Secretary of State Marco Rubio was due Wednesday in Beijing with President Donald Trump despite being under sanctions from China, whose new approach to him has included changing how his name is written.

As a US senator, Rubio fiercely championed human rights in China, which retaliated by imposing sanctions on him twice — adopting a tactic more often used by the United States against adversaries.

China said Tuesday it would not block Rubio, now 54 and visiting China for the first time, from entering on Air Force One with Trump, the first US president to visit the Asian power in nearly a decade.

“The sanctions target Mr. Rubio’s words and deeds when he served as a US senator concerning China,” Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said.

China had already appeared to find a diplomatic workaround after Trump named Rubio his secretary of state and national security advisor.

Shortly before he took office in January 2025, the Chinese government and official media began transliterating the first syllable of his surname with a different Chinese character for “lu.”

Two diplomats said they believed the change was an immediate way for China to avoid implementing its sanctions, as Rubio was banned from entering under the old spelling of his name.

A State Department official confirmed only that Rubio was traveling with Trump.

Rubio’s presence on Air Force One quickly drew online attention for another reason after the White House released a photo of him lounging in a Nike track suit of the sort worn by Venezuela’s ousted president Nicolas Maduro when US forces snatched him in January.

Rubio, a Cuban-American who vociferously opposes communism, was the key author of congressional legislation that imposed wide sanctions on China over the alleged use of forced labor by the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority, charges denied by Beijing.

He has also spoken out against Beijing’s clampdown in Hong Kong.

At his confirmation hearing as secretary of state, Rubio focused heavily on China, which he described as an unprecedented adversary.

But since taking office, Rubio has supported Trump who describes counterpart Xi Jinping as a friend and has focused on building a trade relationship while downplaying human rights.

Last year, however, Rubio brought relief to Taiwan when he said that the Trump administration would not negotiate over the self-governing democracy’s future to secure a trade deal with China.

A Chinese dissident who fled to South Korea this week in a rubber boat will be transferred to an immigration detention centre, police told AFP on Thursday.

Dong Guangping, a 68-year-old former policeman, has been a thorn in Beijing’s side for advocating political reform and human rights and served multiple prison stints over the years.

The longtime critic of China’s ruling Communist Party made several failed attempts to flee the country, including a 2019 bid to swim to the Taiwanese territory of Kinmen and a 2020 trip to Vietnam where he was detained by local police.

He was found by South Korean authorities on Monday night drifting off the country’s west coast on a 3.3-metre (11-foot) rubber boat with a 9.9-horsepower engine, and was questioned on suspicion of violating immigration laws.

Prosecutors asked the court to detain him, but the Daejeon District Court determined that “detention is not necessary” for the authorities’ investigation, a court spokesperson told AFP on Thursday.

The court spokesperson said Dong had two options: “If he is deemed an illegal immigrant, it would be appropriate to transfer him to an immigration detention centre. However, if he applies for refugee status, he can stay in the country in accordance with the Refugee Act.”

After the court’s determination, the dissident remained in police custody in Taean county, on South Korea’s western coast.

Dong will soon be transferred to the immigration office’s foreign detention centre, police in Taean told AFP.

Dong’s lawyer did not immediately return AFP’s requests for comment. Seoul’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

South Korea has granted political asylum to relatively few applicants since it began formally processing refugee claims in 1994, with an overall recognition rate in the low single digits despite tens of thousands of applications.

Critics say the low approval rate reflects strict screening and lengthy procedures, while the government maintains that decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and take security considerations into account.

Dong was dismissed from his work as a policeman after signing a petition a decade after Beijing’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, according to US-based advocacy group Human Rights in China.

He later spent about three years in prison from 2001 for “inciting subversion of state power”, United Nations experts said, and was detained again in 2014 over Tiananmen-related activities.

Dong fled to Thailand with his family, who later resettled in Canada as refugees, but Thai authorities handed him over to Chinese police in 2015 despite his UN-recognised refugee status.

For the fourth year in a row, Hong Kong’s Victoria Park – historically the site of annual candlelight vigils to remember the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown – will host a patriotic food carnival on June 4.

The fourth edition of “Hometown Market” will be held from June 3 to 7 at Victoria Park, organisers said during a press conference on Tuesday. The event will feature more than 370 booths selling local Chinese delicacies and showcasing performances by robots, organisers said.

