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World

China Must Reform Hong Kong Election Rules, Carrie Lam Says

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Hong Kong’s leader said it is “crystal clear” that Beijing needs to reform the financial hub’s electoral system, just a day after China’s top official for the city signaled major changes were coming.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said political unrest in the former British colony, including massive protests in 2019, had forced Beijing to ensure the city is governed by patriotic officials.

“It is crystal clear we have reached a stage where the central authorities will have to take action to address the situation, including electoral reform,” Lam said at a press conference Tuesday morning. “I can understand that the central authorities are very concerned. They don’t want the situation to deteriorate further.”

Beijing’s top official for the city said on Monday that China faces the “critical and urgent” task of overhauling the way Hong Kong handles its elections. Beijing needed to implement reforms “to ensure that Hong Kong’s governance is firmly controlled by patriots,” Xia Baolong, director of China’s cabinet-level Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said.

Speaking to the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, Xia said that to improve Hong Kong’s electoral system, “relevant legal loopholes within the framework of the Constitution and the Basic Law” need to be closed — and that it was up to the central government to communicate those changes to the local administration.

Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg

Hong Kong’s Courts Are the Last Check on Beijing’s Growing Power

His remarks followed a number of articles and comments in Chinese state media, and are the latest sign that China is contemplating further curbs to Hong Kong’s already-limited democracy, where a committee of business and political elites selects the city’s leader and Beijing retains veto power.

Election Committee

Beijing intends to limit the influence of opposition groups on the 1,200-member body that picks the chief executive, taking seats from pro-democracy politicians and assigning them to pro-China loyalists, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people familiar with the proposal. The changes would pass during an annual session of China’s legislature in March, the report said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin declined to comment on “speculative reports” during a press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday. Individuals in Hong Kong’s government should be patriots, he added.

Beijing is considering eliminating the 117 Election Committee seats held by district councilors, many of them members of the pro-democracy camp, local media outlets reported. Those officials are elected to run some of the lowest levels of Hong Kong’s government, typically dealing with issues such as traffic or garbage collection.

Pro-democracy politicians made some inroads on the committee with a landslide victory in district council elections in late 2019, increasing their share of seats. That influence was eroded when the government delayed a Legislative Council election in September last year that could have seen democracy advocates score another win. Their sway was further diminished when opposition lawmakers were disqualified and then resigned en masse late last year.

China’s Selective Reading of Deng Xiaoping: Matthew Brooker

China has taken various steps to stamp out dissent in the former British colony since the sometimes-violent protests, most notably by imposing a sweeping national security law last year. Beijing also allowed the local government to disqualify lawmakers who were insufficiently patriotic. In comments to Lam in late January, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Hong Kong should be governed by “patriots” in order to ensure the city’s stability following unprecedented unrest in 2019.

Hong Kong plans to change a law so that district councilors must pledge their allegiance to China, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang said at a briefing on Tuesday. Those who do not will be barred from running for office for five years, he said.

Last month Hong Kong asked all civil servants appointed before July 1, 2020, to sign a declaration that they will uphold the city’s laws. Lam told lawmakers earlier this month that district councilors should have to take an oath.

In the past, China “didn’t want to directly intervene at the district level,” said Dongshu Liu, an assistant professor of Chinese politics at City University of Hong Kong. “This current move indicates they are trying to push their control deeper into Hong Kong society.”

Riot police fire tear gas during a protest in May 2020.

Photographer: May James/Bloomberg

Lam added Tuesday that a potential law banning insulting public officials was not at an advanced stage, but many people in her government wanted the legislation. “Many public officers on the front lines in recent years have been intimidated, threatened and insulted in carrying out their duties,” she said.

Local media outlets have reported that the city’s government was considering such a law, which would mark the biggest move to limit freedom of speech in Hong Kong after China imposed a broad national security law last year in the wake of mass demonstrations in 2019.

China’s Xi Signals More Hong Kong Curbs With Call for ‘Patriots’

Lam said in in a news conference on Monday that reforms would not be designed to limit the influence of pro-democracy politicians but that no one in government should engage in unpatriotic activities, such as colluding with foreign powers to subvert China’s central government.

“This need to change the electoral system and arrangements in Hong Kong is for one single purpose, that is to make sure that whoever is governing Hong Kong is patriotic,” she said. “It applies to various aspects of the political structure, including the executive, the legislative, the judiciary, the district councils and the civil service.”

