Hong Kong

The editorial director of AsiaNews comments on the verdict against Chow Hang-tung and Lee Cheuk-yan: “There is a tendency to believe that the cause of freedom in Hong Kong is lost. But we cannot comprehend how the price to be paid for integration with China should be the imprisonment of democratic leaders and the eradication of the pluralism of thought.”

In Hong Kong, the former trade unionist and human rights lawyer have been sentenced. They face up to 10 years in prison under the National Security Law. Amnesty: prisoners of conscience

The oldest Trappist monk in the world has passed away at the age of 108. But his story evokes the brutal "death march" with which Mao's communists wiped out the monasteries of Yangjiaping and Liesse in the 1940s. He took part in the rebirth of the Abbey of Our Lady of Joy in Hong Kong in 1956.

According to official licence statistics, as many as 30,000 are aged between 70 and 79. This reflects not only the ageing population but also the financial difficulties faced by those who lost their jobs during the Covid pandemic. And with pensions insufficient to cover their expenses, many make ends meet by working as taxi drivers.

Since the start of the year, a special pastoral team set up by Cardinal Chow has been active, dedicated to ministering to the thousands of Mandarin-speaking people who have arrived in the city in recent years. The team leader, Fr Bruno Lepeu, told the Sunday Examiner: “Friendship and care rooted in God’s love”. Of particular significance are the initiatives for young cross-border students and the parents of children attending Catholic schools.

In a message written from prison, the lawyer on trial alongside Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho for the 4 June vigils in Victoria Park speaks of the importance of resilience in remembering the 1989 massacre in Beijing, whilst the Hong Kong authorities cover the void left by the crackdown with a sea of market stalls. “4 June is a matter of principle, our most reliable safeguard against the perpetuation of dictatorship and the cult of power.”

The activist is currently held at a detention centre over her visa. The UNHCR office in the Thai capital had granted her protection status. Hong Kong authorities accuse her of "subversion" under the territory’s national security law. Her "crime" is membership in the Hong Kong Parliament group of exiles.

The activist and former trade unionist spoke at his subversion trial regarding his role in the Hong Kong Alliance, which organised vigils in memory of the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre. He faces up to 10 years in prison. In his defence, he quoted Mao Zedong and former Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang opposing one-party rule.

The city of Milan has officially added to the list of the Righteous who stood against genocide the name of a PIME missionary who aided Jews during the Nazi persecution, before departing for the Chinese metropolis where he went on to serve the local community for 60 years, until his death in 2007. Father Gianni Criveller, editorial director of AsiaNews, commemorates him.

In all the reports from Beijing's official media on the 20-year prison sentence handed down on 9 February to the Hong Kong entrepreneur, a public interview from 2019 is deliberately misrepresented. To justify the harsh sentence with words that the founder of Apple Daily never said. Instead, they are silent about what he said that day about the link between his Christian faith and the struggle for freedom and justice.

After five years, the landmark trial under the national security law ended. The founder of Apple Daily was charged with conspiracy and sedition. Chief Executive Lee praised the “severe” sentence that brings “relief to all”. Cardinal Zen was in the courtroom with Lay’s wife. Eight other defendants were also sentenced. Attention now turns to the trials of Chow Hang-tung, Lee Cheuk-yan, and Albert Ho.

More than a thousand people who survived the Tai Po Towers fire that killed 161 people on 26 November 2025 have submitted a petition to the Legislative Council and China’s Liaison Office demanding on-site redevelopment, rejecting financial compensation. For them, leaving would mean betraying the memory of what happened.