judges in the city told Reuters, posing the gravest threat to the rule of law since Britain handed its former colony back to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.Even as the novel coronavirus has brought the protests in Hong Kong to a near standstill, the struggle rages on over the future of China’s freest city. Three of Hong Kong’s most senior judges told Reuters that the independent judiciary, the cornerstone of the city’s broad freedoms, is in a fight...…By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - The independence of Hong Kong’s judicial system is under assault from the Communist Party leadership in Beijing, senior judges in the city told Reuters, posing the gravest threat to the rule of law since Britain handed its former colony back to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.Even as the novel coronavirus has brought the protests in Hong Kong to a near standstill, the struggle rages on over the future of China’s freest city. Three of Hong Kong’s most senior judges told Reuters that the independent judiciary, the cornerstone of the city’s broad freedoms, is in a fight...WW…

By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong court adjourned a second hearing on Tuesday of 47 pro-democracy activists charged with conspiracy to commit subversion, a case that has stoked global concern that Beijing is using a national security law to crush the city’s opposition.Lawyers for the defendants are challenging a prosecution bid to deny them bail and keep them in custody for up to three months while police investigate further.The charges are the most sweeping use yet of the national security law that Beijing imposed on its freest city last June, drawing international condemnation.After...…By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong court adjourned a second hearing on Tuesday of 47 pro-democracy activists charged with conspiracy to commit subversion, a case that has stoked global concern that Beijing is using a national security law to crush the city’s opposition.Lawyers for the defendants are challenging a prosecution bid to deny them bail and keep them in custody for up to three months while police investigate further.The charges are the most sweeping use yet of the national security law that Beijing imposed on its freest city last June, drawing international condemnation.After...WW…

By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai became the highest-profile person arrested under a new national security law on Monday, detained over suspected collusion with foreign forces as around 200 police searched the offices of his Apple Daily newspaper.Mainland-born Lai, who was smuggled into the British colony of Hong Kong on a fishing boat when he was a penniless 12-year-old, has been one of the most prominent democracy activists in the now Chinese-ruled city and an ardent critic of Beijing.His arrest comes amid Beijing’s crackdown against pro-democracy opposition in...…By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai became the highest-profile person arrested under a new national security law on Monday, detained over suspected collusion with foreign forces as around 200 police searched the offices of his Apple Daily newspaper.Mainland-born Lai, who was smuggled into the British colony of Hong Kong on a fishing boat when he was a penniless 12-year-old, has been one of the most prominent democracy activists in the now Chinese-ruled city and an ardent critic of Beijing.His arrest comes amid Beijing’s crackdown against pro-democracy opposition in...WW…

By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - China’s plan to dramatically reform Hong Kong’s electoral system, expected to be unveiled in a parliamentary session in Beijing starting this week, will upend the territory’s political scene, according to more than a dozen politicians from across the spectrum.The proposed reform will put further pressure on pro-democracy activists, who are already the subject of a crackdown on dissent, and has ruffled the feathers of some pro-Beijing loyalists, some of whom may find themselves swept aside by a new and ambitious crop of loyalists, the people said.“It will be an...…By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - China’s plan to dramatically reform Hong Kong’s electoral system, expected to be unveiled in a parliamentary session in Beijing starting this week, will upend the territory’s political scene, according to more than a dozen politicians from across the spectrum.The proposed reform will put further pressure on pro-democracy activists, who are already the subject of a crackdown on dissent, and has ruffled the feathers of some pro-Beijing loyalists, some of whom may find themselves swept aside by a new and ambitious crop of loyalists, the people said.“It will be an...WW…

By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Police pepper-sprayed some Hong Kong protesters on Thursday who defied a ban to stage candlelight rallies in memory of China’s bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy crackdown, accusing Beijing of stifling their freedoms too.Scuffles broke out briefly in the working-class Mong Kok area where hundreds had gathered and some demonstrators tried to set up roadblocks with metal barriers, prompting officers to use spray to disperse them, according to Reuters witnesses.It was the first time there had been unrest during the annual Tiananmen vigil in Hong Kong, which...…By , HONG KONG (Reuters) - Police pepper-sprayed some Hong Kong protesters on Thursday who defied a ban to stage candlelight rallies in memory of China’s bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy crackdown, accusing Beijing of stifling their freedoms too.Scuffles broke out briefly in the working-class Mong Kok area where hundreds had gathered and some demonstrators tried to set up roadblocks with metal barriers, prompting officers to use spray to disperse them, according to Reuters witnesses.It was the first time there had been unrest during the annual Tiananmen vigil in Hong Kong, which...WW…