Hong Kong authorities have said they will extend their buyout plan to include flats in the only Wang Fuk Court block unaffected by the deadly fire if three-quarters of the owners agree to sell their properties.

Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong announced the plan at a press conference on Tuesday, around two months after the government unveiled the initial buyout plan covering the housing estate’s seven fire-hit buildings but not Wang Chi House.

The buyout price for Wang Chi House will be consistent with the seven other blocks, at HK$8,000 or HK$10,500 per square foot, depending on whether the premiums for the homes have been paid.

Wong also said a preliminary survey suggested that 77 per cent of Wang Chi House residents were willing to sell their homes to the government for cash or move into another government-subsidised estate under a flat-exchange exercise.

“We do think that the proposal is a good one for them… but it doesn’t mean we would like to force them to accept the proposal. At the end of the day, it is their decision,” he said.

“But we do think that what we have on the table is very reasonable and should actually be quite attractive.”

He said that owners faced a slew of difficulties and uncertainties, including the wait before they could move back into the Tai Po housing estate, as well as matters involving the land agreement and deed, high maintenance costs, and complex insurance matters.

Some owners had concerns about the emotional toll of moving back into the estate and about drops in property value, he added.

The total cost of buying out 248 units at Wang Chi House will be about HK$1 billion, he said.

Threshold

Wong said that a government liaison team had reached out to 99 per cent of Wang Chi House flat owners, 77 per cent of whom were willing to sell their flats to the government.

“We believe the 75 per cent threshold adequately reflects the requirement of a high degree of consensus,” Wong said.

Speaking at the same press conference, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho said 14 per cent of Wang Chi House flat owners were still considering the offer, while the remaining 9 per cent were not willing to sell their properties.

Those who agree to the buyout will have to sign and submit a letter of acceptance to the government. Those who do so before June 30 will be given special priority to choose another flat offered by the government, while the deadline for expressing interest has been set for August 31.

While the government respects private property rights, it would also offer the buyout option if the threshold is reached, the deputy minister said.

If the final number of purchasing agreements does not meet the threshold, the government “has the right” to roll back the buyout scheme.

Wong said in February that the government would look into whether special legislation would be needed to handle the cases of owners who refuse to sell their property rights.

However, on Tuesday, he said the authorities had yet to come up with a concrete legislative plan.

He vowed that the government would proceed by adhering to the principle of respecting private property rights under Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, and offer compensation for buyouts.

A Hong Kong political commentator charged with disclosing details of a national security investigation will stand trial in October.

Wong Kwok-ngon, known by his pen name Wong On-yin, appeared at the District Court on Tuesday.

Judge Stanley Chan said the pre-trial review would take place behind closed doors on August 11, and the trial would begin on October 9.

Before the hearing began on Tuesday, Judge Chan told those in the public gallery that police would take down their names if they called out words of encouragement for Wong after the hearing ended.

Chan noted that at the court mention last month, after the hearing ended and he had left the room, people made comments of support to the defendant.

Wong, 72, has been detained since his arrest in December for allegedly divulging in a YouTube video details of enquiries made by police during a national security investigation.

The offence falls under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, a homegrown security law known as Article 23. It was added to the ordinance in May as part of subsidiary legislation, and Wong is the first to be charged under the new law.

Wong is also charged with sedition over videos posted on YouTube between January 3 and December 6 last year. He plans to plead not guilty to both charges.

The defendant, who continues to represent himself, told the court he had dropped his legal aid application.

Asked by the judge whether he had legal knowledge for self-defence, Wong said he had “three law degrees” and was confident of handling the case.

The prosecution has set aside eight days for its case and plans to go through around 30 commentary videos on Wong’s YouTube channel. The transcripts of the videos run to more than 900 pages.

The prosecution added that it had lined up six witnesses, all police officers.

Wong was taken in by national security police in December, on the same day he was set to appear at a press conference about the fatal Wang Fuk Court fire, which had occurred days before. He was then released.

He was arrested four days later on suspicion of “prejudicing of investigation of offences endangering national security” and “doing an act that has a seditious intention with a seditious intention.”

Greenpeace has called the Hong Kong government’s planned measures at Sai Kung’s Sharp Island “a toothless tiger,” as authorities predict a daily influx of 1,000 visitors to the ecological hotspot during China’s Golden Week holiday in May.

The environmental NGO issued a statement on Tuesday in response to the measures announced by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) ahead of the five-day Labour Day holiday in China, which begins on Friday.

To prevent environmental degradation due to excessive tourism, the AFCD will deploy 11 staff members to patrol Sharp Island – part of Hong Kong’s UNESCO Global Geopark – and conduct hourly drone inspections, local media reported on Tuesday.

