Extradition Bill Finally Withdrawn, Carrie Drama Continues

Chan Tong-kai with Reverend Canon Peter Koon this morning

Ironically, Chan Tong-kai, the man at the centre of the extradition bill was released from prison this morning, and that bill that has caused almost five months of protests, was formally withdrawn today in the Legislative Council.

The 20-year-old Chan finished serving 19 months out of the 29-month sentence he received for money laundering charges, but he is a murder suspect in the killing of his pregnant girlfriend last February in Taiwan.

Chan bows to the media before getting into the white van

This morning he walked out of Pik Uk Correctional Institution in Clearwater Bay a free man and bowed before giving a statement to the media where he apologized to the victim's family and the people of Hong Kong.

"I am willing, for my impulsive act and things I did wrong, to surrender myself to Taiwan to face sentencing," he said, adding he had made the "worst mistake" that could not be reversed.

He added: "I hope this can make her family feel slightly relieved, and [the deceased girlfriend Poon Hiu-wing] can rest in peace."

Chan thanked his parents and said: "Even though I've made the worst mistake, they still care for me, support me and won't give up on me."

He begged Hongkongers for forgiveness before bowing for a second time and then left in a seven-seater white van.

John Lee formally withdraws extradition bill in Legco

Now Hong Kong and Taiwan have to figure out what the next legal steps are, if Taiwanese authorities come here to formally arrest Chan, or he can go there and be arrested in Taiwan. Nevertheless the man is willing to face his crime so the two parties should work together to find a way for Poon's family to receive some justice for their daughter's grisly murder.

In the afternoon, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu walked into the Legislative Council and formally withdrew the much-hated extradition bill.

"As members of the public have diverging views over the bill, which has created social conflicts, the government has decided to suspend the legislation effort following research and reflection," Lee said in the Legco meeting on Wednesday.

"To spell out the government's position clearly over the legislation effort, in accordance with Legco's rule 64(2), I formally announce the withdrawal of the bill."

The FT reported Carrie Lam could be replaced by March

While the bill was finally withdrawn -- with hardly any fanfare -- protesters are not exactly jubilant. They have four other demands they want to be met, including universal suffrage, not calling protesters "rioters", and an independent inquiry into police brutality.

Probably what piqued their interest today was the intriguing article from the Financial Times that claimed Beijing is looking to replace Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor by March. The list of candidates to succeed her include Norman Chan Tak-lam, former head of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and Henry Tang Ying-nien, a former financial secretary and chief secretary.

However the immediate reaction from pan-democratic lawmakers was that Lam could not just be replaced, that according to the Basic Law, another election for chief executive should be held. Nevertheless there is the precedent of Donald Tsang Yam-kuen who immediately replaced Tung Chee-hwa in 2005.

Possibly replacing Lam are Norman Chan and Henry Tang

The string of chief executives we have had in Hong Kong have all been disasters, which is why Hongkongers are demanding universal suffrage to be able to choose their own leader. It's obvious the system of Beijing deciding on the candidates does not work, with Lam being the latest, and a total catastrophe of exponential proportions.

But by late afternoon Beijing dispelled the FT report, saying it was a "political rumour with ulterior motives behind it".

The foreign ministry spokeswoman said the central government still firmly supported Lam and the Hong Kong government's efforts to stop violence and restore order as soon as possible.

If that's the case, things in Hong Kong won't be getting better anytime soon...

Brexit Fallout Continues

Strange times in Britain these days with Brexit a hard reality to get used to

Friends and colleagues are still processing their shock and disappointment over Brexit that left us all floored on Friday morning Hong Kong time.

One colleague who is British, and has lived in Hong Kong for over 20 years, and her son was born here, is devastated that her son's job opportunities have virtually evaporated.

"Before he had 28 countries [in the European Union] to be able to work in, and now it's only one!" she exclaimed. She is angry that her older relatives voted Brexit, who wanted to keep Britain the way they remembered it from before than realize the world has since globalized at such a fast rate that no country can survive by isolating itself.

However not all of the Brexit voters were old -- even her younger friend who is an expat in Hong Kong preferred to leave the EU so that Britain could retain its "Britishness", whatever that means.

Jeremy Corbyn put himself in an awkward position politically

Another colleague is very curious about the geo-political fall out, with Prime Minister David Cameron betting his job on the line to remain, and has no choice but to resign.

It seems the referendum was an emotional issue and the remain side didn't do enough to reassure people that there wouldn't be immigrants flooding in, that even though Britain sends 350 million pounds a week to the EU, it got back much more in terms of subsidies and other benefits. It also didn't try to tell the skeptics that the Brexit campaign was wrong in saying that big chunk of money would go to health care.

Then there's Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn who was in a bizarre position. Labour is all for remaining in the EU, yet he himself is a Euro-skeptic, and so he was very low-key about campaigning to remain. He sacked one person who questioned his leadership, which led to many of his shadow cabinet members resigning.

And then there's Boris Johnson. He didn't really want Brexit... did he? He jumped on a cause to get on the political stage again, and he did it, but now he's quiet. No one wants to take on the challenge of putting Brexit in to motion now.

Will Boris Johnson continue his path to become PM?

Oh and Scotland is hinting it wants out of the UK...

Meanwhile the EU is outraged this is what the Brits really think of the union, and would rather kick Britain out sooner rather than later. The remain side is naive to think the EU will still continue to do business with them like before, though things might be cheaper now that the pound has fallen.

However the reality is that all those countries need Britain, and Britain needs the access to such a huge market to keep its economy going. Or maybe it doesn't need Britain?

The news hit Hong Kong hard of course, as the city was formerly a British colony, and many have business interests, children studying there, and so on.

Amusingly Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying stated that Hong Kong was prepared to deal with the outcome, but Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah and Hong Kong Monetary Authority Norman Chan Tak-lam both admitted they were caught off guard.

It's a real mess and it's going to take a long time for it to be sorted out. But it's a new reality everyone has to get used to. Everyone.

Fact of the Day: Hong Kong Loses HK$63.8 Billion

Heavy investment in equity helped plunge the Exchange Fund's value

The Exchange Fund, which is managed by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and invests in stocks, bonds, property and cash, lost HK$63.8 billion in the third quarter, its biggest quarterly loss in history.

The fund, which defends the HK dollar, had gained HK$18.7 billion in the second quarter.

What happened?!

Equity investments lost HK$64.8 billion from July to September, and foreign-exchange related investments also lost HK$10.8 billion.

Only bond investments gained HK$11.8 billion.

Monetary Authority Norman Chan blames loss on volatility

The Monetary Authority chief executive Norman Chan Tak-lam blamed volatility in the markets for the plunge, and analysts add the strong US dollar coupled with a weaker yuan may have also contributed to the fund's low performance.

Either way the loss is equal to over HK$8,000 per person that we're not going to get back anytime soon.

Uh we really hope Chan knows what he's doing... our hard-earned taxpayer dollars are going into this fund!!!