Hundreds of Hong Kong journalists protest beatings of reporters in China, demand probe

October 1st, 2009 Hong Kongers protest on China's National DayHONG KONG — With the rest of China awash in red flags and cheering crowds for National Day, hundreds of Hong Kongers — many wearing black — protested Thursday, denouncing the country's human rights record during 60 years of Communist rule. The former British colony was allowed to deviate from the nationwide celebrations because it enjoys Western-style civil liberties as part of its special semiautonomous status.

September 13th, 2009 HONG KONG - Hundreds of people marched in Hong Kong Sunday to protest the beating by police of three journalists from the city covering unrest in the western Chinese city of Urumqi. Organisers said around 700 people took part in the demonstration over the incident nine days ago.

September 8th, 2009 HONG KONG - A bank Wednesday marked its 150th anniversary in Hong Kong by launching what it claimed to be the world's first 150-dollar bank notes. Standard Chartered Plc, one of three note-issuing banks in the wealthy city of seven million, has printed 1 million of the 150-Hong-Kong-dollar notes, worth $19.35 each.

September 7th, 2009 HONG KONG - Eleven people were injured when a man threw acid during an altercation Sunday in a bustling market district, the fourth such attack in Hong Kong this year. Local television reports said victims had to be carried on gurneys to ambulances, their heads covered in bandages.

August 13th, 2009 HONG KONG - A 109-year-old tea has gone on sale at Hong Kong's first international tea fair, a media report said Thursday. Just 10 grams of the pu-erh tea, which takes its name from Pu'er county in Yunnan province in south-west China, costs 8,000 Hong Kong dollars ($1,025), the South China Morning Post newspaper said.

May 1st, 2009 Hong Kong workers protest job cuts on Labor DayHONG KONG — Hundreds of Hong Kong workers marked Labor Day Friday with protests against job cuts and reduced working hours in this Asian financial capital that has been battered by the global financial crisis. Slammed by falling export demand and property prices, Hong Kong's economy is likely to shrink between 2 percent and 3 percent in 2009, Financial Secretary John Tsang has said.

April 29th, 2009 HONG KONG - English football premier league team Liverpool was Wednesday accused of pricing itself out of the market making 'outrageous' demands to play in Hong Kong. A Hong Kong Football Association source told the South China Morning Post the team's planned exhibition at the Hong Kong Stadium in July had been scrapped because of the financial demands.

April 25th, 2009 Falun Gong in HK marks 10th anniversary of protestHONG KONG — Hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners have demonstrated in Hong Kong to mark the 10th anniversary of a protest by 10,000 members of the group in Beijing that led to its banning on the Chinese mainland. Organizer Kan Hung-cheung says about 700 people took part in the march Saturday to Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong.

April 23rd, 2009 HONG KONG - Hong Kong lawmakers Thursday approved a tax on every plastic bag handed out by supermarkets in the city as of July in a move to cut the mountain of waste created by the bags. The tax of 50 Hong Kong cents (6 US cents) will be levied from July 1 in a total of 2,000 shops, including every major supermarket, in the high-rise city of seven million.

April 21st, 2009 HONG KONG - Students and politicians in Hong Kong Tuesday hit out at comments by movie star Jackie Chan that Chinese people should be controlled and that too much freedom could harm China. The 'Rush-Hour' star sparked a growing controversy by saying at a business forum Saturday that freedoms had made Hong Kong and Taiwan 'chaotic' and adding: 'We Chinese need to be controlled.' The 55-year-old actor has drawn a furious backlash from university students in his home city Hong Kong who condemned the comments and demanded an apology.

March 29th, 2009 HONG KONG - A bottle of rare champagne fetched 164,560 Hong Kong dollars ($21,097) at a wine auction here, setting a new world record for the price of any bottle of champagne sold at an auction. The auction collected an impressive 35 million Hong Kong dollars ($4.5 million), with 96 percent of the stocks sold to buyers from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Indonesia, among others.

February 16th, 2009 HONG KONG - China Tuesday defended the right of Robert Mugabe to own a Hong Kong home after the Zimbabwean leader reportedly paid $5 million for a villa in the former British colony. 'Hong Kong is a free port, and even Falun Gong practitioners can buy a property there, am I right?' a foreign ministry spokesman in Beijing told Tuesday's South China Morning Post.

January 30th, 2009 HONG KONG - Cigarette consumption in Hong Kong is up almost 14 percent since a smoking ban was introduced in the city two years ago, a news report said Saturday. Government figures quoted by the South China Morning Post show that 3.79 billion cigarettes were bought in 2008, compared to 3.33 billion the previous year.

January 20th, 2009 HONG KONG - Hong Kong shares fell by almost three percent Wednesday as overnight losses on Wall Street and profit warnings from Chinese companies listed in the city deepened market gloom. The blue-chip Hang Seng Index ended the day down 376.14 points, or 2.9 percent, at 12,583.63.

January 4th, 2009 HONG KONG - Hong Kong stocks continued their positive start to 2009 Monday with a second day of gains, rising by almost 3.5 percent. The blue-chip Hang Seng Index climbed 520.5 points, or 3.46 percent, to close at 15,563.31.