— With assistance by Iain Marlow, Kari Soo Lindberg, Jing Li, Chloe Lo, and Colum Murphy

(Updates with Hong Kong requiring district councilors to pledge allegiance to China and Foreign Ministry comment. A previous version of this story corrected the day the city was expected to unveil rules for district councilor oaths to Tuesday.)

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World

Hong Kong introduces sweeping national security rules for schools

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For years, parents and students in the semi-autonomous city have feared a shift toward China-style “patriotic education,” with a previous attempt to introduce such a curriculum defeated by mass protests in 2012. The new rules, coming in the wake of both the new security law and a crackdown on the city’s opposition movement, go far beyond what was previously mooted.

“Schools have a significant role to play” in this, he added.

Speaking at a news conference Thursday, Ip Kin-yuen, a former lawmaker and vice chairman of the Professional Teachers’ Union, criticized the government for announcing the new policies without consulting teachers and parents.

“There is a lot of sensitivity and unpredictability when it comes to national security law education,” he said. “It will bring about huge pressure and anxiety among principals and teachers.”

New rules

The new policies are outlined in a series of circulars seen by CNN, as well as new teaching materials, including videos, picture books, and graphics, with cartoon Chinese soldiers and local police officers helping students understand their “responsibilities” under the security law.

They go into granular detail over how national security issues should be taught across a range of subjects, from general studies and history to biology and music, as well as how administrators and teachers should handle discipline issues and failure to respect the new guidelines.

Both teachers and students who contravene the rules face potential censure, with administrators advised to involve the police in the event of “serious” offenses, while books and other materials deemed to be contrary to national security are to be removed from school grounds, though little precise guidance is offered for what materials are covered.

“If an employee is found to have committed any act of disrespecting the country, the school should give appropriate advice or warning, and pay attention to this employee’s future performance accordingly,” the rules state.

Students, both university and high school, were at the forefront of anti-government, pro-democracy protests which rocked Hong Kong for much of 2019. During the unrest and in the run-up to the national security law being introduced, many pro-government figures blamed the city’s liberal education curriculum, as well as teachers, for supposedly radicalizing the city’s young people.

“We lost two generations, we lost them through the schools,” a top adviser to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam told CNN at the height of the unrest.

“The fundamental problem is that you have a whole generation of young people who are not just dead against, but actually hate China,” the aide said, on the condition on anonymity. “How are you going to have ‘one country, two systems’ work if you have a whole generation hating that country?”

While members of the city’s democratic opposition have dismissed these claims, pointing out that many of them did not receive the supposedly radical lessons, which were only introduced in 2009, this has not stopped the push to “reform” Hong Kong’s education system.

In her annual policy address last November, Lam, the city’s Beijing-appointed leader, said the 2019 protests had “led many to question again the effectiveness of Hong Kong’s education.”

“We cannot bear to see that with the infiltration of politics into school campuses, students are drawn into political turbulence or even misled to engage in illegal and violent acts, for which they have to take legal responsibilities that will impact on their lives,” Lam said, adding it was “the shared responsibility of the government, society, education sector and parents to find a way to protect our students.”

Political controls

Under the new guidelines, inculcation of the tenets of national security will start early.

Kindergartens — both private and public — will be expected to instill in their students a greater knowledge of “Chinese history, Chinese culture, and moral education,” which the guidelines say will “gradually build up students’ identity as a Chinese and thus lay the foundation for national security education.”

Beginning at the age of 6, all students in Hong Kong will receive new lessons aimed at helping them “understand the country’s history and development, the importance of national security, the national flag, national emblem and national anthem.”

Primary school students will be instructed in singing the national anthem and raising the flag, while older children will discuss the rationale behind the law itself, and the importance of institutions such as the People’s Liberation Army.

Nor are international schools — which are popular among both foreign residents and wealthier locals — exempt from the new guidelines.

While private educational institutions are not directly under the control of the EDB, the rules issued Thursday state that international and private schools “have the responsibility to help their students (regardless of their ethnicity and nationality) acquire a correct and objective understanding … of the concept of national security and the National Security Law, as well as the duty to cultivate a law-abiding spirit among their students.”

