Hong Kong VTC courses touted as short cut to residency for babies of mainland mothers

South China Morning Post - Nov 9, 2026

Agencies are promoting Vocational Training Council (VTC) courses to pregnant women in mainland China, touting packages cheaper than HK$100,000 (US$12,600) including commission as the lowest-cost route for the women to secure Hong Kong passports for their newborns, the South China Morning Post has found. The path would enable their children to get into top-tier mainland universities more easily and could even secure them a job as a civil servant in the future, the agencies claimed. But critics...

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PPP leaders gather outside Cheong Wa Dae to protest special counsel bill

PPP leaders gather outside Cheong Wa Dae to protest special counsel bill

Leaders of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) gathered outside Cheong Wa Dae on Monday to protest the recent passage of a bill calling for a special counsel investigation into alleged fabricated indictments targeting President Lee Jae Myung and others. The PPP leadership held a Supreme Council meeting outside the presidential office, after the ruling Democratic Party of Korea railroaded the bill through a plenary session of the National Assembly on Friday. The legislation calls for appointing an independent counsel to investigate suspicions the prosecution under former President Yoon Suk Yeol fabricated evidence or induced false testimonies to build cases against then opposition leader Lee and others. The PPP has denounced the effort as a pretext to cancel all of Lee's indictments, as his trials have been suspended under an article of the Constitution that exempts a sitting president from criminal prosecution except in cases of insurrection or treason. Lee faces charges of involvement in corrupt development schemes, illegal remittances to North Korea, and the misuse of a govern

Justice minister nominee cautious on withdrawal of indictments against Lee

Justice minister nominee cautious on withdrawal of indictments against Lee

Justice Minister nominee Lee Yong-cheol on Monday expressed reservations about nullifying indictments against President Lee Jae Myung following last week's passage of a special counsel bill to investigate allegations of fabricated indictments, including those that currently involve the president. The nominee, who currently serves as head of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), said the special counsel should focus exclusively on uncovering the truth. He was tapped Friday to become the justice minister, a post that has remained vacant for more than two months since Lee's first justice minister, Jung Sung-ho, resigned in late August. The National Assembly passed the special counsel bill on the same day amid protests from the main opposition People Power Party, which suspects the legislation is aimed at canceling all indictments against the president. "I believe it is appropriate for the special counsel to focus solely on uncovering the truth from now on, while all other matters should be handled in accordance with the law and established principles," the justice minister

Second vice minister of foreign affairs discusses role of diplomacy at HUFS lecture

Second vice minister of foreign affairs discusses role of diplomacy at HUFS lecture

Kim Jin-a, second vice minister of foreign affairs, delivered a lecture on the changing international order and the challenges facing Korean diplomacy at the Seoul campus of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) on Nov. 4. The university said the lecture was part of the 2026 HUFS Special Lecture program, which provides students, alumni and young people in the local community with opportunities to gain insights into the humanities and develop skills for their future careers. The program combines the university’s traditional strengths in diplomacy, international trade and the humanities with emerging issues such as artificial intelligence (AI) and big data. In her lecture, titled “Changes in the International Order and Korea’s Diplomatic Choices,” Kim discussed the role and importance of diplomacy in the evolving international environment. She also introduced various programs and initiatives pursued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and shared information to help students broaden their interest in international affairs and explore career opportunities in diplomacy. Kim earned

Hong Kong wakes up to coolest morning so far this autumn at 23.2 degrees

Hong Kong wakes up to coolest morning so far this autumn at 23.2 degrees

Hong Kong recorded its coolest morning so far this autumn on Monday, with temperatures falling to 23.2 degrees Celsius (73.76 Fahrenheit) and forecast to reach as low as 16 degrees the next day. The Hong Kong Observatory said a cold front and a strong northeast monsoon kept Guangdong’s coastal areas cool, adding that temperatures across the city were about two degrees lower than the day before. As of 7.40am, the Observatory had recorded a minimum temperature of 23.2 degrees. The mercury was...

