A group of Tai Po fire survivors have petitioned their housing estate’s administrator to hold a general meeting with homeowners to discuss long-term resettlement and related financial matters after collecting 247 handwritten signatures.

The petition organisers issued a media statement on Tuesday, saying that they had delivered the petition and the handwritten signatures to Hop On Management on April 29.

Hop On Management – a subsidiary of real estate giant Chinachem Group – was appointed by the government in early January to act as administrator of the incorporated owners of Wang Fuk Court after a tribunal dissolved the owners’ board of the Tai Po residential estate.

Displaced homeowners, who are scattered across Hong Kong following the deadly fire, have since urged Hop On to call a general meeting, but to no avail.

Jason Kong, one of the petition organisers, told HKFP on Tuesday that a Hop On staff member received the petition in person on April 29.

The staff member gave Kong an acknowledgement slip, which said the company had received the documents but also read: “Content not verified.”

Kong also said that within a couple of weeks, the organisers had gathered 247 signatures from Wang Fuk Court homeowners and representatives of those killed in the November inferno.

Each signatory not only signed their name but also gave their address at Wang Fuk Court and their contact number, he added.

“The responsibility of further verifying those signatures lies with Hop On,” Kong said in Cantonese, “We’ve collected signatures from around 12 per cent of all households [at Wang Fuk Court] – more than enough to call a general meeting.”

Hong Kong’s Building Management Ordinance stipulates that a management committee must convene a general meeting at the written request of at least five per cent of owners.

Wang Fuk Court has a total of 1,984 units, and 247 signatories exceed the required threshold.

HKFP has reached out to Hop On for comment.

The Tai Po fire broke out on November 26, claiming 168 lives and burning the homes of thousands. The blaze is Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948.

March petition

Kong and other fire survivors launched a similar petition online in March, signed by more than 400 homeowners and representatives of those killed in the fire.

However, Hop On rejected the demand. In an email sent to Kong on April 5, Hop On said the petition did not meet the statutory requirement and that it would not hold a formal owners’ meeting at that stage.

“Following a detailed review and consultation with legal counsel, we note that… you had gathered owners’ concerns via an online form, but provided no further information,” Hop On said in the email, which was seen by HKFP.

Four days later, the Home Affairs Department said it received complaints from several Wang Fuk Court residents, who alleged that the petition did not verify the identities of the signatories.

“Individual flat owners said the so-called petition lacked authentication mechanisms and may involve people impersonating owners and forging signatures. Personal information collected is also at risk of being abused or misused without authorisation,” the department said.

The department also said it had referred the matter to law enforcement agencies for investigation.

Kong said that this time, he and other organisers spent a couple of weeks personally collecting ink signatures from homeowners.

“Once we found out some information was missing, such as a home address, we contacted the signatory again to fill out the information,” Kong said.

Many Wang Fuk Court homeowners hope to discuss long-term resettlement options in the long-awaited meeting, as well as the government’s arrangements for fire survivors returning home to pack personal belongings, he said.

They also want to discuss financial matters related to Wang Fuk Court, such as insurance claims, Kong added.

Two Hong Kong officials have condemned “groundless accusations” against a recent update to the city’s homegrown national security law, which empowers the chief executive to certify any criminal case as a national security offence.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang told the Legislative Council (LegCo) on Thursday afternoon that he noticed some people had misunderstood or “deliberately misinterpreted” the subsidiary legislation.

They tried to intimidate the public by claiming that the subsidiary law would widen the scope of national security offences, turning minor offences into national security crimes, he said.

The security chief called the accusations “false, misleading, deceptive, and scaremongering” and said some people were attempting to incite hatred towards the government.

“Some people delivered alarmist remarks, saying that the government can randomly certify any acts of the public as national security offences. Those people may have ulterior motives or are cruel-hearted, hoping to incite others’ hatred of the HKSAR,” Tang said in Cantonese.

Also speaking at LegCo, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said he noticed “some media outlets with ulterior motives, foreign forces, and fugitives” had made “groundless accusations” against the national security law.

The two ministers delivered their remarks during LegCo’s first meeting to review the Safeguarding National Security (Procedural Matters) Regulation, a subsidiary legislation of the homegrown national security law, commonly known as Article 23.