Hong Kong’s education system is already notoriously intense for students, while the city’s international schools command high fees and are tough to gain admission to, meaning the new rules might be the final straw for some parents who were already considering moving abroad.
This week, the United Kingdom launched its resettlement program for holders of British Nationals (Overseas) passports, of which there are an estimated 3 million in Hong Kong. The Chinese government has reacted angrily to the plan and said it will no longer recognize BN(O) documents, but still an estimated 300,000 people are expected to relocate to the UK.

Others are moving to Canada and Australia, where many Hong Kongers hold dual residency, while several prominent activists and politicians have sought asylum in the UK, Germany and the United States.

“The (exodus) is already happening, especially for families with small kids,” opposition lawmaker Lester Shum said last year. “If I put myself in their shoes, I can understand the fear and the worry that they have about the next generation. Children cannot reasonably have bright prospects or a bright future in Hong Kong, and so in order to protect that … it’s understandable why people want to leave.”

Concerns for teachers

For school employees, both administrators and teachers, the new rules open up the concerning possibility of being reported by students for contravening national security, something that could result in them losing their jobs or, in extreme incidences, being arrested.

Last year, the city’s former leader, CY Leung, launched a campaign to name and shame teachers he said had been involved in the 2019 protests, posting their personal details on his Facebook page and calling for them to be fired.
In mainland China, such reporting of teachers who go against the Party line is relatively routine, both on high school and university campuses, and regular campaigns are conducted to ensure educators’ ideological purity, while “student information officers” compile dossiers on teachers deemed to be insufficiently patriotic.

While for many older Chinese these practices have worrying echoes of the Cultural Revolution, in which teenage Red Guards frequently abused and even murdered teachers, such campaigns have ramped up under Chinese President Xi Jinping.

On Thursday, China’s government issued new guidelines for “strengthening the work of the Chinese Young Pioneers,” (CYP) a Communist Party youth wing which “serves as a school for children to learn about socialism with Chinese characteristics and communism.”

“The guideline stressed upholding the Party’s leadership over the CYP work, and following the fundamental task of nurturing capable young people who are well-prepared to join the communist cause,” according to state news agency Xinhua.

The Young Pioneers operate similarly to the Scouts, but with a distinctly political bent, wearing a uniform red scarf tied around their necks. Per the new guidelines, they will be encouraged to engage more with schools and youth groups in Hong Kong and Macao, so as to enhance the “national, ethnic and cultural identity” of young people in these territories.

CNN’s Eric Cheung contributed reporting.

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World

Britain launches new visa for millions of Hongkongers fleeing China’s crackdown | Hong Kong

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A new visa scheme offering millions of Hong Kong residents a pathway to British citizenship will go live on Sunday as the UK opens its doors to those wanting to escape China’s crackdown on dissent.

From Sunday afternoon, anyone with a British national overseas (BNO) passport and their dependents will be able to apply online for a visa allowing them to live and work in the UK. After five years they can then apply for citizenship.

The immigration scheme is a response to Beijing’s decision last year to impose a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong to snuff out huge and often violent democracy protests.

Britain has accused China of tearing up its promise ahead of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover that the financial hub would maintain key liberties and autonomy for 50 years. London argued it has a moral duty to protect its former colonial subjects.

“We have honoured our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong, and we have stood up for freedom and autonomy,” prime minister Boris Johnson said of the scheme this week.

China has reacted with fury to the visa offer and announced on Friday BNO passports would no longer be recognised as a legitimate travel or ID document.

The move was largely symbolic as Hongkongers tend to use their own passports or ID cards to leave the city.

But Beijing said it was prepared to take “further measures”, raising fears authorities might try to stop Hongkongers from leaving for Britain.

Cindy, who landed in London last week, is one of thousands of Hong Kongers fleeing their hometown since Beijing imposed a draconian national security law on the territory last summer.

“To uproot ourselves like this is definitely not easy. But things got uglier last year, the government was really driving us away,” said the businesswoman and mother of two young children who did not give her family name because she feared repercussions for speaking out against the Chinese government. “Everything we value – freedom of speech, fair elections, liberties – has been eroded. It’s no longer the Hong Kong we knew, it’s no longer somewhere we can call home.

“The Chinese government said it hasn’t ruled out harsher tactics,” she said. “I think they could lash out if tens of thousands of young professionals start leaving, because that would surely upset Hong Kong’s economy and they wouldn’t like that at all.”

