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Incoming passenger convicted and jailed for dealing with and importing duty-not-paid cigarettes (with photos)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Incoming passenger convicted and jailed for dealing with and importing duty-not-paid cigarettes  
Customs officers intercepted a 45-year-old incoming female passenger at Hong Kong International Airport on September 6. About 140 600 duty-not-paid cigarettes, with an estimated market value of about $577,000 and a duty potential of about $465,000, were seized from her personal baggage. She was subsequently arrested.
 
The passenger was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment and fined in contravention of the DCO today.
 
Customs welcomes the sentence. The custodial sentence has imposed a considerable deterrent effect and reflects the seriousness of the offences.
 
Under the DCO, tobacco products are dutiable goods to which the DCO applies. Any person who imports, deals with, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
 
Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hkIssued at HKT 17:41

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ROC (Taiwan) government expresses deepest condolences on passing of H.M. Queen Sirikit of Thailand

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

ROC (Taiwan) government expresses deepest condolences on passing of H.M. Queen Sirikit of Thailand

Date：2025-10-29
Data Source：Public Diplomacy Coordination Council

October 29, 2025 
No. 435 

The government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) expresses its deepest condolences on the passing of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother, mother of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkom.
 
Following Queen Sirikit’s passing, President Lai Ching-te and Premier Cho Jung-tai conveyed the sympathies of the government and people of Taiwan in messages transmitted via the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand. Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Baushuan Ger visited the Thailand Trade and Economic Office (TTEO) in Taipei on the morning of October 29 to pay respects and offer condolences.
 
Queen Sirikit dedicated her entire life to the Kingdom of Thailand. She was highly respected and loved by the Thai people, and her benevolence and virtue were renowned throughout the international community. From June 5 to 8, 1963, Queen Sirikit accompanied His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on a visit to Taiwan, advancing the two nations’ friendship and cooperative ties in a range of areas. Taiwan has made significant contributions to promoting agricultural development in northern Thailand through collaboration with Thailand under the Royal Project Foundation, which was founded by King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit.
 
The people of Taiwan and Thailand enjoy frequent interactions and close exchanges. Moving forward, Taiwan will continue to deepen Taiwan-Thailand relations through integrated diplomacy.

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MOFA thanks Formosa Club for highlighting European support of Taiwan in annual conference joint statement

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

MOFA thanks Formosa Club for highlighting European support of Taiwan in annual conference joint statement

Date：2025-10-29
Data Source：Department of European Affairs

October 29, 2025No. 433 The Formosa Club held an international press conference following its annual conference in Taipei on October 28. In addition to inviting Vice President of the ROC (Taiwan) Hsiao Bi-khim to deliver remarks, the group released the Statement following the Taipei Annual Conference, which had been jointly adopted by its members.The statement reaffirmed the Formosa Club’s commitment to enhancing interparliamentary cooperation between Taiwan, the European Union, and democratic partners across the Atlantic, and stressed that Taiwan was a vital democratic partner in the Indo-Pacific region. It said that strengthening Taiwan’s resilience was in line with the broader democratic interest. The statement also referred to the European Parliament resolution passed on October 24, 2024, which noted that UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 did not take a position on Taiwan. Last, the statement reiterated that the Formosa Club supported Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international frameworks, demonstrating club members’ staunch support of Taiwan.In her remarks, Vice President Hsiao thanked the Formosa Club for its long-standing and steadfast advocacy on behalf of Taiwan, for passing a joint statement at this year’s annual conference that emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and for calling for Taiwan and European nations to deepen their ties. Noting that developments in the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic regions were closely related, she said that Taiwan, standing on the front lines against authoritarian expansionism, remained unwavering in its commitment to strengthening democracy and resilience and had elevated cooperation with Europe in numerous critical areas.Vice President Hsiao added that Taiwan, as a responsible member of the international community, had also proposed the RISK Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables during the annual conference, underscoring Taiwan’s determination to work with the international community to ensure collective security and prosperity as well as its desire to partner with democratic nations to build a better future for all.Chair of the Formosa Club Annual Conference Rihards Kols, who is also a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, responded to media questions on behalf of club members. He said that, in recent years, Europe had faced a situation similar to that of Taiwan and that it had experienced several instances of damage to undersea cables. He continued by saying that European countries had begun discussing the establishment of a Union of the Seas to create ties based in international law so as to introduce systemic reforms and give countries the wherewithal to enforce the law. Noting that technological cooperation was of utmost importance given the troubled international situation, Chair Kols commended Taiwan’s technological development and described Taiwan as a trusted partner. He further mentioned that the European Union was introducing its Readiness 2030 plan to reinforce Europe’s defense capabilities and supply chain resilience, and that Europe hoped to collaborate with reliable partners. He stressed that Taiwan could be one such partner. (E)