Authorities enacted the subsidiary law through the “negative vetting” mechanism, which allows the law to be gazetted and to take effect before legislative scrutiny.

The law came into effect on Tuesday, one day after the government tabled the bill in LegCo.

Lam, the justice chief, said that the subsidiary legislation was necessary to further explain articles in the Beijing-imposed national security law and Article 23, which stipulate that the chief executive should have the power to determine whether a criminal case involves national security.

In its proposal, the government cited the “legislative intent” of the Beijing-imposed national security law, saying that offences endangering national security include not only the four types of offences under the national security law, but also “other offences endangering national security under the law of the HKSAR.”

Lam said the recent legislative update was intended to further define “other offences endangering national security under the law of the HKSAR,” and it did not introduce any new power or new offences.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chief Executive John Lee said the new subsidiary legislation “is purely to make the law even clearer.”

Around 11,000 subdivided units have been registered under a grace period system that will give landlords three years to ensure their properties meet new government requirements for the city’s infamous substandard housing.

Victor Tai, the under secretary for housing, said on Tuesday in a briefing session with selected media outlets that as of Tuesday, around 3,000 flats – totaling 11,000 subdivided units – had been registered, NowTV reported.

Under the Basic Housing Units Ordinance, which came into effect in March, subdivided units are required to meet government-set living standards. These include a floor space of at least 86 square feet, a ceiling height of 2.3 metres, as well as a window and an individual toilet.

Units that pass those requirements will be known as “basic housing units.”

From now until February 2027, the government is allowing landlords to apply for a three-year grace period to give them time to get their subdivided units up to standard.

Operators whose subdivided units already meet requirements have been able to apply for recognition as basic housing units since March 1. Tai said that so far, four applications have been made.

Renovations

The Housing Bureau said it had converted two subdivided units in Kowloon City into examples of basic housing units to guide subdivided unit operators on how to upgrade their flats.

Tai said the fee for renovating a substandard shoebox unit to meet requirements ranges from HK$25,000 to HK$50,000, while the cost for renovating an entire flat comprising several subdivided units is between HK$140,000 and HK$160,000, according to the Housing Bureau.

He said that for a three-unit model flat, the work involved removing the toilet of one of the units so that the space for another unit could be expanded, and then re-installing a new toilet.

In addition, installed toilet exhaust fans and routing drainage pipes to the outdoors were also fitted.

When asked by local media whether operators of subdivided units might transfer such costs to tenants, therefore increasing their rent, Tai said that would be up to the landlords.

The official said that just like with running any business, there are costs involved in operating subdivided units, but that he believed landlords could earn back those costs within a few months of converting the homes into basic housing units.

Subdivided unit operators are required to hire a registered surveyor or architect to certify that the flats meet the government’s requirements.

Earlier in March, the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors estimated that operators will have to spend at least HK$15,000 to have a flat with up to four subdivided units certified.

The deputy head of the Macau Public Security Police (PSP) is among 26 people arrested after the city’s Judiciary Police (PJ) smashed three prostitution rings last week, according to local media.

Apart from PSP Deputy Commissioner Leong Heng Hong, 60, the PJ also nabbed two other serving PSP officers and two retired PJ officers, Macau Business reported on Monday.

The two other PSP officers are a 51-year-old acting department head, surnamed Chan, and a 54-year-old officer, surnamed So.

According to a PJ statement issued on Saturday, officers raided three sauna venues, five offices and 23 other locations on Friday.

They arrested 24 men and two women, aged 39 to 68, comprising 18 Macau residents, six mainland Chinese and two Hong Kong residents.

“The three criminal syndicates were found to have engaged in manipulated prostitution from 2016 to 2024 respectively, receiving illegal proceeds ranging from about MOP 230 million to 320 million,” the PJ said.

Each syndicate had offered bribes to the involved law enforcement personnel each month, it added.

“The aforesaid incumbent personnel of public security forces had profited no less than HKD 470,000 each month, while the two retired Judiciary Police personnel [had profited] no less than HKD 300,000 each month.”

Preliminary investigations showed that the syndicates recruited Asian and Eastern European women to engage in prostitution.

Twelve suspects, including the PSP officers, were remanded in custody.

The two Hong Kong residents – a 39-year-old man surnamed Cheuk, reportedly a sauna parlour shareholder, and a 41-year-old woman surnamed Lam, said to be a sauna worker, were also remanded.