It is not clear how many Hongkongers will take up the offer, especially as the coronavirus restricts global flights and mires much of the world, including Britain, in a painful economic malaise.

A BNO passport is available to about 70% of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million population and applications skyrocketed more than 300% since the national security law was imposed last July, with 733,000 registered holders as of mid-January.

Britain predicts up to 154,000 Hong Kongers could arrive over the next year and as many as 322,000 over five years.

Recently, the BNO passport has become one of the few ways out for Hongkongers hoping to start a new life overseas as authorities conduct mass arrests against democracy supporters and move to purge the restless city of dissenting views.

Stella, a former marketing professional, plans to move to Britain imminently with her husband and three-year-old son.

“The national security law in 2020 gave us one last kick because the provisions are basically criminalising free speech,” she said.

Under the visa scheme, those hoping to move have to show they have enough funds to sustain both themselves and their dependents for at least six months.

Hongkongers already in Britain who are involved in helping others relocate say many of the early applicants tend to be educated middle-class people, often with young families, who have enough liquidity to finance their move.

“Most people we spoke with are families with primary school or nursery age kids,” Nic, an activist with a group called Lion Rock Hill UK, said, asking for anonymity.

Earlier this week Britain said around 7,000 people moved over the last six months under a separate Leave Outside the Rules (LOTR) system. They will also be able to apply for the pathway-to-citizenship visas.

“The BNO is definitely a lifeboat for Hong Kongers,” Mike, a medical scientist who recently relocated with his family to the city of Manchester, said.

Agence France-Presse and Associated Press contributed to this report.

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World

Thousands flee Hong Kong for UK, fearing China crackdown

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LONDON — Cindy had a comfortable lifestyle in Hong Kong: she owned several properties with her husband, they had a good business going. But last year she made up her mind to leave it all behind and move her family to Britain, and not even a global pandemic was going to sway her decision.

“To uproot ourselves like this is definitely not easy. But things got uglier last year, the government was really driving us away,” said the businesswoman and mother of two young children who didn’t give her family name because she feared repercussions for speaking out against the Chinese government. “Everything we value – freedom of speech, fair elections, liberties – has been eroded. It’s no longer the Hong Kong we knew, it’s no longer somewhere we can call home.”

Cindy, who landed in London last week, is one of thousands of Hong Kongers fleeing their hometown since Beijing imposed a draconian national security law on the territory last summer.

Some are leaving because they fear punishment for supporting pro-democracy protests. But many others, like her, say China’s encroachment on their way of life and civil liberties has become unbearable, and they want to seek a better future for their children abroad. Most say they don’t plan to ever go back.

Many firmed up their exit plans after Britain announced in July that it would open a special immigration pathway for up to 5 million eligible Hong Kongers to live, work and eventually settle in the U.K.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this week the offer shows Britain is honoring its “profound ties of history” with Hong Kong, a former colony that reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 on the understanding that it would retain its Western-style freedoms and much of its political autonomy not seen on mainland China.

Applications for the British National Overseas visa officially open Sunday, though many like Wong have already arrived on British soil to get a head start. Eligible Hong Kongers can currently come to the U.K. for six months, but from Sunday they can apply for the right to live and work in the country for five years. After that, they can apply for settled status and then British citizenship.

Britain’s government said some 7,000 people with British National Overseas (BNO) status have arrived since July. It estimates that over 300,000 people will take up the offer of extended residency rights in the next five years.

Wong said she wanted to leave as soon as possible because she feared Beijing would soon move to halt the exodus.

Protesters hold a British National passport and Hong Kong colonial flag in a shopping mall during a protest against China’s national security legislation in May 2020.
Kin Cheung, file/AP

“The Chinese government said it hasn’t ruled out harsher tactics,” she said. “I think they could lash out if tens of thousands of young professionals start leaving, because that would surely upset Hong Kong’s economy and they wouldn’t like that at all.”

Beijing said Friday it will no longer recognize the BNO passport as a travel document or form of identification, and criticized Britain’s citizenship offer as a move that “seriously infringed” on China’s sovereignty. It was unclear what effect the announcement would have because many Hong Kongers carry multiple passports.

Beijing drastically hardened its stance on Hong Kong after massive anti-government protests in 2019 turned violent and plunged the city into a months-long crisis. Since the security law’s enactment, dozens of pro-democracy activists have been arrested, and the movement’s young leaders have either been jailed or fled abroad.

