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2018 in Hong Kong

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Events in the year 2018 in Hong Kong.

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Incumbents

Executive branch

Legislative branch

Judicial branch

Events

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January

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February

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March

April

May

  • 5 May – Opposition pan-democrat legislative councillor Chi-fung Hui is arrested over the phone-snatching incident on 24 April.[56]
  • 10 May – Ka-shing Li, Hong Kong's richest person officially retires and steps down as chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings, after holding his last meeting with shareholders.[57]
  • 11 May – A woman falls into an elevator shaft and dies at Paris Court in Sheung Wan Town Centre.[58]
  • 16 May – While covering a hearing on human rights lawyer Yanyi Xie in Beijing, a Now TV journalist is injured, handcuffed, dragged into a van and arrested by police officers. This comes after a Hong Kong Cable Television journalist is assaulted in Sichuan when reporting on the 10th anniversary of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.[59][60][61][62]
  • 17 May – Localist camp lawmaker Chung-tai Cheng keeps his seat, after the Legislative Council voted not to censure him for turning national and Hong Kong flag replicas upside down in 2016.[63]
  • 18 May – Edward Leung is found guilty of rioting for his role in the 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest, but is cleared of inciting a riot.[64][65][66]
  • 30 May – Construction errors are reported at the underground platforms in Hung Hom station, part of the Sha Tin to Central Link. In 2015, Leighton Contractors (Asia), after being informed of defects in many couplers into which reinforcing bars were supposed to be screwed to form two main structural walls, allegedly ordered to shorten the bars to fit into the damaged couplers. The MTR Corporation says the error has been rectified soon after detecting 'workmanship deficiencies' in late 2015, and insists the platform is safe. The government later asks the company to submit a report within one week and to arrange load testing on the platform.[67][68]
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June

  • 1 June – The Hong Kong Observatory cancels the Very Hot Weather Warning, which has been in effect for 348 consecutive hours, the longest streak since its conception in 2000.[69][70]
  • 4 June
  • 11 June – Edward Leung is sentenced to 6 years in jail for rioting and 12 months for assaulting a police officer during the 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest, to be served concurrently. Two other protesters, Lo Kin-man and Wong Ka-kui, have been jailed for 7 and 3+12 years respectively for rioting.[74][75][76]
  • 12 June – Construction issues are revealed at an underground platform in To Kwa Wan station, part of the Sha Tin to Central Link. A layer of steels bars supposed to reinforce a wall, which goes through three floors of lobby and underground platforms, is found removed. The MTR Corporation admits a contractor has notified it and has assured the structural safety of the wall.[77][78]
  • 14 June – The Legislative Council passes the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Co-location) Bill by 40 to 20. This will allow for a juxtaposed border checkpoint at the West Kowloon station, operated jointly by Hong Kong and mainland border security departments and with mainland border security officers stationed.[79][80]
  • 26 June – A woman shoots her relatives with a handgun over an inheritance dispute, killing 1 and injuring 3.[81][82]
  • 28 June – Jason Chuk-Hung Poon, managing director of China Technology Corporation, a subcontractor of the Hung Hom station project, say his staff has notified him of the construction error in July 2015, and that he has witnessed workers wearing uniforms of Leighton Asia, the main contractor, cutting steel bars using dedicated equipment.[83][84][85]
  • 29 June – Chief executive Carrie Lam announces 6 new policies to tackle the housing crisis, including changing how the prices of subsidised flats are determined, and a fee on newly built flats left vacant for a year or more.[86]