Kung Chun-lung, chairperson of the Hong Kong Guangdong Federation, said the carnival will introduce products of “rural rejuvenation,” such as sweet potato, corn, and peanut. The five-day event will also see performances by local celebrities, such as Maria Cordero, as well as a traditional Chinese war dance and a “robotic band,” local media reported.

A section of the event will be dedicated to showcasing the technological innovations of Guangdong province, such as artificial intelligence-powered Chinese medicine consultations, according to organisers’ promotional videos on social media.

Decades of vigils

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Beijing-imposed national security law, tens of thousands of Hongkongers gathered for an annual candlelight vigil on June 4 to mourn the bloody crackdown on student-led protests around Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

The number of deaths is not known, but it is believed hundreds, if not thousands, perished during the People’s Liberation Army’s dispersal of protesters, which ended on June 4, 1989.

Police banned the Tiananmen vigil gathering at Victoria Park for the first time in 2020, citing Covid-19 restrictions, and imposed the same ban in 2021, nearly a year after the national security law came into effect.

The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organised the vigils, disbanded in September 2021 after several of its members were arrested.

No official commemoration has been held since then.

Over more recent years, the Hometown Market has taken place with police patrolling the vicinity, stopping and searching passersby.

Since the onset of the security law, the Hong Kong government has referred to the Tiananmen anniversary as a “sensitive date,” while statues and artworks paying tribute to the 1989 crackdown have been removed from the city’s university campuses.

The Pillar of Shame monument disappeared from the University of Hong Kong in a covert overnight operation on December 23, 2021. The next day, the Goddess of Democracy statue was taken away from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, while the Tiananmen Massacre wall relief was removed from Lingnan University.

A three-judge panel will deliver a verdict in “mid or late July” following the national security trial of the Tiananmen vigil organisers.

Its former leader Chow Hang-tung – along with activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho – is charged with inciting subversion. She and Lee pleaded not guilty, while Ho pleaded guilty. They face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors accuse the Alliance of inciting others to topple the ruling Chinese Communist Party through its calls to “end one-party rule” in China, a key tenet of the group since its founding in 1989 after the Tiananmen crackdown in Beijing.

The US consulate in Hong Kong displayed commemorative candles in its windows on the 37th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown on Thursday, while other diplomatic missions paid tribute with social media posts.

The annual move is often blasted by local and Chinese authorities, and has been cited by Beijing as “evidence” of foreign interference in a 6,300-word “fact sheet.”

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People’s Liberation Army cracked down on protesters around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Hong Kong used to be one of the few places on Chinese soil where annual vigils were held to commemorate the people who died in the 1989 crackdown.

But police banned the gathering at Victoria Park for the first time in 2020, citing Covid-19 restrictions, and imposed the same ban the following year.

No official commemoration has been held since the vigil organiser, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, disbanded in September 2021. Its leaders were arrested and are currently on trial.

Currently occupying Victoria Park – historically the site of Hong Kong’s vigils – is a five-day patriotic carnival organised by pro-Beijing groups.

Diplomatic commemorations

Earlier on Thursday, Britain’s embassy in China shared a social media post featuring an animation with scenes from the bloody crackdown. It was shared without commentary.

The British consulate in Hong Kong posted a reel of a mobile phone held aloft with its torch on, apparently referencing the candlelit vigils.

Washington’s mission in Beijing shared a quote from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating: “Those who sacrificed to uphold their unalienable rights of free expression and peaceful assembly will be vindicated someday.”

In response, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing had “long since reached a clear conclusion regarding that political turmoil that occurred in the late 1980s.”

The Canadian consulate in Hong Kong shared a Facebook post, which read: “Today, Canadians honour the memory of all who lost their lives, were injured or went missing during the Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 4, 1989. Canada stands with the survivors and the families and loved ones who continue to demand accountability.”

Meanwhile, the Australian consulate in Hong Kong shared on Facebook a photo of candles and a statement reading: “Today, we stand with communities worldwide in remembering those who lost their lives at Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989. Australia remains steadfast in its commitment to upholding human rights, including freedom of association, of expression, and of political participation.”

In June 2019, then-leader Carrie Lam said that the city’s annual vigils were “proof that Hong Kong is a free place.”

A Hong Kong court is now hearing a landmark trial of the Alliance and two vigil leaders, Chow Hang-tung and  Lee Cheuk-yan. They are accused of “inciting subversion” under the national security law, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars. 

