HKFP Monitor Feb 7, 2026: Brief history of policy reversals; Epstein’s Hong Kong friends

2026-02-07 - 02:07

Welcome to HKFP Monitor: Your weekly bird’s-eye view of the latest news and trends across Hong Kong’s media landscape. Subscribe to receive our free, essential round-ups by email every Friday. Welcome to HKFP Monitor. This week, in the wake of the bus seat belt law controversy, we walk down memory lane to revisit the government’s policy flip-flops. We also look into local media angles on the Epstein document dump, plus state media – chiming with Beijing – backing CK Hutchison in the latest Panama ports saga. | APPROVAL FIRST, REVERSAL LATER Hong Kong’s bus seat belt law was shelved last week after widespread public outcry. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan, who made the announcement at a press conference on January 30, cited “technical shortcomings” in the provision. File photo: Citybus. The law had only been in place for five days before it was repealed. The same lawmakers who expressed no opposition to the rule in the Legislative Council (LegCo) have since acknowledged its shortcomings. It was the latest instance of the government’s about-face, part of a pattern that some say reflects lawmakers’ lack of diligence in reviewing government proposals and the authorities’ tendency to be out of touch with the realities faced by the general public. Policy U-turns In May 2024, the government delayed a waste-charging scheme that required households to purchase designated rubbish disposal bags. The policy was designed to reduce the amount of rubbish Hongkongers send to landfills. However, the scheme was received negatively during a trial run, with members of the public complaining that the designated bags were overpriced and sanitation workers saying their workload doubled. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. In July 2020, the government banned dine-in services at restaurants in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19. Soon, viral photos showed people, including construction and sanitation workers, eating on sidewalks because they had nowhere else to have lunch. Just a day later, authorities reversed the ban, acknowledging the “inconvenience and difficulties.” Opposition-free LegCo Both the seat belt law and the waste charging scheme were proposed by the government and brought to the legislature for discussion. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. The seat belt law – a subsidiary legislation – was tabled to LegCo for negative vetting in September, meaning it was gazetted before being put to a vote in October. In Hong Kong, subsidiary legislation can be passed by either negative or positive vetting. The legislature passed the waste charging scheme, a standard bill, in August 2021. There was little to no opposition to these two policy changes when they were debated in the chamber. Since late 2020, LegCo has been left without opposition after pro-democracy lawmakers resigned en masse in protest over their colleagues being banned from holding office. The last two legislative elections, in December 2021 and 2025, were held following an overhaul to ensure only those deemed “patriots” could run. The July 2020 restaurant dine-in ban did not have to go through LegCo, as special laws enacted during the pandemic allowed the chief executive to make policy decisions after consulting the Executive Council, the government’s advisory body. Once shelved, then revived Back when opposition voices were still tolerated, several politically polarising policies were shelved before they became law or were implemented. Photo: May James. The extradition bill that sparked major protests and unrest in 2019 was suspended in June that year after the first massive march, and then scrapped altogether in October. Plans to implement a national education curriculum in 2012 and a homegrown national security law – also known as Article 23 – in 2003 were also cancelled after large-scale protests. With the opposition virtually gone, Hong Kong has rolled out the very policies once halted due to popular sentiment. Months after the extradition bill was shelved, the Beijing-imposed national security law was enacted in June 2020. Article 55 of the law allows China’s national security office to “exercise jurisdiction” over national security cases deemed “complex” due to the involvement of foreign elements. Patriotic education has become an integral part of school curricula from kindergarten to university since January 2024, while Article 23 was passed without opposition in March that year. | STATE MEDIA MONITOR Rallying behind Hong Kong conglomerate: Beijing-backed newspaper Ta Kung Pao echoed China’s narrative on the Panamanian Supreme Court’s decision to annul CK Hutchison’s concession to operate ports at the Panama Canal. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. “This ruling by Panama not only infringes upon the legitimate operating rights of Hong Kong enterprises, but also reflects the severe disruption that hegemonic power politics inflict on the international rule of law and economic order,” the paper said in an editorial on Thursday. Hong Kong companies have the “full support” of Beijing and the Hong Kong government to protect their rights, and they will “stand firmly with the nation, fight bravely, and resolutely say ‘no’ to bullying and oppression,” it added. The state-backed paper’s remarks came days after Beijing threatened to make Panama pay a “heavy price.” “Panamanian authorities must recognise the situation and correct their course,” the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO) said on WeChat on Tuesday. CK Hutchison said on the same day that it had initiated international arbitration against Panama to challenge the court ruling – issued a year after US President Donald Trump threatened to seize the crucial maritime passageway to regain control from China. Last year, the conglomerate – partly owned by billionaire Li Ka-shing -was a target of Ta Kung Pao’s scathing commentaries after announcing its plan to sell the Panama Canal ports and other non-Chinese assets to a consortium led by American asset manager BlackRock. The HKMAO and the Hong Kong Liaison Office reposted some of the op-eds – including one on March 13, which called the sale an act of “spineless grovelling” that neglected national interests and “betrayed and sold out all Chinese people.” | LOCAL MEDIA MONITOR Hong Kong academics in Epstein files: Local media dug into the trove of newly published files related to the late American financier and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. File photo: USGov. Among the 3.5 million documents released by the US Department of Justice last week, there was years-long email correspondence between two Hong Kong scholars and Epstein, who was convicted in 2008 of procuring a minor for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute. HK01 reported on Tuesday that Gino Yu, a retired professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, first met Epstein in 2015. They exchanged over 500 emails before Epstein was arrested in July 2019. The following month, the financier died in custody while facing federal sex trafficking charges. The Epstein files showed the two frequently met and went to parties together, with Yu calling Epstein his “benefactor,” according to HK01. In a string of emails in 2017, the academic asked Epstein, “Is your island out of commission?” as they discussed a meeting venue. It was unclear whether Yu was referring to the infamous Little Saint James, a small private island that the financier used as a hub for underage sex trafficking. In 2017, Yu introduced an American female author to Epstein. Yu was suspected of having received “a new grant of money” after the author and Epstein met, HK01 reported. The outlet also said Yu did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Another scholar with an Epstein tie was Chinese-American mathematician Shing-Tung Yau. The former Harvard professor, who grew up in Hong Kong, is director of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Yau had been in contact with Epstein since they met in 2011, years after the financier’s child sex conviction, HK01 reported on Monday. | HKFP PHOTO OF THE WEEK Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. About 60 people were already queuing for public courtroom seats on Friday afternoon, days before pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s sentencing hearing, scheduled for Monday. The line began to form outside the West Kowloon Law Courts’ Building on Thursday night, before the Judiciary announced on Friday the sentencing date of Lai’s national security case. Among those in the queue were regular courtgoers who attend high-profile political cases. Activist Tsang Kin-shing (pictured), nicknamed the “Bull,” delivered supplies to some of them, who are expected to stay outside the courthouse until Monday’s hearing. Also in line were people believed to be part of “queueing gangs,” suspected to be paid by unknown parties to get tickets to public courtroom seats and prevent pro-democracy supporters from witnessing hearings. | BEST OF THE REST BBC: Draco Malfoy becomes unlikely Lunar New Year mascot in China BBC: We had sex in a Chinese hotel, then found we had been broadcast to thousands Bloomberg: Fast Track to the Mainland: Your Guide to Hong Kong’s High-Speed Expansion Bloomberg: How Hong Kong’s Running Scene Got So Much Bigger, Faster, and Flashier O.Cult Mag: Everyday people: how Hong Kong Shifts promotes empathy and connection WIRED: I Was Trapped in Chinese Mafia Crypto Slavery