Because the new law broadly defined acts of subversion, secession, foreign collusion and terrorism, many in Hong Kong fear that expressing any form of political opposition – even posting messages on social media – could land them in trouble.

“I think if you knew when to shut up, you’ll be OK staying in Hong Kong,” said 39-year-old Fan, who also recently arrived in London. Like Wong, he didn’t want to provide his full name. “But I don’t want to do that. I can complain about the queen if I wanted to – I can say anything here.”

Fan, an animator, had sold his flat in Hong Kong and plans to slowly build a new life in Britain – a country he had never even visited before. He won’t be alone in starting from scratch.

“This is a really unique emigration wave – some people haven’t had time to actually visit the country they’re relocating to. Many have no experience of living abroad,” said Miriam Lo, who runs Excelsior UK, a relocation agency. “And because of the pandemic, they couldn’t even come over to view a home before deciding to buy.”

The British government estimates there are 2.9 million BNO status holders eligible to move to the U.K., with a further 2.3 million eligible dependants. The U.K. introduced BNO passports in the 1980s for people who were a “British dependent territories citizen by connection with Hong Kong.” Until recently, the passports had limited benefits because they did not confer nationality or the right to live and work in Britain.

Cindy, the businesswoman, was still recovering from jetlag, but she’s upbeat about her future.

“We want to bring Hong Kong’s energy, our resources and our finances here,” she said. “The move is for our kids, sure. But we want to build a whole new life here for ourselves too.”

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Technology

New cheat code discovered in Donkey Kong 64 over 20 years after its release

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Even thought Donkey Kong 64 came out over 20 years ago, people are still poking around in the game to see what they can find. This has led to the discovery of a never-before-seen cheat code.

The code allows players to gain access to a level with a lower level of Golden Bananas than normally required. Here are the lowered numbers after the code is entered.

Angry Aztec – 3 Golden Bananas (Diddy)

Frantic Factory – 10 Golden Bananas (Tiny)

Gloomy Galleon – 20 Golden Bananas (Lanky)

Fungi Forest – 35 Golden Bananas (Chunky)

Crystal Caves – 50 Golden Bananas (DK)

Creepy Castle – 65 Golden Bananas (Lanky)

You can see the code in action via the video above. If you want to see the step-by-step process on how to try the code for yourself, you can read the full details here.

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World

Hong Kong BN(O) visa: UK prepares to welcome thousands fleeing national security law

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Last year, China imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong that critics say has stripped the city of its autonomy and precious civil and social freedoms, while cementing Beijing’s authoritarian rule over the territory. Since then, many prominent activists and politicians have fled, while others have begun quietly arranging to move overseas.

The law criminalizes secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces, and carries with it a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Under the new program, those with BN(O) status and their eligible family members will be able to travel to the UK to live, study and work, becoming eligible for settlement in the UK in five years, and citizenship 12 months after that.
In a statement Friday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said by taking this move, “we have honored our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong, and we have stood up for freedom and autonomy — values both the UK and Hong Kong hold dear.”

According to data from the UK Home Office, acquired by CNN through a freedom of information request, since July 2019, when anti-government protests broke out across the city, over 400,000 BN(O) passports have been issued to Hong Kong residents, more than the total number issued for the previous 15 years.

At the time the national security law was proposed, the number of passports issued jumped from 7,515 in June 2020, to over 24,000 in July. Those numbers may also be lower than the amount of people applying, as the coronavirus pandemic appears to have impacted the processing of passports last summer.

Before the UK announced the new path to citizenship, there were around 350,000 BN(O) passport holders, but the number of people who are eligible — those born before 1997, in British-ruled Hong Kong — could be as high as 3 million.

China has reacted angrily to the proposed plan, claiming it breaches the agreement under which Hong Kong was handed over from British to Chinese rule, which London in turn argues the national security law undermines.

In a regular press conference Friday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian accused the UK of “disregarding the fact that Hong Kong has returned to the motherland for 24 years” and violating promises made at the time of handover.

He said the BN(O) path to citizenship “seriously violates China’s sovereignty, grossly interferes in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs, and seriously violates international law and basic norms of international relations.”

From January 31, Zhao said, China will no longer recognize BN(O) passports as travel documents or identification proof, “and reserves the right to take further measures.”