Another vigil leader – Albert Ho – pleaded guilty when the trial opened in January.

For the fourth consecutive year, a patriotic carnival is being held in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, the former site of a traditional commemorative candlelit vigil.

The fourth Hometown Market Carnival – jointly organised by Hong Kong’s 30 provincial hometown associations – opened on Wednesday for a five-day run at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, state-controlled Wen Wei Po reported.

The carnival features 370 booths showcasing Chinese specialities and performances, though it requires visitors to undergo security checks before entering the venue.

Thursday marks the 37th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

The Tiananmen crackdown occurred on June 4, 1989, ending months of student-led demonstrations in China. It is estimated that hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the People’s Liberation Army cracked down on protesters in Beijing.

Before the enactment of the Beijing-imposed national security law, a large-scale candlelit vigil was hosted at Victoria Park every year on the evening of June 4. Members of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement would remember the dead, as well as call for the democratisation of China and justice for the victims.

On Wednesday, the eve of the 37th anniversary, HKFP saw police surround two performance artists, who attempted to stage subtle performances in Causeway Bay near to the park.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Hong Kong’s officials and lawmakers visited Victoria Park to endorse the patriotic event.

Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan appeared at the opening ceremony of the carnival. The No. 2 official said that the event boosted “love for hometowns,” as well as local consumption, Orange News reported.

Starry Lee, president of the Legislative Council (LegCo), led over 50 lawmakers to the carnival on Wednesday afternoon. On her Facebook page, Lee praised the event for not only showcasing Chinese specialities, but also boosting the local economy and enhancing exchanges between Hong Kong and mainland China.

However, some exhibitors cited hot weather when complaining that foot traffic at the carnival was down by 30 per cent compared to last year, HK01 reported.

In June 2020, Hong Kong police banned the Tiananmen vigil gathering at Victoria Park for the first time in 30 years, citing Covid-19 restrictions.

The force imposed the same ban in 2021, nearly a year after the national security law came into effect.

In 2023, a group of 26 hometown associations booked Victoria Park to host the patriotic carnival on the anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown for the first time.

The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organised the vigils, disbanded in September 2021 after several of its members were arrested.

A Hong Kong court is now hearing a landmark trial of the Alliance and two vigil leaders, Chow Hang-tung and  Lee Cheuk-yan. They are accused of “inciting subversion” under the national security law, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars. Another vigil leader – Albert Ho – pleaded guilty when the trial opened in January.

New South Wales police commissioner Mal Lanyon is among witnesses expected to appear at the six-week trial in July next year

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Twenty-five people who were charged after they protested against the visit of the Israeli president will face a six-week joint trial in July next year.

The protesters had their matters heard before Downing centre local court on Thursday after their lawyers made a successful application for the joint hearing, arguing there were common legal issues across the cases.

A retired Hong Kong policeman and a former UK Border Force official were convicted by a London jury Thursday of conducting “shadow policing” on British soil on behalf of China.

Ex-police superintendent Bill Yuen, 65, and Peter Wai, 38 — both dual Chinese-British nationals — were found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service under Britain’s national security laws following a weeks-long trial.

Wai, who worked for the UK’s Border Force immigration and customs enforcement agency after previously serving in the British police and the Royal Navy, was also convicted of misconduct in a public office.

He had searched the interior ministry’s computer system for people of interest to Hong Kong authorities.

The jury at London’s Old Bailey court, which deliberated for nearly 24 hours, was discharged after failing to reach verdicts on a further foreign interference charge against each defendant.

Prosecutors promptly announced they would not seek a retrial and the duo were remanded into custody ahead of sentencing on a date to be set on May 15.

The court had heard how Wai had gathered intelligence on the orders of Yuen, who was a senior manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office (HKETO), which represents Hong Kong’s government in London.

Politicians, campaigners

The pair targeted Hong Kong dissidents and pro-democracy protesters living in Britain, with “special attention” also paid to politicians, including senior Conservative Iain Duncan Smith.

They undertook information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception, with one operation capturing photographs of prominent campaigner Nathan Law.

Their activities coincided with Hong Kong authorities publishing bounties of around £100,000 (US$136,000) for information helping to identify several UK-based activists, including Law, jurors heard.

Another protester told the jury of how Wai had threatened him with arrest for confronting a Hong Kong diplomat in London.

