Brian Wong

Hong Kong

Founding Editor at Oxford Political Review

Writer and Columnist at Freelance

Assistant Professor in Philosophy @HKUniversity | @OxfordPolRev Founder | @CCCW_hku Fellow | @rhodes_trust Sch. | Wds. @TIME @NikkeiAsia @SCMPNews

Articles

Hong Kong’s top court upholds sedition conviction for ‘Fast Beat’ Tam Tak-chi

Mar 6, 2025 | scmp.com | Brian Wong

Hong Kong’s top court has upheld the sedition conviction of an opposition activist jailed under a colonial-era law, ruling that a person can be held liable for the crime even if he has no intention to incite violence or public disorder. In a written ruling handed down on Thursday, the Court of Final Appeal also rejected Tam Tak-chi’s contention that the now-repealed offence must be tried before a judge and jury.
Hong Kong actor Vinci Wong bankrupt after alleged HK$2.8 million loan default

Mar 4, 2025 | scmp.com | Brian Wong

Vinci Wong Yin-chi, actor and former chairman of Hong Kong’s oldest and largest charity, has been declared bankrupt. The 54-year-old filed for bankruptcy in December last year, just a day after a credit company sued him for allegedly defaulting on an unsecured loan of HK$2.8 million (US$360,046). High Court Master Jack Wong Kin-tong made the order against Wong on Tuesday after nobody objected. The debtor was absent from the hearing.
Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai denies he wants Western ‘dismemberment’ of China

Mar 3, 2025 | scmp.com | Brian Wong

Former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has said he believes the Communist Party of China can remain in power if it ends its “tyrannical” rule, while dismissing prosecutors’ suggestion that he welcomes Western “dismemberment” of the country.
Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai denies knowingly doing anything ‘specifically illegal’

Feb 28, 2025 | scmp.com | Brian Wong

Former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has said he was willing to “take risks” after Hong Kong’s adoption of the national security law five years ago, but maintained he would not do anything “specifically illegal” such as instigating foreign sanctions.
Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai admits to exploiting anti-China sentiment during Covid-19

Feb 27, 2025 | scmp.com | Brian Wong

Former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has admitted to capitalising on anti-China sentiments in the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic to instigate sanctions against Beijing, but denies doing so to help Donald Trump get reelected.
Jimmy Lai denies being Chinese, tells trial: ‘We are Hong Kong people’

Feb 26, 2025 | scmp.com | Brian Wong

Former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has denied being Chinese while maintaining Hongkongers have “nothing to do with” the Communist Party of China, prompting a judge in his national security trial to question whether he recognised the colour of his skin. A brief debate over national identity ensued on Wednesday after Lai denied seeking the collapse of the government in Beijing in a live broadcast interview before he was prosecuted and detained under the national security law in late 2020.
‘How could I know’: Hong Kong’s Jimmy Lai on ‘dangerous’ Apple Daily op-eds

Feb 25, 2025 | scmp.com | Brian Wong

Former Hong Kong media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has denied testing the limits of the national security law by allowing the publication of “dangerous” commentaries in the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, adding he will not take responsibility for every perceived mistake his tabloid’s contributors make.
Hong Kong law professor cleared in HK$720,000 university rent fraud case

Feb 24, 2025 | scmp.com | Brian Wong

A court has cleared a law professor of defrauding the University of Hong Kong out of more than HK$720,000 (US$92,307) in rent allowances after accepting she had to spend more time taking care of elderly family members away from her home.
Jimmy Lai defends ‘grim’ predictions for Hong Kong’s deprivation of freedom

Feb 24, 2025 | scmp.com | Brian Wong

Former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has maintained he had reasonable grounds to predict Hong Kong would lose its rule of law and status as an international financial hub under the national security legislation, while rejecting prosecutors’ claims he stirred up fear among residents over Beijing’s tightened grip on the city.
Hong Kong judges challenge jailed political party chief’s appeal argument

Feb 21, 2025 | scmp.com | Brian Wong

Two Hong Kong judges hearing an appeal by the head of a now-dissolved pro-independence political party have questioned his lawyer’s argument that the national security law cannot be used for sentencing some conspiracy offences. Joseph John, 42, appeared before three Court of Appeal judges in the High Court on Friday to challenge his five-year jail sentence for conspiracy to incite secession.