The other 14 suspects, including the two retired PJ officers, were released subject to legal restrictions.

The case has been transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office for further investigation, according to a statement issued by the office on Sunday.

A woman has denied charges of offering bribes to Hong Kong immigration officers over a permanent residency application and obstructing anti-graft officers in the execution of their duties.

Wang Subing, an unemployed 36-year-old, appeared at the Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday, Ming Pao reported.

She was charged with one count of offering an advantage to a public servant and one count of resisting or obstructing officers in the execution of their duties.

The case was adjourned to July 20 for a pre-trial review, and the defendant was released on HK$20,000 bail.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) charged Wang on April 1, the anti-graft watchdog said last month.

According to the ICAC, she lived in Hong Kong on a student visa between mid-2018 and early 2020.

“She later entered Hong Kong as a visitor and had a record of overstaying. The offences took place in 2025,” it said. “At the material time, the defendant was applying for the issuance of a permanent identity card of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.”

The Immigration Department rejected her application because Wang did not meet the requirement of seven years’ ordinary residence in Hong Kong.

Then, on September 17, Wang handed over a letter to immigration officers with banknotes of HK$1,100 and RMB100 – although applications for permanent residency are free of charge.

The ICAC investigated the case after the Immigration Department made a report to the watchdog.

Wang is also accused of resisting or obstructing ICAC officers on October 8, when they tried to take her from the Immigration Headquarters in Tseung Kwan O to the ICAC office.

Offering an advantage to a public servant in Hong Kong is an offence under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. Upon conviction, the maximum penalty is seven years’ imprisonment and a fine of HK$500,000.

One Hong Kong hiker has died, and another one survived after being rescued from a Japanese mountain, according to media reports.

Japanese TV Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting (CBC) reported on Tuesday afternoon that two men, believed to be Chinese nationals, were stranded on Mount Okuhotaka, Japan’s third-highest peak, resulting in one fatality.

According to CBC, Japanese police received a report on Sunday that a 22-year-old man, who lived in Tokyo, and a 30-year-old man were stuck on Mount Okuhotaka – the highest peak of the Hida Mountains – in Gifu Prefecture due to poor weather conditions.

The two were reportedly trapped at a 3,163-metre rocky ridge known as “Gendarme,” located west of the Mount Okuhotaka summit.

Earlier search and rescue operations were called off due to persistent bad weather, CBC reported. “A search operation by a Nagano Prefecture disaster relief helicopter began this morning, and both individuals were recovered by 3pm,” it said.

The 30-year-old was sent to hospital in a conscious state and survived, but the 22-year-old was pronounced dead.

Some Threads users said on Monday that two Hong Kong residents were stranded in the Hida Mountains, also known as the Northern Japan Alps, the city’s local media said on Tuesday.

The Hong Kong Immigration Department told local media on Monday that it had received requests for assistance regarding the incident.

The department told HKFP on Tuesday that it had sent staff to accompany the victims’ families to Japan to provide assistance.

The Hong Kong government has granted 1,000 restaurants the city’s first permits to allow dogs into their premises starting on July 9.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) said on Friday that it “conducted an open balloting today and allocated 1,000 quotas for allowing dogs to enter food premises according to the ballot result.”

Among the 1,000 restaurants, 343 are located on Hong Kong Island, 326 in Kowloon, and 331 in the New Territories.

With 111 restaurants granted permits, Wan Chai has the highest number of dog-friendly eateries.

According to the FEHD, the restaurants need to pay a fee of HK$140 and amend their licences before June 24.

They are also required to display dog permit signage at the entrances of their venues.

Cathay Chu, who runs Wan Land Cafe with her husband, told HKFP over the phone on Friday that their two branches had received the permits.

“We are happy that now we’ve got the permits, which will make our business easier,” Chu said.

“And as dog owners ourselves, we consider the new policy to be progress for the city.”

Wan Land has always been dog-friendly, she said. However, because dogs were banned from eateries, the restaurateurs had to be really careful and were always worried about FEHD inspections.

“It is really difficult to run a dog-friendly eatery. The dogs can only stay in the area outside the cafes. Besides, some customers who do not really like dogs will be confused as to why there are dogs around,” Chu said in Cantonese.