Messages on Yuen’s phone showed surveillance of Law began as early as 2021, the prosecution said as it gave evidence.

See also: ‘Your inner self is red’: UK border officer accused of ‘infiltrating’ Hong Kong pro-democracy group

The defendants’ activities were exposed in May 2024 when police foiled an alleged bid to snatch a former Hong Kong resident from her flat in the northern county of Yorkshire, the court heard.

Wai, of Staines-upon-Thames, southwest of the capital — who was known to associates as Fatboy — and Yuen, of Hackney in east London, had both denied wrongdoing.

The case comes in the wake of tens of thousands of people, including democracy activists wanted by Chinese authorities, moving to Britain since Hong Kong enacted a draconian National Security Law in mid-2020.

An engineer by day, Thomas spends most of his time inspecting building projects on construction sites. At night, he unwinds by performing in bars and restaurants across Hong Kong.

The 35-year-old has always had a passion for singing – in particular, he loves performing songs by Hins Cheung, his favourite Cantopop artist.

“When I have a gig, one-third or even half of my songs are Hins’ songs,” Thomas told HKFP. “I love how he expresses himself through singing. He’s very creative, and he’s humorous too.”

Last year, he even signed up for Hins Academy music seminars, personally taught by Cheung. They were not cheap, Thomas said, costing around HK$800 or $900 per seminar.

Cheung, 45, whose music career in Hong Kong has spanned more than two decades, was born and raised in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. He moved to Hong Kong in 2002 to pursue music.

His hits, from old-time favourites like “Tremor” to newer songs like “Imaginary Fairground,” are karaoke staples. He has also won multiple high-profile awards, and his concert tickets sell out notoriously quickly.

Last month, Cheung made headlines after he apologised for his past criticism of the government. His comments were published in a full-page interview with state-backed newspaper Wen Wei Po, in which he said he had been “impulsive” and “ignorant” in his younger years.

The out-of-the-blue repentance contrasted with the pro-democracy stance that Cheung had been associated with. While he – like most public figures in the city’s post-security law environment – has not commented on politics in recent years, his fans remember his support for social movements dating back to the anti-national education protests in 2012.

Cheung also said in the interview that he would serve as a mentor for a Security Bureau programme targeting young people arrested for their involvement in the 2019 protests and unrest. He would lead them on trips to mainland China so they could learn more about the country, he said.

Thomas – who requested to use a pseudonym due to the sensitivity of the topic – said the recent news did not change his perception of Cheung, as he did not think the statements were made of his own free will.

“This is a 180-degree difference” from what Cheung used to be, Thomas said in Cantonese. “I think there must be reasons behind the scenes.”

His reaction echoed many comments left on Cheung’s social media posts, some of which said the Wen Wei Po interview felt “bizarre” and suggested that something “had happened.”

Political pressure

A political scientist at a university in Hong Kong, who declined to be named, said he believed there was some merit in fans’ theories. Cheung’s dramatic turn showed the increasing political pressure that artists had to cave in to in order to succeed in their field, he said.

He speculated that the government wanted a popular public figure to step forward and “admit their mistakes” to encourage others to rethink their political views. Cheung was a “suitable candidate,” the academic said.

He opined that while Cheung was believed to have a pro-democracy stance, he was not as anti-establishment as other singers who have engaged in political activism.

In fact, while the Cantopop star has expressed support for the city’s social movements, he has also made posts on Weibo celebrating China’s National Day.

“He has the brand of being anti-government in some sense, but he’s not that extreme,” the scholar said. “He’s the ideal type for the government to work with.”

The apology and collaboration with the government are also beneficial for Cheung from a business perspective, the academic added. 

In the past, artists worried that anti-establishment political statements could limit their opportunities across the border. Mainland China has been known to bar singers perceived as pro-democracy, making it difficult for them to hold concerts there.

But now that fear could be felt right at home, too, the academic said. In recent years, singers who are outspoken about their pro-democracy stance have faced difficulties securing concert venues in the city. 

Outside of Cheung’s fan circle, however, criticism is not hard to come by. Lester Shum, a pro-democracy activist who was released from jail in January after serving a four-and-a-half-year sentence for a landmark national security case, said on Threads that Cheung was doing it “for the money.”

He appeared to downplay concerns that Cheung was under any pressure.

