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Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Advisory Committee on Mental Health (ACMH) today announced the launch of a programme to provide free mental health support services to bereaved families following the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po.

The one-year Compassionate Support Programme for Bereaved Families dovetails with the Social Welfare Department’s “one social worker per household” service to provide grief and bereavement counselling for the families.

The programme can also refer family members to clinical psychologists and/or psychiatrists for follow-up services as required, depending on the assessments of their mental health risks.

Organisations joining the programme will reach out to the affected families to provide the services. The Primary Healthcare Commission may also make referrals through District Health Centres across the city.

Four organisations have joined the programme so far: Tung Wah Group of Hospitals; the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council; the Comfort Care Concern Group and the Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong.

The Hospital Authority will also train staff members at these social service organisations to better handle disaster-related stress and reactions.

“The Compassionate Support Programme for Bereaved Families will pool strengths from different sectors to provide psychological support for bereaved families affected by the disaster in a timely manner, and journey with them through this difficult time,” said ACMH Chairman Dr Lam Ching-choi.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Monetary Authority announced today that the base rate has been set at 4% with immediate effect.

The decrease follows a 25-basis point downward adjustment in the target range for the US federal funds rate on December 10.

The base rate is the benchmark interest rate used to compute the Discount Rates for repurchase transactions through the Discount Window.

It is currently set at either 50 basis points above the lower end of the prevailing target range for the US federal funds rate, or the average of the five-day moving averages of the overnight and one-month Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rates, whichever is the higher.

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

The Government has expressed profound sadness over the death of a senior police inspector who had been taking part in an advanced selection assessment for the Police’s Special Duties Unit.

The officer, 31, lost consciousness after completing a dive in the waters off Lamma Island on December 4.

He was immediately transported to Princess Margaret Hospital for treatment and passed away this evening.

The force said it is investigating the incident and has temporarily suspended the advanced selection assessment exercise.

Secretary for the Civil Service Ingrid Yeung and Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung extended their deepest condolences to the officer’s family. Mrs Yeung added that the Civil Service Bureau is in contact with Police to assist the family during this sad and difficult period.

Commissioner of Police Chow Yat-ming said he felt deep sorrow over the death of the officer, who joined the force in 2016.

Attached to the Tactical Unit Headquarters, the officer had consistently shown enthusiasm and passion for his work, and was highly committed to his duties, Mr Tsang added.

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

On the afternoon of November 26, the Ministry of Economic Affairs held the 34th Taiwan Excellence Awards Ceremony at the Globe Playhouse of the Taipei Performing Arts Center. Minister of Economic Affairs, Ming-Hsin Kung, personally announced this year’s Gold and Silver Award winners. A total of 336 products from 179 companies were honored with the Taiwan Excellence Award; among them, 10 products received the highest distinction of the Gold Award, and 20 products were awarded the Silver Award.

The winning products this year fully reflect three major development trends in Taiwanese industries. First, companies are actively integrating artificial intelligence technologies, aligning with the government’s “AI-driven Industries” policy. Second, the proportion of sustainable and energy-efficient products has significantly increased. Third, many award-winning products break traditional boundaries by combining cross-disciplinary capabilities, including ICT technologies, smart healthcare, and hardware-software integration.

To learn more about the winners of the 34th Taiwan Excellence Awards, please visit: https://www.taiwanexcellence.org/tw/award/2026winner/

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Cynthia Kiang and Assistant Deputy Minister of Global Affairs Canada Weldon Epp co-chaired the 21st Canada-Taiwan Economic Consultations in Ottawa on Nov. 25, 2025.

Building on many years of stable cooperation, the dialogue continued bilateral exchanges on shared priorities – including economic security, energy, supply chain resilience, and Indigenous cooperation – demonstrating both sides’ commitment to deepening their partnership.

Deputy Minister Kiang stated during the meeting that Taiwan places great importance on supply-chain security and resilience and is actively working with partner countries to build trusted partnerships. Through the CTEC, both sides have continued to pursue greater bilateral cooperation in multiple areas.

This year, the two sides also engaged in in-depth exchanges on digital transformation for small and medium-sized enterprises, underscoring their strong consensus on promoting industrial upgrading through emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence – injecting fresh momentum into the bilateral relationship.

During this visit, at the invitation of Member of Parliament Judy Sgro, who chairs both the Taiwan-Canada Parliamentary Friendship Group and the Standing Committee on International Trade, Deputy Minister Kiang, along with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ming-Chi Chen and a delegation of the Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce of North America, held a roundtable discussion with several Canadian lawmakers on issues related to Taiwan-Canada cooperation.

