HONG KONG/NEW YORK - China's biggest e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has delayed its up to $15 billion listing in Hong Kong amid growing political unrest in the Asian financial hub, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Alibaba held a board meeting before its latest quarterly earnings release last week, during which the board decided to postpone the Hong Kong listing which was set to take place in late August, one of the people said.
The decision was made on the lack of financial and political stability in Hong Kong amid more than 11 weeks of pro-democracy demonstrations which have become increasingly violent and plunged the city into turmoil, the people added.
Tear gas has been used frequently by police while more than 700 people have been arrested, followed by an unprecedented airport shutdown last week. Hong Kong's stock market also fell to seven-month lows last week.
While no new timetable has been formally set, Alibaba could launch the Hong Kong deal as early as in October, seeking to raise $10 to $15 billion, when political tensions ease and market conditions become favorable again, said the other source.
"It would be very unwise to launch the deal now or anytime soon. It would certainly annoy Beijing by offering Hong Kong such a big gift given what's going on in the city," said the source.
Alibaba declined to comment on the deal.
Both sources declined to be identified as they were not authorized to speak to media.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG - Hong Kong is gearing up for more protests this week after hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators braved heavy rain to rally peacefully on Sunday, marking a change to what have often been violent clashes.
Sunday's turnout of an estimated 1.7 million, according to the rally's organizer, showed that the movement still has broad-based support despite chaotic scenes last week when protesters occupied the Chinese-ruled city's airport, for which some activists apologized.
The protests began more than 11 weeks ago as opposition to a now-suspended bill that would allow suspects to be extradited to mainland China for trial in Communist Party-controlled courts and have swelled into wider calls for democracy.
Further demonstrations are planned in coming weeks, including another strike in districts across the former British colony.
Police said on Monday that while the demonstration was mostly peaceful, acts of "breaching public peace" happened afterwards with some protesters shooting hard objects at government offices and aiming laser beams at police officers.
Protesters had spilled out from Victoria Park, the designated rally area on Sunday, and streamed onto major thoroughfares towards the city's financial centre, chanting for the city's Beijing-backed leader Carrie Lam to step down.
Demonstrators later in the night urged each other to go home, breaking from previous instances of violent clashes with police, which have marred recent demonstrations.
In a statement on Sunday night the government said it was most important to restore social order as soon as possible and it would begin sincere dialogue with the public and "rebuild social harmony when everything has calmed down".
Police have come under criticism for using increasingly aggressive tactics to break up demonstrations but on Sunday there was a minimal police presence.
Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula that promised wide-ranging freedoms denied to citizens in mainland China, but many in the city believe Beijing has been eroding those freedoms.
The central government has taken an increasingly firm tone over the protests, accusing foreign countries, including the United States, of inciting unrest. The protests have presented one of the biggest challenges for Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012.
Over 700 people have been arrested since the protests began in June.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG - Hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters joined a mass rally in Hong Kong on Sunday, filling major thoroughfares in heavy rain in the eleventh week of what have been often violent demonstrations in the Asian financial hub.
Sunday's turnout showed that the movement still has broad-based support despite the ugly scenes witnessed during the past week when protesters occupied the Chinese-ruled city's airport, for which some activists apologized.
There was an uneasy calm after nightfall, with no violent confrontations and protesters unclear on what would happen next. Police in riot gear checked the IDs of some demonstrators to the west of the Central business district, and there was a large police presence outside the Western District police station.
"They’ve been telling everyone we're rioters. The march today is to show everyone we are not," said a 23-year-old named Chris, who works in marketing and was dressed all in black, including a scarf covering his face and baseball cap.
"It does not mean we won’t keep fighting. We will do whatever is necessary to win, but today we take a break, then we reassess."
One protester shouted at others who were jeering at police, "Today is a peaceful march! Don’t fall into the trap! The world is watching us," prompting the group to move on.
Anger over a now-suspended bill that would allow criminal suspects in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China erupted in June, but the rising unrest has been fuelled by broader worries about the erosion of freedoms guaranteed under the "one country, two systems" formula put in place after Hong Kong's return from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
Protesters held aloft placards with slogans including "Free Hong Kong!" and "Democracy now!" and umbrellas to shield them from the rain. The crowd in Victoria Park, where the rally started, was peaceful and included elderly people as well as the middle-aged, young people and families, with some parents carrying toddlers.
Despite rally organizers not having permission to march, the park could not accommodate the crowd, which thronged the streets around the park. Many protesters headed towards the city's financial center, chanting for the city's Beijing-backed leader, Carrie Lam, to step down.
It was impossible to put an exact figure on the number of protesters but Reuters journalists, reporting from around the territory, put the total at at least 200,000.
"It's bloody hot and it's raining. It's a torture just to turn up, frankly. But we have to be here because we have no other choice," said a 24-year-old student named Jonathan who was at the rally that began in Victoria Park in the Causeway Bay district of Hong Kong island.
"We have to continue until the government finally shows us the respect that we deserve," he said.
'WE ARE HONG KONGERS'
Aside from Lam's resignation, demonstrators are seeking complete withdrawal of the extradition bill, a halt to descriptions of the protests as "rioting", a waiver of charges against those arrested, an independent inquiry and resumption of political reform.