Stronger concrete needed to fix ‘basic mistake’ of defective MTR station columns: experts

Stronger concrete needed to fix ‘basic mistake’ of defective MTR station columns: experts

Hong Kong’s railway operator can use high-strength concrete to rectify the structure of dozens of defective columns at a station under construction, an engineer and a construction sector leader have said, describing the shoddy work as a “basic mistake”. Their remarks came after the Buildings Department revealed on Saturday that about 30 columns at the Tung Chung West MTR station were defective because the concrete failed to reach the upper ceiling, leaving steel reinforcement bars...

Low pay, fatigue and staff shortages put Hong Kong’s aviation hub status at risk: unions

Low pay, fatigue and staff shortages put Hong Kong’s aviation hub status at risk: unions

Unsatisfactory employment conditions in Hong Kong’s aviation industry are threatening the sector’s ability to attract and retain talent, potentially undermining the city’s competitive edge as a global aviation hub, unions and a lawmaker have warned. Hong Kong International Airport retained its title as the world’s busiest cargo airport in 2025, the 15th time it has taken the top spot. With the full operation of the three-runway system and Terminal 2, the city aims to strengthen its position as...

To be Asia’s events capital, Hong Kong must offer ticketing that works

To be Asia’s events capital, Hong Kong must offer ticketing that works

Hong Kong has set its sights on becoming Asia’s events capital. China’s five-year plans support the city’s role as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange. The chief executive’s latest policy address commits the Tourism Board to strengthening Hong Kong’s reputation as the “events capital of Asia”. The economic benefits could be huge. International events bring tourists and business for hotels, restaurants, shops and transport operators. The South China Morning Post...

Hong Kong records nearly 18% rise in ransomware cases amid drop in tech crime

Hong Kong records nearly 18% rise in ransomware cases amid drop in tech crime

Hong Kong has recorded a nearly 18 per cent rise in ransomware cases in the first three quarters of this year despite an overall drop in technology crime, with police attributing the rise to artificial intelligence-aided attacks. Chief Superintendent Raymond Lam Cheuk-ho of the cybersecurity and technology crime bureau said police had recorded cases of AI agents and other forms of artificial intelligence being used in cyberattacks as recently as last month. “We understand that the use of AI...

Hong Kong must retain the talent its world-class universities nurture

Hong Kong must retain the talent its world-class universities nurture

We can count on this administration to be quick to take credit. It took just one day for Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki to claim credit on behalf of the Hong Kong government for the impressive results of the city’s universities in the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia University Rankings. All 11 of Hong Kong’s ranked institutions made it into Asia’s top 500 for the first time. Five of the 11 are ranked among Asia’s top 10. The University of Hong Kong took the crown as Asia’s top...

Will China’s slow and steady moon landing plan be a safer bet than the US’?

Will China’s slow and steady moon landing plan be a safer bet than the US’?

China’s full dress rehearsal for its crewed moon landing would be tougher on schedule but safer than Nasa’s cheaper bet on commercial landers, a US space policy analyst said after the rival powers updated their lunar plans within a week of each other. Wang Xiang, deputy chief designer of China’s crewed space programme, said in Beijing on October 31 that, before sending any astronauts, China would dock the Lanyue lander and Mengzhou spacecraft in lunar orbit, and Lanyue would touch down, lift off...

The US must stop blaming China for problems at home: former envoy Cui Tiankai

The US must stop blaming China for problems at home: former envoy Cui Tiankai

The United States should not blame China’s rise for its own problems and should not expect that these can be solved by changing presidents, China’s longest-serving former ambassador to Washington has said. “China’s development has never aimed to replace or challenge the US – it never has. Naturally, I also hope the US can resolve its own issues and that its future development will not come at the expense of China’s interests,” Cui Tiankai, who served as ambassador to the US from 2013 to 2021,...

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