At the gathering, Deputy Minister Kiang highlighted the important role Taiwan can play in supporting Canada’s trade diversification goals and welcomed the Canadian side to organize a trade mission to visit Taiwan.

While in Canada, Deputy Minister Kiang also met with key representatives of the Canadian business community to exchange views on how to respond to changes in the global economic and trade landscape. She also took the opportunity to meet with Taiwanese companies operating in Canada to better understand their local operations, challenges, and policy needs, providing important insight for the government in supporting Taiwanese businesses’ overseas expansion.

Canada is Taiwan’s 24th largest trading partner globally, while Taiwan is Canada’s 6th largest trading partner in Asia, after China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and India. Through the first ten months of 2025, bilateral trade amounted to US$4.035 billion, representing an increase of 6.5% compared with the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s cumulative investment in Canada has reached nearly US$4.3 billion, while Canada’s cumulative investment in Taiwan stands at about US$2.3 billion.

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

Minister Ming-Hsin Kung of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and Minister Chia-Lung Lin of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) co-chaired a joint ministerial meeting on November 21 to conduct in-depth discussions on geopolitical risks and the restructuring of global supply chains. Both ministries agreed that, in the face of ongoing global economic realignment and geopolitical challenges, Taiwan must integrate its economic and diplomatic resources in order to build resilient and sustainable industrial ecosystems.

Minister Kung noted that global industrial deployments are rapidly shifting, with foreign companies diversifying investments to emerging countries and regions, such as ASEAN, Central and Eastern Europe, India, and Mexico. Taiwanese enterprises are also actively establishing overseas production bases in response to the needs of international clients. He stated that the MOEA will continue to uphold its core strategy of “rooting in Taiwan, deploying globally, and marketing to the world,” thereby strengthening Taiwan’s domestic investment environment and R&D capacity while helping industries grasp overseas market opportunities and advancing the development of industrial parks.

During the meeting, the two ministries emphasized that they would continue to enhance mechanisms for economic and diplomatic collaboration by integrating the strengths of government agencies, industries, and Taiwan’s representative offices abroad, promoting the development of overseas science parks and industrial clusters, and helping Taiwanese businesses obtain more favorable investment conditions and policy support abroad.

The MOEA and MOFA pledged to work together with an open and pragmatic approach to promote Taiwan as a trusted global economic and trade partner, thereby injecting new momentum into industrial transformation, upgrading, and the nation’s sustainable development.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Chow Yat-ming, today (December 10) expressed deep sorrow over the passing of a male Senior Police Inspector, who lost consciousness during an advanced selection assessment for the Police Special Duties Unit on December 4. Mr Chow extended his deepest condolences to his family.

The Senior Police Inspector lost consciousness after completing a dive during the advanced selection assessment at the waters off Lamma Island on December 4. He was immediately rescued and conveyed to Princess Margaret Hospital for treatment. Unfortunately, he passed away this evening.

Members of the Force expressed their deepest sympathy to his family. The Force Welfare Services Group is in touch with his family and will make every effort to assist and support them during this sad and difficult period.

The Force is investigating the incident, and the relevant selection assessment has been temporarily suspended.

The 31-year-old Senior Police Inspector joined the Force in 2016. He was attached to the Police Tactical Unit Headquarters. He had all along shown great enthusiasm and passion for his work and was highly committed to his duties.

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:

To provide better support to individuals affected by the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, the Judiciary announced today (December 10) that all potential legal proceedings related to the incident will be handled with priority and expeditiously through a series of facilitative measures. The measures include:

(a) Setting up a dedicated task group, headed by the Chief Judge of the High Court and comprising relevant court leaders and specialist judges, to ensure the swift and priority handling of legal proceedings related to the incident at all court levels, without unduly compromising the administration of justice;

(b) Designating a team of support staff for handling probate-related matters relating to the deceased victims of the incident. The team will liaise with the relevant government departments to disseminate essential information on probate-related matters to affected families. A special hotline at 2840 1683 is in operation to answer enquiries on probate-related and other matters associated with the incident;

(c) Waiving probate-related scheduled fees relating to the deceased victims of the incident. The court will consider fee concessions for other court services, where warranted, on their individual merits and in accordance with the applicable fees rules; and

(d) Expediting the processing of coroner-related matters with priority, including the issue of “Certificates of the Fact of Death”.

​Following operational experience, the Judiciary will continue to count on the assistance from the legal profession (including legally-aided lawyers) in supporting the courts to handle the various types of proceedings relating to the incident, where appropriate and in the public interest.