Latest news with #UniversityOfHongKong
South China Morning Post
7 days ago
- South China Morning Post
‘Last chance': Hong Kong DSE documentary star gets probation after second theft offence
A Hong Kong student who starred in a popular web documentary about secondary school public exams has been placed on probation after a court agreed to give him 'one last chance' following his second shoplifting offence in a year. Eastern Court accepted a probation officer's recommendation and handed Tang Ngai-hong a 12-month probation order on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to theft earlier this month. The 19-year-old admitted stealing a bag of fruit and two packets of potato chips worth a total of HK$61.80 (US$7.87) from the Fresh supermarket at Kornhill Plaza North in Quarry Bay on January 5. The offence took place just five months after Tang was fined HK$3,000 for stealing nearly HK$700 worth of food items from the Kowloon Bay branch of Japanese discount chain store Don Don Donki on May 8, 2024. Acting Principal Magistrate David Cheung Chi-wai said he would give Tang 'one last chance' given his timely plea. The defendant must maintain the peace and observe an array of conditions, including a requirement to attend psychological counselling sessions. Tang, now a first-year student at the University of Hong Kong School of Professional and Continuing Education, was the main subject of a documentary web series about the Diploma of Secondary Education examination by YouTube channel Trial and Error.
South China Morning Post
19-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
6 public universities in Hong Kong rise in global rankings
Six public universities in Hong Kong have risen in a global ranking, with the city's oldest jumping to 11th place and beating two prestigious mainland Chinese institutions. Advertisement Britain-based education information firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) said the city's new 'Study in Hong Kong' brand should help it attract global talent and cement its reputation as a premier academic destination amid the government's funding cuts. The latest edition of QS' world rankings, released on Thursday, saw the University of Hong Kong (HKU) climb to 11th place, up from 17th last year and 26th in 2023. The result is the institution's best since the league table was launched in 2004. It was just one spot behind the California Institute of Technology in the United States. The mainland's Peking University maintained its 14th place, while Tsinghua University rose three spots to 17th. HKU also ranked second in Asia, after the National University of Singapore, which maintained its eighth position globally. Advertisement QS said HKU was the local leader across four indicators, performing particularly well in academic reputation and graduate employability.
South China Morning Post
18-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Why is top Beijing official Xia Baolong in Hong Kong for a 5-day visit?
Beijing's point man overseeing Hong Kong affairs has begun a five-day fact-finding visit to the city, his third since taking office. Sources have said Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, will focus on assessing the city's progress on both development and security fronts. The Post examines the importance of Xia's visits to the city – from his past itineraries to messages issued to city officials. 1. What will Xia be doing during his visit? Xia will attend a national security law forum on Saturday to mark the Beijing-promulgated law's fifth anniversary. According to several sources, Xia will meet university chiefs and senior educators on Thursday, to discuss how local varsities could boost technological collaboration with mainland China, and nurture and retain global talent. Those expected to meet the Beijing official include Xiang Zhang from the University of Hong Kong, Nancy Ip Yuk-yu from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Dennis Lo Yuk-ming, and Polytechnic University's Teng Jin-Guang. Xia was also expected to inspect the city's outlying islands to monitor progress on the city's tourism development and the Northern Metropolis megaproject, as well as meet community members, including Kenneth Lau Ip-keung, chairman of rural body the Heung Yee Kuk, to hear their views on the development.
South China Morning Post
12-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Customs works with University of Hong Kong to develop crypto transaction tracer
Hong Kong customs is working with the University of Hong Kong to develop a tool that can trace cryptocurrency transactions, as the department in recent years had recorded seven suspected money laundering cases involving more than HK$9 billion (US$1.1 billion) where virtual assets were used. Advertisement Mario Wong Ho-yin, assistant commissioner for intelligence and investigation of the Customs and Excise Department, said on Thursday that the organisation would ramp up collaborations with academics, finance and virtual asset industry players, and law enforcement across the region to combat cross-border money laundering. 'These money laundering threats are characterised by a transnational and borderless nature, and no single agency can tackle this problem alone,' he said. Wong also warned that illegal transactions and trades that used virtual assets, such as cryptocurrency, were on the rise. He revealed that among the 39 money laundering cases reported to the department between 2021 and May this year, seven involved the use of virtual assets to launder suspected crime proceeds. Advertisement Those seven cases involved more than HK$9 billion and were mostly trade-based money laundering cases, with the funds being transferred under the guise of normal trading activity. Last April, three people were arrested in connection with one of the cases, which involved more than 1,000 suspicious transactions worth HK$1.8 billion linked to five companies and 18 local bank accounts.
South China Morning Post
03-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Will new US curbs on China's tech tests raise electronic prices for American consumers?
Washington's recent ban on Chinese labs deemed security risks over their testing of consumer electronics bound for the US has observers wondering about law enforcement while saying the ban may leave American consumers with fewer, more expensive choices. Analysts also say the impact on Chinese makers of phones, PCs and the like could be limited, even though Washington appears to be trying to curtail China, a country the US Federal Communications Commission calls an adversary. 'It is hard to determine where each component is tested, when so many things make up a smartphone,' said Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong. 'Some of them are designed and tested in South Korea, some in Japan, some in the US ... I don't know how you can enforce it.' With a unanimous 4-0 vote, the FCC finalised its new rules on May 22. In justifying the move, the government agency said it had found that Chinese labs – those recognised as having tested American-bound devices over the years – retain deep connections with the Communist Party and military. 'These labs provide a gateway into the US telecommunications infrastructure,' FCC chairman Brendan Carr said in a May 22 statement. 'It is not hard to imagine that an unreliable lab – one beholden to a foreign adversary – could sign off on insecure gear entering the US.'