FEHD officers will visit those permitted restaurants on Tuesday and Wednesday to brief their operators on the statutory requirements, the department said.

Over 2,200 applications

The FEHD said on Friday that it received a total of 2,205 applications.

After striking out duplicated, self-withdrawn, and known-to-be ineligible applications, such as hotpot and barbecue restaurants, it conducted the balloting for the remaining 1,616 applications. 

Earlier this year, Hong Kong amended the relevant law to relax a decades-old rule that bans pet dogs in restaurants.

With the Food Business (Amendment) Regulation 2026 coming into effect in early May, all fully licensed eateries – except hotpot and barbecue restaurants – are eligible to apply for dog-friendly permits.

According to a new regime introduced earlier in May, dogs in permitted restaurants “must be kept on a leash not exceeding 1.5 metres. The leash must be held by an adult or tied to a fixture.”

“Known dangerous dogs,” which are classified by court order, and fighting dogs will be prohibited from entering restaurants.

Hong Kong’s competition watchdog has announced that it is considering criminalising bid-rigging, proposing a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.

Barrister Jat Sew-tong, chairperson of the Competition Commission, announced on Friday plans to amend the Competition Ordinance to criminalise bid-rigging, local media reported.

The commission hopes to table the amendment by the end of this year, Jat said, adding that the proposed maximum penalty would be seven years in jail.

Under the Competition Ordinance, bid-rigging is currently a civil violation, not a criminal offence, and it is penalised with a fine.

Jat said that he had been discussing the proposal with the city’s leader John Lee and the Hong Kong Bar Association, NowTV reported.

He said Lee had conveyed “orders” or “expectations” but did not specify what.

The commission’s move comes after a deadly fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in Tai Po, in November. The estate was undergoing a large-scale renovation at the time of the fire.

The blaze, which claimed 168 lives, has brought to light the widespread issue of bid-rigging and corruption in major maintenance works at residential buildings.

Residents told HKFP in February that they had suspected graft and bid-rigging in the renovation project, and had attempted to report it to authorities without any success.

Jat also said on Friday that investigations by the Competition Commission revealed triads were involved in rigging bids for many large-scale maintenance projects.

However, due to the Competition Ordinance’s limitations, the commission cannot prosecute the cases and has to transfer them to law enforcement departments.

The Competition Commission is a statutory body established under the Competition Ordinance in 2012.

Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn said in February that the city’s corruption watchdog had received multiple complaints involving bid-rigging in building maintenance works over the past five years.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) received 24 complaints in 2025, more than double the number in 2021, Linn said.

Hong Kong’s electricity bills are expected to hit a short-term peak in August due to the Middle East conflict, an energy advisory chair has said.

Hong Kong’s current electricity tariff has yet to reflect the impact of the Middle East conflict, which broke out in late February, Simon Wong, chair of the government’s Energy Advisory Committee, said on TVB on Sunday.

The fuel surcharges of Hong Kong’s two utility giants are based on a cost-reimbursement mechanism and are adjusted according to the average cost of the past three months, he explained.

“Based on my calculation, electricity costs may reach a short-term peak in August. After that, costs might fluctuate at a high level, with the possibility of them easing slightly,” he said.

The total electricity tariff will be 5 to 10 per cent higher than before the Middle East conflict, he added.

CLP Power announced on Tuesday that its fuel cost adjustment for June would be 42.6 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), up from 40.4 cents in May.

The increase of 5.4 per cent is the third consecutive monthly hike since April.

The other power company, HK Electric, said on Friday that its fuel clause charge for June would be 31.3 cents per kWh, an increase of 20.4 per cent from May.

The utility provider said the adjustment began to reflect the significant surge in international fuel prices caused by the Middle East war.

However, due to a “lag effect,” the current figures do not yet fully capture the shift in fuel costs, and the fuel adjustment fee is expected to continue climbing in the coming months, it added.

Three people who were arrested by national security police over alleged illegal weapons training last December have been charged with conspiracy to commit subversion.

Students Wong Kit-lun, 20, and Tang Ngai-pok, 23, as well as waiter Chan Hiu-chun, 23, appeared at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts on Thursday.

They are among a group of 10 people arrested in December for alleged “unlawful drilling” – an offence under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.