It’s not clear what practical effects such a move would have, however, as most Hong Kong residents, whether foreign or Chinese nationals, use locally-issued identification cards for the purposes of entering or exiting the territory, and also for most identification purposes. Many of those who are eligible for a BN(O) passport will also be entitled to apply for, and may already hold, a Hong Kong passport, which can also be used for these purposes.

BN(O) passports have never been fully accepted for travel to mainland China, where ethnic Chinese Hong Kong residents use a “home return” permit along with their Hong Kong identification card or passport.

Given the limited scope of this immediate response, many have suggested further steps could be coming, especially if a large number of people exit Hong Kong in coming months.

According to the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper, the Beijing government has mulled stripping BN(O) holders in Hong Kong of the right to hold public office and potentially even the right to vote.
Writing earlier this month, Regina Ip, a member of Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam’s cabinet, suggested that as a result of the UK’s move, Beijing could revoke the right of Hong Kongers to hold dual citizenship, something not enjoyed by people on the mainland, and impose Chinese nationality laws fully on the city.

“Thereafter, Hong Kong Chinese who acquire a foreign nationality of their own free will, will be deemed to have lost Chinese nationality, in strict accordance with Article 9 of the Chinese Nationality Law,” Ip said. “When they make a conscious decision to leave and, by implication, give up on Hong Kong, it is only right that they should be asked to make their choice — China or a foreign country — foreign citizenship or the right of abode and the right to vote in Hong Kong.”

Despite this and other threats, researchers estimate as many as 600,000 Hong Kongers could move to the UK within the first three years of the policy, and potentially far more, as continued crackdowns under the national security law prompt people to leave.

Nor might BN(O) holders be the only people leaving. Around the time of the 1997 handover, many Hong Kongers acquired foreign citizenship, especially in Commonwealth countries such as Canada and Australia, both of which had generous immigration policies at the time.

Pro democracy activists and protesters who do not hold foreign nationality have also begun applying for asylum overseas in greater numbers, particularly in the wake of a crackdown last year on those who took part in the 2019 unrest.

In December 2020, former lawmaker Ted Hui dramatically fled Hong Kong, taking advantage of a fake environmental conference to jump his bail, and has now sought asylum in the UK. Nathan Law, a prominent former lawmaker and leader of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, has also claimed asylum there, while others have sought protection in Germany, the US, and Australia.

Escaping overseas does not always equal complete freedom: Law and other exiles have complained of being tailed and even harassed by people they believe are agents of the Chinese government, a charge Beijing’s representatives have denied. They are also limited in what communications they can have with family and friends back in Hong Kong, for fear of getting them in trouble with the authorities.

While most BN(O) holders living in the UK are unlikely to be monitored in such a way, the intense political environment around the new scheme may make it difficult to return for those who decide they do not want to stay in Britain.

Ray Wong, an activist who fled to Germany in 2017, becoming among the first Hong Kongers to gain asylum in Europe, told CNN last year that he missed “basically everything in Hong Kong.”

“I miss being surrounded by Hong Kong people, being surrounded by Cantonese-speaking people,” he said. “I even miss the very unpleasant climate.”

CNN’s Jenni Marsh and Angela Dewan contributed reporting.

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Business

Kuaishou, TikTok’s rival in China, wants to raise more than $6 billion in Hong Kong IPO

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Kuaishou, a tech company based in Beijing, is seeking to raise as much as $6.2 billion in a stock market listing in Hong Kong, according to details of the planned IPO shared with CNN Business by a source familiar with the deal.

The company, whose name means “fast hand” in Chinese, plans to issue about 365 million shares priced between 105 and 115 Hong Kong dollars ($13.55 and $14.84). At the top of that range, it would raise 42 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $5.4 billion. Issuing more shares in an over-allotment option could bring its haul to $6.2 billion.

That puts Kuaishou on track to become the largest IPO since Saudi Aramco shattered records with a nearly $30 billion raise in December 2019, according to data provider Refinitiv. It would also be the world’s largest tech IPO since Uber (UBER) raised more than $8 billion in May 2019, according to Refinitiv data.
Kuaishou is an app where users can film short-form videos and live stream content. It gets most of its revenue from the live-streaming business, where users can buy virtual items and present them as gifts to their favorite hosts. Live-streaming transactions accounted for 84% of revenue in 2019, according to a prospectus filed to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It also makes money off of online advertising.