Buoys will also be positioned at sea to mark coral reefs and prevent tourists from trampling the fragile ecosystems.

The AFCD expects 1,000 tourists to descend on Sharp Island every day during the Golden Week holiday – far higher than the average 600 to 800 visitors during regular weekends and public holidays.

Many tourists lack environmental awareness but generally cooperate when told about “sea-friendly” behaviour, said Jim Chu, assistant director of fisheries and marine conservation at the AFCD.

He said authorities would distribute maps marking reef locations, while World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) representatives will be on-site to promote conservation.

Greenpeace said the AFCD’s measures were advisory in nature and lacked deterrence, describing them as “a toothless tiger.”

The verbal advice by AFCD officers carries no legal weight and will be inadequate to tackle excessive snorkelling and other problematic activities, such as clam digging, the NGO said.

‘Short-term painkiller’

Greenpeace urged authorities to integrate Sharp Island into the city’s legally protected areas and roll out environmental protection policies for tourism hotspots.

Without data to assess Sharp Island’s tourism capacity, “the temporary measure of stepping up patrols is merely a ‘short-term painkiller’ that could not address the coming water sports season,” the green group said.

Chu acknowledged that the government has limited power in Sharp Island as it “is not a country park, marine park or marine reserve” – which means lacking the status of a legally protected area.

“The government is actively looking at whether to integrate Sharp Island into marine parks,” he added.

Greenpeace also urged the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau to cooperate with the AFCD to promote eco-friendly habits among tourists and formulate a conservation-oriented ecotourism framework alongside the Environment and Ecology Bureau.

During the National Day Golden Week in October, Greenpeace found tourists trampling corals and littering on Sharp Island, which drew more than 4,000 visitors on October 1, according to the NGO.

Authorities stepped up patrols on the island and said corals in shallow water sustained “minor damage” following the surge of tourists.

Chief Executive John Lee has pledged to step up management of the city’s eco-tourism sites after the influx to Sharp Island.

Meta is preparing to backtrack its acquisition of AI startup Manus, the Wall Street Journal reported late Monday, after China banned the transaction citing national security concerns.

Facebook owner Meta announced in December it had agreed to acquire Manus, an artificial intelligence agent created by a company founded in China but now based in Singapore.

But China’s top body for economic planning, the National Development and Reform Commission, said in a statement on Monday that it will “prohibit the foreign investment in the acquisition of the Manus project” and “requires the parties involved to withdraw the acquisition.

The statement did not specifically name Meta.

Meta had told AFP in a statement on Monday that “the transaction complied fully with applicable law.”

“We anticipate an appropriate resolution to the inquiry,” it added.

Analysts had warned the deal could fall foul of regulators at a time of fierce technological  rivalry between Washington and  Beijing.

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, said the U-turn was complicated by the fact that Manus’s investors have already received returns from the deal.

Meta said in December that the deal — the financial details of which were not disclosed — would “bring a leading agent to billions of people and unlock opportunities for businesses across our products.”

Manus, created by startup Butterfly Effect, says on its website that it can do everything from analyzing the stock market to creating a personalized travel handbook for a trip with simple user instructions.

By Suy Se

Waving their national flags, dozens of Chinese nationals protested outside Cambodia’s central bank on Monday, demanding the unfreezing of accounts they opened with a financial services firm linked to cyberscamming.

Some demonstrators wielded umbrellas and clashed with scores of local security personnel armed with batons, leaving at least two protesters bloodied.

The former chairman of Huione Group, Li Xiong, was extradited to China on April 1, with Chinese authorities saying he was central to a major transnational gambling and fraud syndicate, and suspected of multiple crimes.

Protesters said their accounts with its digital payments platform H-Pay, previously Huione Pay, had been frozen since December.

Construction and renovation company owner Wang Xijun said he had about US$50,000 locked in his account and has been unable to pay his staff for around three months.

“We are Chinese citizens. We support the crackdown on illegal online gambling and illicit earnings,” Wang shouted.

“But do not lay your hands on us ordinary civilians,” he added. “Give the people’s money back!”

The US government last year accused Huione, which owned several companies offering e-commerce, payment and cryptocurrency exchange services, of laundering funds for transnational criminal groups perpetrating scams from Southeast Asia.

But the protesters in Phnom Penh say they have nothing to do with these alleged crimes and now cannot access their assets deposited with Huione, calling on the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) to intervene.

Monday’s demonstration followed protests earlier this month outside the NBC and the Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh.