They stood in the defendant dock beside Gallian Pang and Lee Chun-sum, who were charged with the same offence of conspiring to subvert state power – an offence under the Beijing-imposed national security law – a week after the arrests. At the time they were charged in December, both Pang and Lee were security guards aged 24 and 25 respectively.

On Thursday, the prosecution accused Wong, Tang and Chan of conspiring with Pang, Lee and “other persons unknown between November 1, 2024 to December 11, 2025 to organise, plan, commit or participate in acts to subvert the state power.”

Wong faced an additional charge of possession of child pornography, an offence under the Prevention of Child Pornography Ordinance.

The prosecution also announced that it was charging Lee for allegedly possessing explosives and radio communications apparatus without a licence.

Possession of explosives is punishable by a maximum of 14 years’ imprisonment, while possession of radio communications apparatus without a licence is punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment.

In a statement published on Thursday, the government said the December arrests were made after investigation revealed a “syndicate” that “conducted firearms drills, knife techniques, and martial arts combat in a unit of an industrial building in Kowloon.”

Their aim was to subvert state power by means or threat of force, “i.e., to overthrow [Hong Kong’s] organs of power,” the government said.

The arrests marked the first time authorities had invoked the unlawful drilling offence.

The remaining arrestees in the case who were not charged have been released on bail. They are required to report to the police in mid-June, the statement added.

Conspiring to commit subversion, an offence under the national security law, is punishable by up to life imprisonment in Hong Kong.

A former professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has been sentenced to 20 weeks’ imprisonment over bribery to secure the admission of a mainland Chinese student to the university.

Liu Hongbin, who served as a chair professor at HKUST when the bribery took place, was sentenced on Thursday at the Kwun Tong Magistrates’ Court, local media reported.

Liu previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy for a public servant to accept an advantage and two counts of offering advantages to public servants.

He admitted to accepting HK$40,000 in bribes in March and May 2025 from a friend who works as an insurance agent to help secure a mainland Chinese student’s admission to a master’s programme at HKUST.

At that time, Liu was a chair professor at the Department of Ocean Science and director of the Master of Science in Environmental Health and Safety programme, which the student applied for.

While the student was not qualified for the master’s programme, Liu ordered a lecturer to interview the student and suggested that the lecturer admit the student, the court heard earlier this month.

After the student received a conditional offer from HKUST, Liu gave HK$5,000 to the lecturer and HK$1,000 to another staff member who was responsible for admissions.

The lecturer then reported the bribery to the department manager and handed over the money. The staff member also handed over the money to the department, local media outlet The Witness reported on Thursday.

According to case details revealed in court, Liu was born in mainland China and became a permanent Hong Kong resident in 2002.

In mitigation, the defence said that Liu had seen the disbandment of his research team at HKUST and suffered from depression following his arrest.

Acting principal magistrate May Chung did not accept the defence’s argument that Liu committed the crime because he was affected by others, pointing out that he has been living in Hong Kong for many years, is highly educated, and taught at a university.

In response to media enquiries, HKUST said that Liu had resigned from the university.

Hong Kong restaurants with an area larger than 20 square metres can start applying for licences to allow dogs in their premises from May 18, the government has announced.

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said in a statement on Thursday that it would accept applications from May 18 to June 8.

The department is set to approve the first batch of applications in mid-June, with dogs to be allowed in restaurants in July.

The statement said that “the FEHD will specify a date in July from which dogs will be allowed to enter permitted food premises.”

While the Food Business (Amendment) Regulation 2026 came into effect on Friday, the FEHD reminded the public that “restaurants must first submit an application and obtain approval before allowing dogs to enter.”

Hotpot and barbecue restaurants are not eligible to apply for the permits, the government said, citing safety concerns.

The FEHD will hold briefing sessions for restaurant operators from Monday to Wednesday next week, as well as on May 28.

The department said it would publish a list of dog-friendly restaurants once the first batch of permits is approved.

The government said in February that it would issue 500-1,000 dog-friendly permits to local eateries in mid-June.

Hong Kong leader John Lee announced the plan to relax an outdated policy banning dogs in restaurants in his 2025 Policy Address in September.

The announcement to update the decades-old Food Business Regulation came after a pet-friendly restaurant in Tai Po had to suspend operations for seven days in January last year for allowing dogs inside.