“Don’t say he’d get arrested if he didn’t do this lmao,” Shum wrote in Chinese. “I think the chances of that happening are close to zero.” 

Another Threads user accused Cheung of “playing the victim” and trying to fish for sympathy.

‘For his music’

Comments like that do not faze long-time fan Brian, who said he has been listening to Cheung since his late primary school days.

The 29-year-old said he had been to Cheung’s concerts eight or nine times, a feat made possible by the fact that he could buy internal tickets through a friend’s relative who worked at Emperor Entertainment Group, Hong Kong’s talent management behemoth that manages the artist.

Tickets are too difficult to purchase during public sales, said Brian, who declined to disclose his full name.

“I have liked him for so many years for his music, not because of things he has said about politics in the past,” Brian told HKFP. “So I won’t stop liking him because of what he’s said about politics now.”

He told HKFP he himself is not a political person and that he does not support “either side.”

“But in Hong Kong, if you say you support the government, you will have more opportunities,” he said. “If [Cheung] still wants to develop in Hong Kong, to hold shows and appear in films, his stance must be supportive of the government.”

According to local media, Cheung appeared at a Security Bureau event at the Hong Kong Museum of History at the end of April, where he and other speakers gave talks to about 300 people. The event was aimed at young people who were arrested during the protests and unrest in 2019.

The singer shared the ups and downs of his career, including being scammed by a record company in mainland China when he was 17. In his talk, he did not mention national security.

Afterwards, participants were brought to the national security exhibition in the museum. Then, there was a lucky draw, with tickets to a star-studded concert featuring Emperor Entertainment Group’s singers among the prizes, an attendee told local media.

Thomas said he did not think that Cheung wanted to collaborate with the government on its event, but perhaps he had to as a favour to his music company, which is reportedly experiencing financial difficulties. Last year, Emperor Group actress Michelle Wai also gave a talk at a similar Security Bureau event targeting former 2019 protesters.

He also said it was “abnormal” that Cheung unfollowed many accounts on Instagram around the time the Wen Wei Po interview came out, including some of his closest artist friends like Terence Lam and Tyson Yoshi.

Thomas said he believed Cheung would not do that on his own.

He added that while Cheung had not spoken about politics in recent years, his music video for “Imaginary Fairground” – filmed in London in 2023 and depicting Hongkongers’ struggle to adapt to a new life in the UK – was interpreted by fans as a message of encouragement for those who had emigrated because of the city’s political developments.

Thomas’ friends who are also Cheung fans share his continued support for the artist, the hobbyist singer said, but some members of his own audience seem less forgiving.

Thomas had come across restaurant customers at his gigs who, upon hearing him perform Cheung’s songs, said they no longer listened to the Cantopop star.

“I think those are not his real fans,” Thomas said. “All they’ve seen are the news reports.”

What role the Legislative Council (LegCo) should play in our executive-led system continues to spark controversy.  Lawmakers themselves are discussing the issue, which is a healthy sign. 

Central authorities have also spoken indirectly on LegCo’s role.

On January 26, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office head Xia Baolong pointed out that executive-led government in Hong Kong means that each branch – executive, legislative, and judicial – performs its “own role and cooperates and coordinates with each other.”

According to Article 64 of the Basic Law, LegCo’s role includes holding the government to account. This means asking questions, asking for justification of government action, investigating government actions and inactions, and, when necessary, sanctioning government officials for policy failures.

According to the Powers and Privileges Ordinance (Cap 382), enacted in 1985, with the select and investigation committee system, as well as the system of policy panels, LegCo has the capacity to fulfil its “own role.”

It is precisely how to understand LegCo’s “own role” that has sparked controversy.

First, may LegCo use the tools it has to hold the government to account? The central authorities have condemned the way the opposition in LegCo used these tools after 2010. They call it abuse, citing filibustering and other tactics that delayed legislation.

The record is clear: the fourth- and fifth-term Legislative Councils passed far fewer bills than either before or after. The sixth-term LegCo was heading in the same direction until the government disqualified some opposition lawmakers, and most of the rest resigned.  

Moreover, both the central and the city’s authorities accuse the opposition of abusing LegCo’s powers to investigate, and to summon and inquire – precisely those powers legislators still have and need to hold the government to account.

In this view, the abuse dates from after 2010 when the opposition and representatives of the central government negotiated a deal over political reform in Hong Kong. It has been downhill ever since, according to Beijing. 

