Los Angeles – (a syndicated column by Tom Plate) It’s uncertain whether Asia will come to entertain many Western journalists that tried harder to understand their region, their ways and their history than Barry Wain, who has died at 69. The former editor of the once Hong Kong-based Asian Wall…
Tag: Hong Kong
China Blog Blotter: Too Soon for Equal Rights?
“Gays Dare to Love” was the slogan for the Equal Rights for Gays Parade that took place in Hong Kong recently. Much like America’s own Pride Parades, Equal Rights for Gays Parade is public, loud, and flamboyant. Although parades like these have happened in the past in Hong Kong, this…
HONG KONG: Inbound Troubles Asking For Trouble?
Despite the growing amount of disputes between Hong Kong locals and Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong’s television channel TVB Jade recently aired its first episode of Inbound Troubles, which sparked an array of complaints claiming the show is deepening already severe cultural conflicts. January 14th marks the show’s first episode, presenting…
HONG KONG: Media Torn On US Election
Hong Kong media’s reaction to the reelection of President Barack Obama has proved to be diverse, to say the least. Just compare the Hong Kong edition of the New York Times Rendezvous Blog to the China Daily’s Hong Kong Opinion section! The two sources seem to differ significantly. While the…
HONG KONG: ‘Next Media’ Announces Goodbye to Taiwan
Following up on our “No Next Step for Next Media” article that appeared here in April, Hong Kong’s largest media company, ‘Next Media’, has recently confirmed the selling of its Taiwan-based Entertainment Services Ltd. Next Media’s largest Taiwanese publications, ‘Next Magazine’ and ‘Apple Daily’, are a huge part of the…
HONG KONG: Homophobic Chao Offers Inspiration
Cecil Chao, Hong Kong’s notoriously homophobic billionaire playboy, has recently become the inspiration for the outrageous Sacha Baron Cohen’s next movie. Famous for being absurdly offensive yet comical, Cohen’s last mockumentary, “The Dictator”, parodied the late Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Similarly, Cohen and his production company has made plans with…
Openly Gay HK Legislator Comes Out Swinging on the Fast Beat!
In a move sure to leave Beijing squirming, media outlets and LGBT activists (for, of course, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) have praised Raymond Chan Chi-chuen as the first Hong Kong legislator to come out of the closet. Chan, a former disc jockey and CEO of the Internet radio station Hong…
HONG KONG: A Small City That the Police Look to Make Smaller
Hong Kong- IFJ has criticized Hong Kong’s tactics as a crime against freedom of press The Hong Kong government has been aggressively encouraged to end limitations of press freedom by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). According to a recent press release of the IFJ, Andy Tsang, Commissioner of Police…
HONG KONG: No Next Step for ‘Next Media’
Next Media, publisher of Next Magazine and the scandal-crazy Apple Daily, was reported by Forbes on April 7th to be considering selling its operations in Taiwan for a low $500 million. The Hong Kong based company founded by Jimmy Lai, known for his blistering critiques of Beijing, has become one of the largest Chinese language media companies in…
HONG KONG: Beijing’s Man Takes the Prize
“The so-called freedom of speech, freedom of the press [in China]- it is a joke.” This was the widely shared sentiment of one microblogger regarding mainland China’s persistent censorship of the bitter back and forth over the noisy and messy campaign for the position of Chief Executive of Hong Kong.…
HONG KONG: Mainland Professor Says Hong Kongers Have Gone to the Dogs
Public Radio International’s The World reported on February 21st, that two viral videos depicting a verbal altercation between a Hong Kong native and a mother from Mainland China have fueled further animosity between the island and the Mainland. The controversy began on a subway train when a Hong Kong man…
HONG KONG: Government Accused of Playing Favorites in Election
With the high-profile territory’s fiercely fought election only a month away, the Hong Kong government denies trying to damage the chances of Leung Chun-ying to be elected chief executive, the top governmental job. The South China Morning Post, the influential and delightfully aggressive English-language Hong Kong newspaper, has been all…
CHINA BLOG BLOTTER: Netizens Parody Hong Kong’s Anti-Mainlander Ad
The mutual dislike between Hong Kong-ers and Chinese mainlanders is nothing new. Although Hong Kong is part of China, it runs as a special administrative region and a half autonomous economy. Unlike the motherland, Hong Kong has a historical advantage as an ex-British colony,…
WE ASK/THEY ANSWER: ‘THE GREAT (AND NOT SO GREAT) OF THE MEDIA OF THE ASIA PACIFIC’ An Exclusive Interview with Celebrated Career Editor David Armstrong
I was recently given the opportunity to interview longtime journalist and editor David Armstrong. The course of his career has led him to traverse the Asian landscape, from Australia, to Hong Kong, and currently to Thailand. Among his many prominent posts, he has been Editor-in-Chief of both The Australian and…
HONG KONG: Europe’s Turmoil Hits Asia’s Samsung
Widespread rumors have it that Samsung Securities Co., the South Korean multinational media technology corporation, is planning to shut down some of its overseas offices. Samsung has not disclosed this plan publicly. The company’s Hong Kong office, which opened in April 2001, is one that the company allegedly plans to…
HONG KONG: The Big Media Chill Fans Hong Kong and Macau
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has released its annual detailed report uncovering new curbs in China’s press freedom last year. The respected Sydney-based says they are increasingly worrisome, and not just for mainland journalists.