The world has been astonished at U.S. behavior in enabling the horrific destruction in Gaza, but that country still thinks it's fine to lecture Hong Kong for simply trying to break free of U.S. interference. Richard Cullen reports.
VERY RECENTLY, leading British daily the Guardian ran remarkably informative side-by-side stories covering official United States perspectives…
Opinion
THIS ESSAY CONSIDERS the topic of mouthpieces in "the global west".
First, definitions.
What is a mouthpiece? Where the Mainstream Western Media (MWM) is a primary source of our understanding of life on Earth, it is not difficult to find an answer to this question. Although slanted, it will be a clear answer. You can…
THERE IS AN ACUTE shortage of High Court judges in Hong Kong.
The recent recruitment exercise yielded only four appointments, leaving still a number of vacancies unfilled. Can it be that the problem is largely internal? Self-afflicted?
What if the culture within the judiciary were to change, and judges learn to act in a focussed…
IN 1897, WHEN THE New York Journal told Mark Twain, the humorist, of the rumor he was dying in poverty in London, he was amused. He replied, “The report of my death was an exaggeration,” hoping to nip the story in the bud.
The same can also be said of anybody who predicts Hong…
While Hong Kong was still run by the British, the Basic Law was drawn up, which included an article numbered 23 - which was an acknowledgement that Hong Kong should not be deprived of the security laws that virtually all other places have to keep them safe.
But some Hong Kong people were nervous,…
Sedition is a serious offence in countries around the world, and was made a crime in Hong Kong by the British. But when the city makes any move to codify this principle, it's painted as an shocking outrage with vague insinuations about authoritarianism. Grenville Cross looks at the actual facts of the matter.
THE OFFENCE…
As an international business center, Hong Kong needs a world-class legal system, based on clearly expressed legislation and precedents.
But in recent years, its flexibility has been exploited by people who file muddled, complex, mega-lengthy cases—often ones that don’t even involve them.
Some of these come across as thinly disguised political grandstanding.
Absurd complaints over…
Hong Konger Richard Cullen re-visits Edinburgh and sees proof of a fact that is now well known: capitalism, for all its benefits, brings significant problems too. We can't yet know whether America's or China's systems will solve them. Meanwhile, historic Edinburgh today has joyful tourist parties at its heart but poverty around the edges. …
People with the right to work in modern cities can legally get a dependant’s visa for their spouses. Whether it is a heterosexual couple or a same-sex couple makes no difference. Yet Hong Kong’s immigration chief rejected a woman’s application for her female partner, triggering a legal debate on discrimination and human rights that was…
In Asia, marriages exist as unions between DNA men and DNA women: 48 out of the region’s 51 territories agree on this point.
But the issue is more complex if one of the individuals has changed sex.
Such a case wound its way through Hong Kong courts, creating some interesting issues of law,…