From 1985 to 2010, LegCo convened six select or investigation committees, which focused on issues of public concern: the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) operations and staff loyalty, the chaotic Chek Lap Kok airport opening, short piling in public housing, SARS, misselling Lehman-Brothers minibonds, and conflicts of interest in the post-retirement employment of civil servants.

The result: the government changed course and made improvements in public policy.

For example, authorities introduced the Principal Officials Accountability System (POAS) in 2002, which is still with us today. LegCo’s work and the results of an expert committee investigation on the SARS outbreak in 2003-04 better prepared us for the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. These positive results are undeniable. 

Even in the post-2010 period, pressure from LegCo to investigate sometimes had positive results. In 2015, for example, responding to public concern expressed in the legislature, the government established a commission of inquiry into lead in drinking water in some public housing estates. Again, the government changed course. 

Second, authorities tell us that executive-led government means that LegCo and the executive should “cooperate” and “coordinate.” Does this mean that legislators may not criticise government policy? Reporting indicates that many LegCo members perceive this to be the case. 

Remember Chief Executive John Lee’s harsh rebuke of LegCo member Paul Tse’s criticism of government policy in the first “patriots-only” seventh-term LegCo? The chief executive deemed such criticism “dangerous,” similar to the “soft resistance” of the much-criticised opposition and must be “stamped out.”

The few government critics in the seventh-term LegCo all left the body in 2025. 

More recently, consider the Hospital Authority’s (HA) rebuke after LegCo members Gary Chan, Rebecca Chan, and David Lam expressed concerns that residents might not have collected their HA-provided medication because of increased charges. (A sidenote: Rebecca Chan served as a political assistant in the Food and Health Bureau from 2012 to 2017.)

The legislators drew attention to the very figure disclosed by the Health Bureau: that 26,000 public hospital prescriptions were uncollected after the new fee regime was introduced in January. However, rather than listening and investigating, the HA said the remarks were “untruthful.”

The government apparently prefers to send legislators “warm reminders” on many issues of public concern, in effect telling them to shut up. Precisely because no lawmaker spoke up when LegCo deliberated the bus seatbelt issue in September 2025, the policy resulted in a fiasco. 

The public needs a legislature that is engaged, open, and responsibly critical of government action – this is the minimum required to perform its “own role.”

Of course, LegCo should cooperate and coordinate with the government, but to do so should not compromise the legislature’s “own role.”  

Hong Kong needs a middle way for LegCo – somewhere between the dysfunction seen from the 2014 Umbrella Movement through the 2019 protests and a rubber stamp.

We have experienced a middle way, for example, from 1985 to at least 2010.

At the time, as noted above, LegCo investigations played an important role in improving public policy. Hong Kong people value this kind of LegCo role. It benefits the government and the community, building trust and legitimacy. 

Authorities should trust their own gatekeeping in selecting patriotic LegCo members. Many LegCo members seem to understand that they should play a more active role.

The government should realise that it cannot do everything alone. Effective governance is co-produced.

Authorities need to recognise the legitimacy of a middle way, a more authentic role for LegCo. We will all benefit.

Several photojournalists, who were covering the protests outside Delaney Hall, have alleged that they were purposely targeted and attacked by some ICE agents.

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US President Donald Trump heads for a superpower summit with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next week hoping the Iran war will not spoil the mood in Beijing.

Trump will be expecting a lavish welcome at the high-stakes meeting, which he delayed in March because of the Middle East conflict.

But the war will still loom large over his first visit to China since 2017, which is supposed to focus on easing tensions over trade and Taiwan between the world’s largest economies.

Trump said the two leaders would discuss the issue and that Xi had been “very respectful” over Iran.

Yet with Trump desperately seeking a deal to end the war before he lands in Beijing, China may seek to use his weakened position to extract concessions on key issues.

“The reality is that right now, Iran is critical for the US and the Chinese know that,” said Edgard Kagan of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

‘Big, fat hug’

The world will be closely watching the Trump-Xi summit, but uncertainty over the timing and a lack of preparation mean deliverables are likely to be limited.

For a US president obsessed with the idea of Great Power diplomacy, the main priority during the May 14-15 visit will be visuals of him being feted by a strongman fellow leader.

Trump, 79, has repeatedly talked up his “very good relationship” with Xi, 72, whom he met in South Korea last October, even saying the Chinese leader will give him a “big, fat hug” over Iran.