"When we were young, we didn’t think about it. But my son tells me: After 2047, what will happen to me?," said a history teacher named Poon, referring to the year when the 50-year agreement enshrining Hong Kong's separate system will lapse.
"I will come again and again and again. We do not know how any of this is going to end. We will still fight," she said.
Police have come under criticism for using increasingly aggressive tactics to break up demonstrations and on Sunday some people handed out balloons resembling eyeballs, a reference to the injury suffered by a female medic who was hospitalized after being hit by a pellet round in the eye.
On Saturday, however, a demonstration in support of the government attracted what organizers said was 476,000 people, although police put the number of attendees at 108,000.
The anti-government protests present one of the biggest challenges facing Chinese President Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012. And with the ruling Communist Party preparing to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic on Oct. 1, the crisis in Hong Kong has come at a sensitive time.
Beijing has struck an increasingly strident tone over the protests, accusing foreign countries including the United States of fomenting unrest.
Scenes of Chinese paramilitary troops training this past week at a stadium in the city of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, gave a clear warning that mainland intervention by force is possible.
Last week, protesters who occupied the terminal at Hong Kong's airport forced the cancellation of nearly 1,000 flights and detained two men they thought were pro-government sympathizers, prompting Beijing to liken the behavior to terrorism.
"We are Hong Kongers. We are here for our future. We feel for the teenagers," said Frances Chan, 60, a retired journalist attending Sunday's rally.
She said only a few protesters had used violence, sparingly, and that it was brought on by pressure from authorities and police.
"Actually, we want peace and freedom," she said. "If the government would just listen to the five requests, things would calm down."
(Reporting by Tom Westbrook, Lukas Job, Felix Tam, Anne Marie Roantree, Donny Kwok, James Pomfret and Clare Jim; Writing by Tony Munroe; Editing by Nick Macfie)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG - Tens of thousands of Hong Kong democracy activists gathered Sunday for a major rally to show the city's leaders their protest movement still attracts wide public support despite mounting violence and increasingly stark warnings from Beijing.
Ten weeks of demonstrations have plunged the financial hub into crisis with images of masked black-clad protesters engulfed by tear gas during street battles with riot police stunning a city once renowned for its stability.
Communist-ruled mainland China has taken an increasingly hardline tone towards the protesters, decrying the "terrorist-like" actions of a violent hardcore minority among the demonstrators.
Despite the near-nightly clashes with police, the movement has won few concessions from Beijing or the city's unelected leadership.
On Tuesday, protesters blocked passengers from boarding flights at the city's airport and later assaulted two men they accused of being Chinese spies.
The images damaged a campaign that until then had largely targeted the police or government institutions, and prompted an apology from some of the protest groups.
Sunday's rally at the city's Victoria Park is an attempt to wrestle the narrative of the protest back.
It is a "rational, non-violent" demonstration, according to organizers the Civil Human Rights Front, the driving force behind record-breaking rallies in June and July that saw hundreds of thousands of people hit the streets.
Police have given permission for the rally to go ahead but banned a proposed march.
Previous bans on marches have been ignored by protesters, leading to clashes with riot police.
"We expect a huge number of participants... we hope to show to the world Hong Kong people can be totally peaceful," Bonnie Leung, a spokeswoman for the Civil Human Rights Front told reporters.
"If Beijing and Hong Kong's tactic is to wait for our movement to die, they are wrong... we will soldier on."
China's propaganda apparatus has seized on the weeks of violence, with state media churning out a deluge of damning articles, pictures and videos.
BLAME GAME
State media also ran images of military personnel and armored personnel carriers across the border in Shenzhen, prompting the United States to warn Beijing against sending in troops.
Analysts say any intervention by Chinese security forces would be a reputational and economic disaster for China.
During smaller protest marches on Saturday -- which ended without large-scale clashes -- many protesters chanted "See you in Victoria Park!" as they left the streets.
Tens of thousands of protesters massed in the park as the rally started on Sunday afternoon, while many others thronged the nearby streets in a show of defiance expected to stretch into the evening.
"I hope more people can make a step forward," protester Ray Cheung, 30, told AFP.
"We have tried many times with peaceful approaches... I really hope the government can listen to us."
The unprecedented political crisis was sparked by opposition to a plan to allow extraditions to the mainland.
But protests have since morphed into a wider call for democratic rights in the semi-autonomous city.
Under a deal signed with Britain, authoritarian China agreed to allow Hong Kong to keep its unique freedoms when it was handed back in 1997.
But many Hong Kongers feel those freedoms are being chipped away, especially since China's hardline president Xi Jinping came to power.
In the last two months, millions of people have hit the streets.
Battles between police firing tear gas and rubber bullets -- and hardcore protesters using rocks, Molotov cocktails and slingshots -- have since become routine in the city.
Both sides trade the blame for provoking the violence.
Beyond suspending the extradition bill, Beijing and city leader Carrie Lam have shown no desire to meet key demands such as an inquiry into police violence, the complete withdrawal of the bill and an amnesty.
Beijing has turned the screws on Hong Kong's businesses, pressuring them to toe the line and condemn the protesters.
On Friday, Cathay Pacific announced the shock resignation of CEO Rupert Hogg after the carrier was excoriated by Beijing because some staff supported the pro-democracy protests.
A day later the "Big Four" accountancy firms scrambled to distance themselves from an advert placed in a newspaper purportedly by employees saying they supported the protests.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