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Director General David Cheng-Wei Wu and Mrs. Wu Attended Sydney Screening of “Life’s Good” in Memory of Prof. Chwei-Liang Chiou, Taiwan’s Democracy Advocate

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

To commemorate Professor Chwei-Liang Chiou, a pioneer in promoting Taiwan’s democracy abroad, the Taiwanese Institution of Australasia and Macquarie University co-hosted a screening of Life’s Good on October 30 at Macquarie University’s Sydney campus, with remarks by Professor Julian Droogan and moderation by Professor Mayfen Kuo.
Directed by Lih-Kuei Chen, the documentary took three years to complete and traces Professor Chiou’s lifelong dedication to democracy—from Taiwan’s martial-law era to his decades of civic engagement in Australia. Through his personal letters and reflections, the film portrays his deep belief in freedom, social participation, and the democratic values that connect Taiwan and Australia.
In his remarks, Director General Wu highlighted that the people of Taiwan are the true authors of their nation’s history, and that civil society has always been a key force in advancing democracy. He described Professor Chiou, who called himself a “stubborn democrat,” as someone whose legacy continues to inspire the defense and renewal of Taiwan’s democratic spirit.

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HOUSING · I&T Summit opens

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The HOUSING · I&T Summit opened today, bringing together experts, scholars and industry leaders in public housing from over 15 countries and cities worldwide to participate.

The summit, being held over four days, is themed “Pioneering Innovative Housing for a Sustainable Future” and was organised by the Housing Bureau and the Housing Authority.

Under the HOUSING · I&T initiative this year, the bureau has organised a series of events, including today’s international symposium, a construction robotics competition in May and a secondary school housing construction robotics design competition in September to foster the development of the construction technology industry.

The first two days of the summit are being held at the Sham Shui Po Leisure & Cultural Building, featuring a symposium, alongside an intelligent technology exhibition area for participants to exchange ideas and explore innovation and developments in housing construction technology.

In her welcoming remarks at the opening ceremony this morning, Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho said: “We are delighted to bring together experts and industry leaders from around the world to explore how innovative technology can drive sustainable housing construction and development.

“Hong Kong will continue to play the roles of a ‘super connector’ and ‘super value-adder’ to foster cross-regional collaboration, building safer, more livable and quality homes for our people.”

The summit sessions this morning, under the theme “Smart · Housing”, brought together global perspectives and local experiences to discuss shaping the future of housing and urban development. The afternoon sessions, focusing on “Smart · Innovation”, explored how intelligent innovations like artificial intelligence (AI), component-based construction and advanced materials are transforming the construction and real estate industries.

During the summit, Ms Ho and other guests visited the intelligent technology exhibition area to interact with participants and learn about the active research and developments in innovative technology by tech companies. They also viewed the Better Housing Exhibition on display at the Sham Mong Road Playground. This mobile exhibition is organised and instructed by the Ministry of Housing & Urban-Rural Development’s Centre of Science & Technology Industrial Development, technically supported by the ministry’s smart low-carbon construction technology innovation centre and whole-house smart key laboratory.

To capitalise on Hong Kong’s distinctive advantages of enjoying the strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world as well as its prime location linking the Greater Bay Area, the Housing Bureau and the Housing Authority have arranged for over 50 participants, including those from Portugal, Australia, the UK, Cambodia, Macau and Hong Kong to visit Zhuhai on the third day of the summit for site visits to a smart factory.

They will tour advanced production lines featuring high automation and robotics applications, gaining insights into the production processes for both concrete and steel-structured Modular Integrated Construction (MiC), alongside high-quality supervision and inspections.