He will also hope to come away from the summit with big business deals as he looks to midterm elections in which Republicans face a hammering over high oil prices from the Iran war.

While some industry leaders say invitations have still not formally gone out, Trump’s administration plans to invite CEOs from companies including Apple, Exxon, Nvidia and Boeing, Semafor reported, with talk of a big Boeing deal in the offing.

Trump will also be hoping to bring back deals on AI, critical minerals and fentanyl.

One solid result that China in particular hopes for could be an extension of the fragile year-long trade truce that Trump and Xi agreed on in South Korea in October.

China has however shown that it is still ready to respond to Washington, saying on May 2 that it would not comply with US sanctions against firms targeted over Iranian oil transactions.

“It appears that the truce is not as strong as we were hoping,” Sean Stein, president of the US-China Business Council, told AFP.

‘A lot of leverage’

Communist-run China will meanwhile be looking for stability in a Trump-roiled world, and to play for time in the knowledge that the volatile US leader is on his second and final term in office.

Beijing is also likely to use Trump’s weakened position to its advantage where it can.

“There’s actually a lot of leverage there that Beijing could use,” said Patricia Kim, a senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

“Trump is looking for a win, right? I mean, he hasn’t had much wins in recent weeks with the war in Iran going on.”

Taiwan could be one area in particular where Xi may try to extract concessions, analysts say — for example on arms sales to the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own.

Trump has been known to go off-script on the thorny topic before and allies in the region who fear an assertive China will be closely watching for signs of US wavering.

At the same time Beijing is likely to play up to Trump’s love of pomp and flattery, knowing that a slighted and angry Trump would cause trouble.

But the Chinese will try to wash their hands of any involvement in the war on its ally Iran and deflect pressure from Trump during the meeting with Xi.

Beijing’s hosting of Iran’s foreign minister this week was “a sign that they realize this is coming down the pike,” said Kagan from CSIS.

A Hong Kong man who threw anti-government leaflets from his public housing flat has been sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to committing seditious acts.

Raymond Wong appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to receive a 10-month jail sentence handed down by Chief Magistrate Victor So for two counts of “doing with a seditious intention an act or acts that had a seditious intention,” local media reported.

Wong, a 55-year-old construction worker, admitted to throwing the leaflets from his unit in On Tat Estate, Kwun Tong, on two occasions in October 2024 and December 2025.

He was arrested in April, and the following month, he pleaded guilty to the charges –  an offence under Hong Kong’s homegrown national security law, also known as Article 23.

In mitigation, he apologised to his girlfriend and his daughter, as their public housing unit would be reclaimed by the government due to his offence.

Citing a psychological report, Wong’s lawyers said that the defendant did not know how to control the resentment that had built up from losing his full-time job after the 2019 protests and the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘Premeditated and planned’

Noting that the leaflets were thrown after National Day two years ago and before last year’s Legislative Council (LegCo) elections, Magistrate So said that Wong’s actions were “premeditated and planned to some degree.”

On October 2, 2024, Kwun Tong district councillor Hsu Yau-wai reported 41 sheets of paper to the police after finding them on the podium of Lai Tat House at the estate. The papers had slogans on them saying “kill police” and derogatory remarks about mainland Chinese people.

On December 5 last year, two days ahead of the “patriots only” LegCo polls, a property manager found papers scattered near that same area, with written slogans such as “Liberate Hong Kong, do not vote.”

Wong’s lawyers said on Tuesday that his methods were “primitive” and had limited impact compared with online posts.

So said he accepted the defence’s argument but pointed out that Wong explicitly incited people to kill police officers, mainland Chinese, and government officials.

Wong incited enmity towards the police and referred to mainland residents with “derogatory” and “dehumanising” language, and his use of the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong,” considered secessionist under Beijing’s national security law in Hong Kong, also challenged national sovereignty, the magistrate added.

Calls to boycott the LegCo polls also amounted to an effort to undermine public confidence in the city’s electoral system, So said.

The turnout for last year’s polls was the second-lowest on record, at 31.9 per cent. Beijing overhauled the city’s electoral system in 2021 to ensure that only those deemed patriotic enough can run.

The move reduced democratic representation in the legislature, tightened control of elections and introduced requirements for candidates to obtain nominations from a small circle of political elites.