The company expects to price its shares by the end of this week, and list them on February 5.

Kuaishou did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment from CNN Business.

The firm, which is backed by Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent (TCEHY), was founded 10 years ago and is one of the largest short-form video apps in China. It counted an average of 264 million daily active users for the 11 months through November, according to its prospectus.

Even so, that’s far short of industry leader ByteDance. The company’s Douyin app — the Chinese version of TikTok — had more than 600 million daily users in August, according to the company.

The listing also comes at a time when Chinese tech companies face intense regulatory scrutiny in China. Alibaba, Tencent and other big internet firms that operate popular apps and services have been warned in recent weeks about creating monopolies and abusing consumer data for profit.
And Jack Ma’s Ant Group, Alibaba’s financial affiliate, saw its own mega IPO scuttled by regulators late last year just days before it was set to start trading in Shanghai and Hong Kong. It would have been the biggest share sale in history.

In its prospectus, Kuaishou mentioned “the fact that the internet business is highly regulated in China” as a potential risk.

Ten cornerstone investors have already pledged to invest $2.45 billion in Kuaishou. They include Temasek, BlackRock, GIC, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Fidelity and Invesco. The deal’s sponsors include Bank of America Securities, Morgan Stanley, and China Renaissance.

The IPO would also be a big deal for Hong Kong, which has spent the last year reinventing itself as a hot market for Chinese tech firms.
Since 2019, Alibaba, (BABA) NetEase (NTES)and JD.com (JD) have all held secondary listings in the Asian financial hub. The city also made changes last year intended to attract even more companies. Index compiler Hang Seng Indexes, for example, launched a Nasdaq-like technology index to track the largest tech firms that trade in the city.

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Technology

Nintendo Characters Star in Awesome Godzilla vs. Kong Mash-Up

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Hype is quite high for Godzilla vs. Kong following the release of the film’s first trailer, and one Nintendo fan has taken the opportunity to reimagine the upcoming battle with a pair of the company’s characters. Artist @TinaFate1 on Twitter shared an amazing match-up between a different dinosaur and ape: Bowser and Donkey Kong! The characters seem to fit in quite well for the two monsters, though it seems that their conflict will cause a bit less destruction than the battle between Kong and Godzilla. That’s because, rather than a city, the backdrop for this titanic tussle is the Battlefield stage from the Super Smash Bros. franchise!

The image from @TinaFate1 can be found embedded below.

The decision to use Donkey Kong in this role is very fitting, considering the history between the two characters. The King Kong films had a major influence on Shigeru Miyamoto’s development of the original Donkey Kong arcade game. The game found a significant amount of success, prompting MCA Universal to bring a lawsuit against Nintendo in 1984. However, Nintendo was able to successfully prove that the King Kong character actually existed in the public domain, and the company won the lawsuit, as a result.

Since those early days, Donkey Kong has strayed quite a bit from his King Kong-inspired roots, while remaining one of Nintendo’s biggest characters. Despite starting out as Mario’s arch-rival, the character eventually went on to become a full-fledged hero, starring in the massively popular Donkey Kong Country series. Of course, Bowser took on the role of Mario’s greatest enemy with the release of Super Mario Bros. in 1985. Ironically enough, Bowser’s next role will see the character growing to Kaiju-like size in Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury. In that game, players will be able to take part in a massive battle between Bowser and a giant version of Mario. Sadly, there’s no Donkey Kong in site!

With Godzilla vs. Kong set to release in just a few short months, it’s not hard to imagine that the film will inspire a slew of additional artwork like the one made by @TinaFate1!

Are you looking forward to Godzilla vs. Kong? What do you think of the artwork by @TinaFate1? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!



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Entertainment

Godzilla vs. Kong Footage Reveals the Ape as a Gentle Giant

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A new teaser for Godzilla vs. Kong features footage that highlights a softer side of Kong, suggesting he might not be as monstrous as we thought.

Two of the world’s most famous giant monsters will clash again this March in the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong. While the two beasts are set to engage in combat in the long-awaited movie, new teaser footage shows the Scion of Skull Island’s more gentle side.

In the footage, Kong and a girl reach out to one another, with the tips of their index fingers connecting before the film’s title card appears. It should also be noted that during this scene, Kong is in chains and has a collar on his neck, indicating that he may end up being captured at some point in the film.

