Tausi Insider

A pro-democracy media tycoon was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison over two fraud charges linked to lease violations in Hong Kong on Saturday, the latest of a series of cases against prominent activists that critics say are aimed at snuffing out dissidents in the city. Jimmy Lai, who was arrested during a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement following widespread protests in 2019 and under the National Security Law imposed by Beijing, was also fined 2 million Hong Kong dollars ($257,000). His media company, Next Digital, published the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. The publication was forced to close following the arrests of its top executives, editors and journalists last year. In October, Lai was found guilty of fraud for subletting part of the office space to a secretarial firm, which was also controlled by him, between 2016 and 2020. The second fraud count was for letting the same firm use the media outlet’s office space in an alleged br...

People walk outside Beijing Railway Station with their luggage as the annual Spring Festival travel rush starts, ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, in Beijing on Jan. 7. TINGSHU WANG/Reuters After two years of separation from his wife in mainland China, Hong Kong resident Cheung Seng-bun made sure he was among the first to cross the border following the reopening of crossing points Sunday. The ability of residents of the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city to cross over is one of the most visible signs of China’s easing of border restrictions, with travellers arriving from abroad also no longer required to undergo quarantine. “I’m hurrying to get back to her,” Cheung, lugging a heavy suitcase, told The Associated Press as he prepared to cross at Lok Ma Chau station. Travellers crossing between Hong Kong and mainland China, however, are still required to show a negative COVID-19 test taken within the last 48 hours – a measure China has protested when imposed by other countries. Ho...

Passengers push their luggage through the international arrivals hall at Beijing Capital International Airport on Jan. 8. China is relaxing strict travel rules that had been in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. THOMAS PETER/Reuters Beijing’s decision to relax pandemic-related travel restrictions on its citizens has sparked excitement among Canadian restaurants, hotels, tour operators and others who cater to China’s deep-pocketed tourists, but the rebound in travel from China is unlikely to be quick. While the flow of tourists from other parts of the world to Canada has largely recovered to prepandemic levels, at least when measured by passengers arriving from overseas by air, the number of leisure travellers from China in December was roughly 55 per cent below where it was for the same period in 2019. A test will come later this month when Chinese celebrate the first Lunar New Year under the new rules, which did away with mandatory quarantines for international arrivals as of Jan. ...

Embattled property developer China Evergrande on Monday said that its current auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), has resigned as the parties disagreed over the timeline and scope of work surrounding the firm’s status as a going concern and other audit-related matters for fiscal 2021. Once China’s top-selling developer, Evergrande is now at the center of the country’s property crisis. Its $22.7-billion of offshore debt, including loans and private bonds, is deemed to be in default after it missed payments late last year. In its resignation letter, PwC noted that it had not received information on certain material matters surrounding the group’s consolidated financial statements for the year 2021. Evergrande, which has been scrambling to raise funds to repay its creditors, is in the midst of a debt restructuring process in which stakeholders are awaiting the completion of its audited financial rundown for 2021. PwC also flagged that the group had not settled certain interest-bearin...

A unit of Canadian insurer Sun Life Financial Inc SLF-T has partnered with Hong Kong-based Dah Sing Bank in a deal valued at nearly C$260-million ($193-million), the companies said on Friday. Under terms of the partnership, Sun Life would pay to become the exclusive life insurance provider for Dah Sing Bank’s 570,000 retail customers, beginning July, the companies said. The deal will bring in new customers for Sun Life and help the insurer expand its customer base in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government had lifted COVID-19 restrictions and reopened its borders with China early this month, opening the lucrative market for insurance sales. Executives at the Canadian insurer told analysts in a post-earnings conference call last November that it experienced outflows in Asian markets in the third quarter, including Hong Kong, due to market volatility. Sun Life-Asia President Ingrid Johnson added at the time that the market in Hong Kong “was very encouraging with the emergence of sales.” ...