The itinerary also includes visits to an outdoor product exhibition hall and a construction technology pavilion, allowing participants to experience firsthand how advanced construction technology and MiC are shaping the future of housing. A sharing session will be held before concluding the visit to facilitate experience exchanges between participants and factory representatives, jointly exploring future directions for housing construction technology.

On the fourth day of the summit, over 60 participants will conduct site visits in Hong Kong. Their first stop will be the Housing Bureau’s Light Public Housing (LPH) site at Olympic Avenue, Kai Tak, and Choi Hing Road LPH, Ngau Tau Kok, to understand how the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government employs standardised, simple designs and steel-structured MiC technology to build LPH swiftly, addressing the needs of families urgently requiring improved living environments.

The project team will conduct demonstrations of modern construction technologies, including the smart inspection, logistics and installation monitoring system for MiC, developed in collaboration with the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong’s iLab, enabling participants to learn about the latest achievements in public housing developments and gain insights into the latest technologies such as MiC and 4S Smart Site Safety System.

Click here for details of the summit.

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Building Safety Week 2025 promotes building safety

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Building Safety Week 2025 promotes building safety 
     Building Safety Week is a major event of the BD’s public education and publicity efforts, featuring an Open Day at the BD Headquarters, West Kowloon Government Offices, this Saturday from 10am to 5.30pm.

     The Open Day will offer a wide range of programmes, including several thematic talks on building safety covering the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme (MWIS), fire safety in buildings, water seepage in buildings, and points to note on interior alteration and addition works in premises. The talks will be conducted in Cantonese in both physical and online modes and are free of charge. Interested persons can visit the BD’s thematic website for more details and registration. 
     The BD will also host an experience-sharing session for industry practitioners in the afternoon on November 12, sharing the key points in the approval of building and structural plans and common issues in the preparation of plans, with a view to enhancing building professionals’ understanding of the important matters to pay attention to when submitting plans for approval, thus facilitating the approval process.
     
     In addition, the BD will hold the Building Safety Symposium on November 14 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre as the closing event of Building Safety Week 2025. The theme of this year’s symposium is “Digital Transformation for Safer Building Design, Construction and Maintenance”. Representatives from the building industry, the property management sector, academia and the Government will delve into the application of innovative technologies in optimising building design, building repair and maintenance, and construction site safety management. Together, they will explore innovative solutions to enhance building safety and advance the future development of the industry.Issued at HKT 16:00

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Relaxed gross floor area exemption arrangements for carparks to commence in November

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Relaxed gross floor area exemption arrangements for carparks to commence in November 
The enhanced measure was put forward in the 2025 Policy Address. The measure will allow full GFA exemption for no more than two levels of aboveground carparks, while doing away with the prerequisite of constructing some of the carparks underground. Since the construction cost for aboveground carparks is lower and the construction time is shorter, the measure will effectively reduce construction costs and expedite developments. The measure has been welcomed by the trade since its announcement.
 
The above measure will be applicable to both types of carparks in private development projects: “private carparks” (also known as “ancillary carparks”), i.e. carparks provided to address parking needs of residents and visitors of the development project; and “public carparks”, i.e. parking spaces provided by the developers in the project for the general public, as per the Government’s requirement considering local parking needs.

Furthermore, for the third aboveground carpark level and beyond, 50 per cent of GFA exemption will be allowed, be it a private or public carpark, unlike past arrangements in which private and public carparks were subject to different arrangements.
 
Besides the above changes, other arrangements pertaining to carpark GFA exemption will continue to apply, such as all underground carparks (regardless of whether private or public) continuing to enjoy full GFA exemption, etc.
 
To facilitate the implementation of the enhanced measure, town planning procedures will be streamlined for approving height restrictions relevant to aboveground carparks. The details are as follows:
 
(a) If developers submit planning applications for minor relaxation of height restrictions because of constructing no more than two levels of aboveground carparks, under most circumstances, they will only be required to submit visual appraisals and, if the site involves major breezeways, simple reviews of the air ventilation impact assessment; and 
(b) The Planning Department has reviewed the situation at New Development Areas (NDAs), where most development sites have height restrictions sufficient to accommodate two levels of aboveground carparks. For the remaining sites in NDAs where relaxation of height restrictions is required, the Government will initiate applications in accordance with town planning procedures next year. Issued at HKT 16:00

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