RELATED: Godzilla vs. Kong Toy Confirms the Primate’s Powerful New Weapon

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Originally set to debut in 2020, Godzilla vs. Kong was pushed back due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It will now hit both theaters and HBO Max on March 26. Teaser footage is steadily being released leading up to the film’s official trailer. It was announced by Legendary Pictures, along with a movie poster, that the trailer will be released on Sunday, Jan. 24.

Legends collide as Godzilla and Kong, the two most powerful forces of nature, clash on the big screen in a spectacular battle for the ages. As Monarch embarks on a perilous mission into fantastic uncharted terrain, unearthing clues to the Titans’ very origins, a human conspiracy threatens to wipe the creatures, both good and bad, from the face of the earth forever.

Directed by Adam Wingard and written by Eric Pearson and Max Borenstein, Godzilla vs. Kong stars Alexander Skarsgard, Millie Bobby Brown, Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry. The film arrives in theaters and on HBO Max March 26.

KEEP READING: Godzilla vs. Kong’s Budget is the Lowest in Legendary MonsterVerse History

Source: Twitter

Borat 2: The Pandemic Changed Tutar’s LGBTQ Feminist Story




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World

Hong Kong places thousands in strict lockdown for 48 hours | Coronavirus pandemic News

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Two-day measure targets an area in Kowloon Peninsula covering a small, but densely populated part of the city.

Hong Kong has placed thousands of its residents in a lockdown to contain a new outbreak of the coronavirus, the first such measure the Chinese-ruled city has taken since the pandemic began.

The order effective on Saturday covers multiple housing blocks in the neighbourhood of Jordan in Kowloon Peninsula.

“Persons subject to compulsory testing are required to stay in their premises until all such persons identified in the area have undergone testing and the test results are mostly ascertained,” the government said in a statement, adding it planned to complete testing in 48 hours.

People walk along a fresh produce street market in the Jordan area of the Yau Tsim Mong district of Kowloon in Hong Kong on January 22, 2021, an area which has seen a recent spike in cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus [Anthony Wallace/AFP]

Officials said they planned to test everyone inside the designated zone for the next two days “in order to achieve the goal of zero cases in the district”.

The South China Morning Post said the measures covered about 150 housing blocks and up to 9,000 people with hundreds of police on standby to enforce the lockdown.

Hong Kong was one of the first places to be struck by the coronavirus after it burst out of central China.

It has kept infections to less than 10,000 with some 170 deaths by imposing effective but economically punishing social distancing measures for much of the last year.

Earlier, the Post reported that the measure also covers Sham Shui Po district.

Jordan and Sham Shui Po are home to many older flats that have been subdivided to make room for more people, providing the kind of conditions in which the virus could spread more easily.

“Persistently high and spreading infection [in the areas] and sewage surveillance suggest the outbreak is not yet under control, and many silent sources still exist within the area,” a source had told The Post.

Health authorities in the city of 7.5 million first isolated four tenement blocks in the area last Friday, stopping people from entering or leaving those buildings to make sure all residents were quarantined.

The government will lift the lockdown declaration only when it is satisfied everyone in the area has been tested, the paper said.

Gyms, cinemas shut

Hong Kong has so far reported far fewer infections than other big world cities, recording less than 10,000 cases in the past year. The territory’s death toll stands at 168.

On Friday, health officials reported 61 new cases cases. A total of 718 people remain hospitalised and 34 are in critical condition.

Last week, the city extended work from home arrangements for civil servants.

Other COVID restrictions include a ban on in-house dining after 6pm (10:00 GMT) and the closure of facilities such as gyms, sports venues, beauty salons and cinemas.

Health workers wear hazmat suits as residents of a neighbourhood queue up for a mandatory COVID-19 test after a spike in cases within the Jordan district of Kowloon [Anthony Wallace/AFP]

Hong Kong is also set to require flight crews entering the territory for more than two hours to quarantine in a hotel for two weeks.

Meanwhile, officials have ordered medical workers to refrain from socialising with others after four nurses from various hospitals tested positive or preliminary positive for the virus, the Hong Kong Free Press reported.

“We would like to remind our colleagues not to eat together during work or holiday,” Linda Yu, a senior health official, was quoted by the news site as saying.

“It’s soon Lunar New Year holiday, we hope that our colleagues can tolerate for a bit [longer] and maintain social distancing.”



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