The fall of a Hong Kong leader

Politics & Current Affairs

Top politics and current affairs news for February 22, 2017. Part of the daily The China Projectย news roundup "Chinese lab to study Ebola and other dangerous pathogens."


  • โ€˜Never have I seen a man fallen from so high,โ€™ judge says as he sentences Donald Tsang to 20 monthsโ€™ jail for misconductย / SCMP
    Hong Kongโ€™s former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen ๆ›พ่ซๆƒ was sentenced to 30 months in jail for failing to disclose conflicts of interest. Tsangโ€™s administration approved broadcast licenses for a company at the same time as he was negotiating over a penthouse apartment owned by a major shareholder of that company. The judge cut the jail term down to 20 months in recognition of Tsangโ€™s public service. In the wake of the conviction, the South China Morning Postย reportsย that there is fresh scrutiny on the business dealings of Hong Kongโ€™s current chief executive, CY Leung ๆขๆŒฏ่‹ฑ. ย 
  • Discipline investigations target universities and the Cyberspace Administration of Chinaย / Peopleโ€™s Daily (in Chinese)
    State media today prominently reported on a new round of disciplinary and anti-corruption investigations planned for 2017. The announcements repeatedly use a phrase that means something like โ€œdarkness hiding under a lampโ€ to refer to Party and state organizations that are supposed to be upholding Party norms but are, in fact, engaged in nefarious activities. There is also a focus on ideological purity. For a list of organizations that will be investigated, see hereย (in Chinese). Most are well-known universities, including Peking University and Tsinghua, but the โ€œLeading Small Groupโ€ of the Cyberspace Administration of China, headed by Xi Jinping, is also targeted.