July

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August

  • 1 August – The Producer Responsibility Scheme on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment comes into effect, covering the sale of air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, televisions, computers, printers, scanners and monitors. Retailers are required to provide free removal service of old appliances to customers that purchase new products of the same type. Producers of these products are also asked to pay a recycling levy per item to the government.[95]
  • 7 August – The Transport and Housing Bureau says the MTR Corporation may have provided the government with falsified data relating to construction at Hung Hom station, and that the issue has been referred to the police.[96] The MTR later announces that Projects Director Dr Philco Nai-keung Wong has resigned with immediate effect, alongside three other managers. Chief executive officer Lincoln Kwok-kuen Leong, whose term will end in 2020, will also retire early. The government has asked Frederick Ma to stay as chairman, despite his twice offer to resign, to lead the search for a new CEO.[97]
  • 14 August – Hong Kong independence activist and Hong Kong National Party convenor Ho-tin Chan gives a talk at the Foreign Correspondents' Club (FCC), chaired by Victor Mallet, FCC vice-chairman and Asia news editor at the Financial Times.[98] The government expresses regrets that the FCC hosted the event.[99] This triggers the Victor Mallet visa controversy.
  • 16 August – The Central Government announces residents of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan who work and live in mainland China can apply for identity cards beginning 1 September, which will enable them to access public services similar to mainland residents.[100]
  • 17 August – The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, which is in charge of managing the West Kowloon Cultural District, terminates the contract for the M+ museum with Hsin Chong Construction because of the latter's insolvency.[101]
  • 23 August – The High Court rules airport security rules were breached when in 2016, airline staff carried luggage which Chung-yan Leung, daughter of then-Chief Executive Chun-ying Leung, has left behind at the check-in counter through security screening directly to her at the boarding gate. Chun-ying Leung has personally spoken to airline staff over the phone before the incident.[102]
  • 24 August – Artistic gymnast Wai Hung Shek defends his title at the 2018 Asian Games, claiming the second gold medal for Hong Kong.
  • 28 August – Kie-chung Cheung, an associate professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Hong Kong and a member of the governing council of the university, is arrested for murdering his wife at Wei Lun Hall, a residential building of which he is a warden.[103]
  • 31 August – The Independent Commission Against Corruption charges Wilson Wing-yip Fung, then-Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, with accepting an advantage as a public servant and misconduct in public office, and Ung-iok Chan, sister-in-law of Stanley Ho, with offering an advantage to a public servant.[104]

September

October

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November

  • 1 November – The government announces the non-means-tested Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme, effective 1 January 2019.[129]
  • 8 November
    • Exiled Chinese writer and dissident Jian Ma announces on Twitter his speaking events were cancelled by Tai Kwun Center for Heritage and Arts, where the talks would take place. Tai Kwun cites not wanting the arts centre 'to become a platform to promote the political interests of any individual' as the reason.[130]
    • Victor Mallet, former vice-chairman of the Foreign Correspondents' Club and Asia news editor at the Financial Times, is denied entry into Hong Kong as a visitor, weeks after he was refused a work visa renewal.[131]
  • 11 November – Mainland border security is found, since 2012, occupying a piece of private land at Sha Tau Kok within the Frontier Closed Area and using it for farming, without the permission of the landowner or the Hong Kong government.[132][133] The government later says it will 'actively follow up' on the report.[134]
  • 25 November – The November 2018 Kowloon West by-election takes place for the Kowloon West geographical constituency. The vacancy results from the disqualification of legislative councillors over the 2016 oath-taking controversy. Hoi-yan Chan from the pro-government camp wins. The opposition pan-democrats fails to regain a majority in the geographical constituencies and, hence, veto power.[135]
  • 29 November – Data leakage at credit reporting agency TransUnion is reported. Credit reports of high-profile figures were obtained easily due to inadequate online authentication. TransUnion has since suspended its online service.[136]
  • 30 November
    • 5 people are dead and more than 30 people are injured as a coach carrying employees working at the Hong Kong International Airport crashes into a taxi at Tsing Yi.[137]
    • The Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance 2018 takes effect, banning the sale of alcohol in vending machines and to people under 18 years old.[138]
    • Rex Tso announces his return to amateur career and his goal to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[139]

December

  • 2 December – Lawmaker Eddie Chu is barred from standing in the a rural representative election on the grounds of his implicit support of self-determination for Hong Kong.[140]
  • 4 December – Patrick Ho, former Secretary for Home Affairs, is found guilty of bribing officials from Chad and Uganda.[141]
  • 10 December – An empty school bus rolls downhill after the driver has exited the vehicle at North Point, killing 4 people and injuring 11.[142]
  • 12 December
    • HKD $1000 banknotes of the 2018 series enters circulation.[143]
    • The Department of Justice decides not to charge former-Chief Executive Chun-ying Leung for corruption due to insufficient evidence, while the Independent Commission Against Corruption also announces no further investigative action will be taken. Chun-ying Leung signed an agreement with Australian engineering firm UGL as part of a takeover deal with DTZ, of which he is a director, to prevent him joining any rival firm within 2 years. He received part of the HKD $50 million payment after he became chief executive in 2012.[144][145]

Deaths

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Yichang Liu
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Charles K. Kao
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Yong Jin
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Nai-keung Lau

See also

References

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