Li Shangfu, 54, said many Chinese people in Cambodia had used Huione because it was “trusted” and convenient for “all our transactions”.

He works in the restaurant and hotel industry and said he has tens of thousands of dollars tied up in Huione’s platform.

“I want the government to give us an answer. What exactly is the situation regarding our money?” said Li. “Does this money still exist or not?”

‘My blood and sweat’

The NBC has said the Huione platforms’ business licences have been revoked, and Huione Pay creditors should go to the courts, while H-Pay creditors can make claims with a liquidator.

The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) designated Huione Group a “primary money-laundering concern” last year, and prohibited US financial institutions from processing transactions with it.

Beijing has called Huione’s Li “a core member” of the criminal gang of Chen Zhi, another Chinese-born accused scam boss who was operating from Cambodia before being extradited to China this year.

The Southeast Asian nation has emerged as a hub for the illicit industry in recent years, with transnational crime groups initially mostly targeting Chinese speakers before widening their reach and stealing tens of billions of dollars annually from victims around the world.

Cambodian authorities say they are cracking down, detaining and deporting more than 13,000 foreign nationals involved in online scams since early last year.

From January to April, more than 240,000 people, including Chinese, Indonesians, Indians and others, accused of scam involvement “voluntarily departed” Cambodia, the government said last week.

Monitors accused senior Cambodian officials of complicity — allegations the government has denied.

Protesting Cambodian food vendor Sopheak, 42, said she could see her US$36,000 balance on the Huione platform but cannot withdraw any money.

She opened her account three years ago because Chinese customers preferred it, she said.

“The money is my blood and sweat.”

Hong Kong’s anti-corruption watchdog has charged two men accused of urging others on social media to boycott and cast blank votes in last year’s legislative elections.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), which oversees Hong Kong’s election legislation, said in a Monday statement that the two men, aged 38 and 63, were charged with alleged breaches of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance.

The pair, both security guards, have been released on bail and are scheduled to appear at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday.

Ramirez Lam, 38, faces one count of engaging in illegal conduct to incite another person to cast an invalid vote during an election period, while Wong Wah-kwong, 63, faces one count of engaging in illegal conduct to incite another person not to vote.

Their posts were made last year, between October 24, when the nomination period commenced, and December 7, the polling day, the ICAC said.

Lam is accused of leaving a comment on a media outlet’s social media post to incite an invalid vote at the election. The post was a news report on security chief Chris Tang’s remarks that it is an offence to incite people not to vote or cast an invalid vote.

Wong shared a post by wanted overseas-based activist Alan Keung on social media, calling on people not to vote.

Keung himself faces two charges under the elections ordinance for inciting people not to vote. The activist, who also has a HK$200,000 bounty on his head for a separate national security allegation, called for a boycott of what he described as a “fake election.”

The ICAC charged three people accused of sharing posts made by Keung and another overseas activist, Tong Wai-kung, in November.

One Hong Kong woman, 61-year-old housewife Bonney Ma, was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence last month. The two other defendants are scheduled to appear in court in May.

The 2025 “patriots only” legislative polls took place on December 7, days after the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire. The 31.9 per cent turnout – a slight increase compared with the 2021 polls – was the second lowest on record.

The number of registered voters was down compared to 2021, with 32,998 fewer Hongkongers casting a ballot than in 2021, and a record 3.12 per cent of invalid votes were cast.

Hong Kong’s CLP Power will increase its electricity fuel surcharge for the second consecutive month amid rising oil prices, bringing the total electricity tariff to 141.6 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh).

CLP Power, one of the city’s two electricity companies, announced on Wednesday that it would increase the fuel cost adjustment starting from May 1 to 40.4 cents per kWh, a 0.6-cent increase from April.

According to the utilities company, the fuel cost adjustment is based on the difference between forecast and actual fuel prices, including the prices of oil, gas and coal.

CLP Power increased the fuel surcharge to 39.8 cents per kWh on April 1 – an increase of 0.6 cents.

The other electric company, HK Electric, said on Friday that it would lower its fuel surcharge in May to 26 cents per kWh, a 4.4-cent decrease from April.

It was the second consecutive month that HK Electric lowered the surcharge.

The reduction in the fuel surcharge “is mainly attributable to the inherent ‘deferred effect’ under the monthly adjustment mechanism,” the company said.

However, the surcharge is expected to rise significantly starting from mid-year, according to HK Electric, which supplies electricity to Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island.

CLP Power serves the rest of the city.

The Middle East war, which broke out in late February, has had a major impact on utility prices.

In November last year, the two power companies announced tariff reductions of around 2 per cent.