VANCOUVER—The B.C. Supreme Court is scheduled to begin hearing evidence this week in the extradition case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Five days of evidentiary hearings are scheduled starting today on whether her arrest and detention was conducted lawfully. Meng is facing fraud charges in the United States but denies the allegations that she misrepresented […]

This article has been updated with the latest information. Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy activist, was arrested Monday morning on allegations of violating the city’s new national security law imposed by Beijing. His arrest marks the most overt action taken by Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing Lam government under the central government’s law. […]

HONG KONG—Hong Kong’s economy shrank by 9 percent from a year earlier in the latest quarter, hurt by the coronavirus pandemic and facing more potential damage from the loss of U.S. trade privileges due to a security law imposed by Beijing. The performance reported Wednesday for the three months ending in June was an improvement […]

BEIJING—The top decision-making body of China’s rubber-stamp legislature will review a draft of national security legislation for Hong Kong during a session in Beijing that began on Thursday, state-media mouthpiece official Xinhua news agency reported. The draft legislation specifies the definition of four crimes: separatist activity, state subversion, terrorist activity, and collusion with foreign forces, […]

OTTAWA—A Canadian legal activist is warning the federal government to grant asylum to democracy activists in Hong Kong and expanded settlement to those with links to Canada before China prevents them from leaving. The warning came Monday from Avvy Go, the director of the Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, which has already helped bring […]

OTTAWA—Canada joined with its major allies Thursday in condemning China for imposing a new national security law on Hong Kong, one day after a contentious B.C. court ruling in the Meng Wanzhou affair. The statement of “deep concern” with the United States, Australia, and Britain comes as experts are warning that two Canadians imprisoned in China […]

This article has been updated with the latest information. In Hong Kong, a legislative debate on the controversial national anthem bill went ahead as scheduled on May 27, as local protesters decided not to surround the Legislative Council (LegCo) building as originally planned on social media. On Wednesday morning, a large number of riot police […]

Australian lawyers are demanding the immediate release of pro-democracy activists who are jailed in Hong Kong. At least 14 veteran activists were arrested on the weekend and charged for their roles in massive anti-government protests in Hong Kong last year. Among those arrested were 81-year-old former lawmaker Martin Lee and human rights barrister Margaret Ng. […]

HONOLULU—Bail will remain at $5 million for a mother arrested in Hawaii over the disappearance of her two Idaho children, a judge ruled Wednesday. Lori Vallow wore an orange jumpsuit in court on the Hawaiian island of Kauai for a hearing on her request to reduce bail. After the judge denied the request, her defense […]

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam has refused to provide details behind her government’s decision to block the director of an international Human Rights Group from entering the city. Human Rights Watch (HRW) executive director Kenneth Roth was denied entry into Hong Kong on Jan. 12. He was set to announce the release of the organization’s […]

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam sided with Beijing’s longstanding rhetoric against the United States on Sept. 10, when she called the U.S. Congress a “foreign” influence trying to interfere with the city’s internal affairs. “It’s extremely inappropriate for foreign parliaments to interfere in HKSAR [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region] internal affairs in any way, and […]

HONG KONG—Thousands of Hong Kong protesters on Sunday chanted the Star Spangled Banner and called on U.S. President Donald Trump to “liberate” the city, the latest in a series of demonstrations that have gripped the territory since June. Police stood by as protesters, under a sea of umbrellas against the sub-tropical sun, waved the Stars […]

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s latest comments about her decision to withdraw a controversial extradition bill have been criticized by Hong Kong pro-democracy Civic Party. On Sept. 5, Lam held a press conference where she reaffirmed her decision to withdraw the bill, which was announced via a pre-recorded television address a day earlier. Lam stated […]

HONG KONG—High school students gathered for a rally on Aug. 22 to protest the government’s response to the extradition bill crisis and call for international support. The crowd chanted “Hong Kong stay strong, the revolution of our times,” as protests entered their 11th consecutive week, stemming from opposition to an extradition bill that would allow […]

