Hong Kong’s anti-racism watchdog has spoken out against customers requesting that their takeaway food should not be delivered by South Asian drivers during the coronavirus pandemic, but will not be taking any action as such conduct is not illegal.Deliveroo on Friday confirmed that a customer’s account had been deactivated over “inappropriate and wholly unacceptable delivery notes”, while rival company Foodpanda was investigating allegations of similar racist messages on its app.“We believe in…

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A row between a former Hong Kong leader and the current administration intensified on Wednesday as a leading government adviser weighed in on the heated political reform debate, insisting the city’s chief executive should be picked through elections.The dispute erupted on Monday when former chief executive Leung Chun-ying told a media outlet that it would still be lawful if the city’s next leader was picked without an election. Incumbent leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor dismissed the idea the…

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Beijing’s two offices overseeing Hong Kong affairs hit out on Monday at the latest United States sanctions imposed on Chinese officials over this month’s mass arrests of opposition activists, warning the departing administration in Washington to bring an end to its “final act of madness”.The condemnations were issued in response to the US last week applying financial penalties to six more Chinese officials – including Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong’s sole delegate to the nation’s top legislative…

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Self-exiled former opposition lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung on Sunday dismissed as “irresponsible” an explanation by the boss of HSBC that the bank had “no choice” but to freeze accounts belonging to him and his family at the behest of Hong Kong police.Hui said he received a personal email from HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn last week explaining why the bank froze their credit cards and savings accounts soon after he absconded in December.Hui, who posted a picture of part of the letter on his…

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The dissolution of a civil servants’ union formed during the 2019 anti-government protests in Hong Kong is likely to be an isolated incident but various public sector employee groups will become more cautious as a result of the government’s oath-taking requirement, according to a veteran unionist.The warning from Leung Chau-ting came hours after the Union for New Civil Servants announced its disbandment on Saturday night in response to the requirement for the 180,000-strong workforce to pledge…

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