The Reverend Canon Peter Douglas Koon Ho-ming was blunt when he said, “Once there are no political issues, everything in Hong Kong is a livelihood issue.” He was also correct. Housing is this city’s biggest livelihood issue . It is also the hardest to tackle by far. The current administration has probably done more in this area than previous ones. Since Beijing’s top official for Hong Kong affairs...
The Reverend Canon Peter Douglas Koon Ho-ming was blunt when he said, “Once there are no political issues, everything in Hong Kong is a livelihood issue.” He was also correct. Housing is this city’s biggest livelihood issue . It is also the hardest to tackle by far. The current administration has probably done more in this area than previous ones. Since Beijing’s top official for Hong Kong affairs Xia Baolong directly called for the eradication of subdivided flats and cage homes in 2021, the government had been forced to deal with its biggest headache: reaching its public housing targets and taking care of those stuck in subdivided flats, many of whom aren’t poor enough to qualify for public housing. Advertisement Even if they do qualify, the waiting period is long. For families with young children, this means they’re stuck in these shoebox-sized living spaces while their children grow. Fortunately for the government, Xia set a deadline of 2049, well down the line. Even with that distant deadline, something had to be done quickly unless the administration wanted to risk being seen as dawdling even after Xia’s ultimatum. First came the quick fix of introducing certification and standards to meet. With that system in place, certified subdivided homes will be officially called “ basic housing units ”. Advertisement Removing the problem of subdivided flats was never going to be simple. The government had to first determine the basic standards for living spaces and weigh them against its ability to take care of displaced families . It cannot crack down on the horrendous living conditions all at once without sending struggling families into the streets.
Jinchuan Group International Resources Co. said an independent probe found that nearly $145 million was siphoned from its copper and cobalt operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo through fake procurement deals, cash payments and fabricated invoices. The investigation centered on Ruashi Mine, where investigators said former local employees exploited weak internal controls over several years...
Jinchuan Group International Resources Co. said an independent probe found that nearly $145 million was siphoned from its copper and cobalt operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo through fake procurement deals, cash payments and fabricated invoices. The investigation centered on Ruashi Mine, where investigators said former local employees exploited weak internal controls over several years to route funds through suppliers and intermediaries with “no apparent business purpose,” Jinchuan said in an exchange filing late Friday. Jinchuan, the Hong Kong-listed mining unit of one of China’s biggest state-owned metals conglomerates, said the alleged fraud was largely carried out between 2019 and 2024, a period when rising copper and cobalt prices pushed the mine to scramble for ore supplies in a bid to ramp up output. After reviewing transactions over the period, investigators found $137.4 million in payments to 12 suppliers, and $7.1 million paid to a former employee’s personal bank account, that related to “an alleged misappropriation scheme,” the filing said. The probe also found $66.8 million in spending related to “government-related affairs” in Congo, including cash payments made through a third-party intermediary retained to negotiate tax claims and penalties with local authorities, according to the filing. The company said investigators found no evidence that employees instructed the intermediary to make illegal payments to government officials. Jinchuan also said no evidence was found indicating that senior management at the Hong Kong-listed company had direct knowledge of, or involvement in, the misconduct. The company’s special investigation committee said the fraud “was directly attributed to misconduct of various employees of Ruashi Mine,” who took advantage of weak internal controls and oversight at the Congo unit. Jinchuan International’s shares have been suspended since March 2025 after a delay reporting its financial results. The company said the s...