The Pulse

Labour Unrest in Guangzhou

Simmering tensions in labour relations in the mainland are sometimes exacerbated by the tough conditions faced by migrant workers. Now and again, these tensions bubble over into open confrontation, as they did last weekend...

Do We Need a Third Runway?

Does Hong Kong airport need a new runway? The Airport Authority is currently holding a public consultaiton on options for expansion in the future. And the government highly favours the construction of a new railway, at con...

Influence Peddling in Government?

This week, legislators examined the question of whether undue influence was exerted in the awarding of one IT contract. Jeremy Godfrey, who has resigned from the Civil Service, says he was told the contract had to b...

Article 23 Resurfaces

Lately, with the current Chief Executive nearing the end of his term, people have been raising the question of whether the next CE should act to introduce national security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law.This wee...

Illegal Structures

In May, New Territories villagers were asking the government to let them keep illegal structures they’ve added to their houses over the years. The government denied it had been lax over such structures.But in the wake of that, sig...

The 1911 Xinhai or Chinese Revolution began with the Wuchang Uprising on October 10th of that year, and resulted in the abdication of Emperor Puyi on February 12, the following year. It was largely motivated by anger at government corruption, frustrati...

Do concerns about the environment stand in the way of progress? The Chief Executive seems to think so, judging from his comments in the Legislative Council last week. Or at least, he believes that political parties are using environmental concerns for ...

According to at least one American pastor, now widely believed to have been mistaken, the end of the world was coming the day after our broadcast, or at least the beginning of the end. Well, until it actually does come, at least before the end of Augus...

Under proposed new by-election rules, if the legislator you voted for, at least in a geographical constituency, resigns, falls ill or dies, he or she is likely to be replaced by someone who stands for exactly the opposite of what you voted for. It’s a ...

Under proposed new by-election rules, if the legislator you voted for, at least in a geographical constituency, resigns, falls ill or dies, he or she is likely to be replaced by someone who stands for exactly the opposite of what you voted for. It’s a ...