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence warned Beijing that any violent crackdown in Hong Kong on protesters would harm the Sino-U.S. trade talks, reiterating a remark made by the U.S. President Donald Trump a day earlier. “For the United States to make a deal with China, Beijing needs to honor its commitments—beginning with the commitment China […]

Distinguishing facts from propaganda during two months of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong is difficult, but important realities now appear clear. China solemnly agreed to special status for Hong Kong in the 1984 Sino–British Joint Declaration. It promised a “high degree of autonomy,” and declared that democracy, the rule of law, and basic human rights […]

Hong Kong was rocked by mass demonstrations and clashes between protesters and police on Aug. 11, as protesters shifted tactics to flash mob-style encounters with police in the 10th straight weekend of unrest. Demonstrators recently adopted a strategy of retreating when pressed by police, only to reemerge en masse at another location. Police, in response, […]

HONG KONG—The United States raised its travel warning for Hong Kong, urging increased caution by visitors to the Chinese territory in the face of what it described as civil unrest after months of sometimes violent street protests. The protests in the Asian financial hub began with opposition to a now-suspended extradition law and have evolved […]

HONG KONG—Student unions from two Hong Kong universities said on July 5 that they have turned down invitations from city leader Carrie Lam for talks about the recent unrest over her proposal to allow the extradition of suspects to mainland China. Student leaders said at a news conference that they do not think Lam is […]

HONG KONG—Young people in Hong Kong have been at the forefront of violent protests over a proposed extradition law that have shaken the city and angered the Chinese regime. At the root of the protests is concern over what many people see as the inexorable erosion of civil liberties and the city’s autonomy by an […]

A Hong Kong pro-democracy politician said July 1 that the city will not welcome the governance by the Chinese Communist Party, as over half a million people took to the streets to protest Beijing’s growing encroachment. “Citizens of Hong Kong will not accept today’s so-called Beijing government in all respects,” Johnny Mak, district councillor and […]

HONG KONG—More than 1,000 people, mostly students dressed in black, rallied outside government offices in Hong Kong on June 28 as protests over a controversial extradition bill that has plunged the city into turmoil showed no signs of let-up. Embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam suspended the bill, that would allow people to be sent […]

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE—Some foreign wealth managers are scrapping plans to open offices in Hong Kong in favor of Singapore, as the rich begin to move funds from the Chinese territory where a new extradition bill has stoked public unrest, people familiar with the matter said. A mid-sized European private wealth advisory firm has abandoned a plan […]

HONG KONG—Immigration consultants in Hong Kong have seen a dramatic surge in inquiries, especially from the young, after mass protests against an extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China from the Asian financial hub for trial. Millions of people have taken to the streets in recent weeks in some of […]

Beijing is engaged in a “whole-of-government” campaign to destabilize Taiwan with military force, as well as political and economic influence, a senior Pentagon official said. While Taiwan is a self-ruled island with its own democratically-elected government, constitution, and military, China considers it a renegade province that must be united with the mainland, by force if […]

Thirty-two ex-officials and retired lawmakers in Hong Kong have signed an open letter on June 23 calling for the city’s leader Carrie Lam to immediately announce the withdrawal of a controversial extradition bill that drew millions of protesters to the streets in recent weeks. The letter, initially signed by 27 former government officials on June […]

China urgently summoned a senior U.S. envoy in Beijing in a formal protest after several U.S. lawmakers condemned Hong Kong’s controversial extradition bill. In a statement dated on June 14, vice foreign minister Le Yucheng said that he summoned U.S. diplomat Robert Forden to express China’s strong opposition over the recent “irresponsible remarks and actions” […]

Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam tried to defend her government in the face of public condemnation over the brutal crackdown of peaceful demonstrators who oppose the proposed amendments to the extradition law. In a recent interview, she compared herself to a loving mother and the one million protesters to “wayward children”—a type of communist […]

HONG KONG—Hong Kong authorities were shutting government offices in the city’s financial district for the rest of the week after a day of violence over an extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial. In the morning on June 13, around 20 protesters milled about as a widespread cleanup […]

Allegations of inappropriate political interference in SNC-Lavalin’s prosecution and a former justice minister’s resignation have the Liberal government reeling.