SEOUL: North Korea's leadership will hold a party congress later this month, state media announced Sunday (Feb 8), in what will be the first such major gathering since 2021.

The decision was made Saturday in a meeting of top leaders of the country's ruling Workers Party of Korea (WPK), including Kim Jong Un, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

"The Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee adopted with unanimous approval a decision on opening the Ninth Congress of the WPK in Pyongyang, the capital of the revolution, in late February 2026," KCNA said.

The last party congress - the reclusive nuclear-armed nation's eighth - was held in January 2021.

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At that gathering, Kim was named the party's General Secretary, a title previously reserved for his father and predecessor Kim Jong Il, in what analysts said was a move to reinforce his authority.

The congress is the ruling party's top gathering, a grand political set-piece that reinforces the regime's authority and can serve as a platform for announcements of policy shifts or elite personnel changes.

The 2021 meeting came just days before the inauguration of US President Joe Biden and at the height of North Korea's strict border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Analysts described the choreographed messaging from the party congress as one of defiance towards the United States, after the breakdown in negotiations with Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump.

Trump, who returned to power in January 2025, has expressed willingness to restart talks, but yet with little result.

Tensions have meanwhile remained high, with Pyongyang most recently outraged over South Korea's moves to develop nuclear submarine technology with the United States.

Since the 2021 gathering, North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear arsenal, repeatedly test-launching intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in defiance of bans ordered by the UN Security Council.

Late last month, Kim oversaw the test launch of missiles from a multiple rocket launcher and said that "next-stage plans for further bolstering up the country's nuclear war deterrent" would be clarified at the upcoming party congress, according to KCNA.

Lee Ho-ryung, principal researcher at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, told AFP the upcoming congress would likely see Kim announce "that the goal is now to maximise nuclear operational prowess".

"Kim Jong Un has used past party congresses to stress the completion of the country's nuclear capability, and this time he is expected to declare that such capability has now reached its peak," she said.

Kim was accompanied at the test by his daughter Ju Ae, believed to be his likely successor.

Pyongyang has also developed deep ties with Moscow during its war in Ukraine, with North Korean soldiers sent to fight alongside Russian forces.

In 2024, the two countries signed a treaty including a mutual defence clause.

TOKYO: Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged on Saturday (Feb 7) to make Japan "more prosperous and safer", including through tougher immigration screening, in a final appeal to voters on the eve of snap elections.

Opinion polls suggest that Takaichi's ruling bloc, led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), could romp home in Sunday's vote and secure a two-thirds majority in the powerful lower house.

"Pushing the button for growth is the Takaichi Cabinet's job. Japan will become more and more prosperous and safer," Takaichi, 64, told a campaign rally attended by thousands in Tokyo.

"This is the year in which we want to turn the anxieties people feel about their lives today and about the future into hope," she said.

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The arch-conservative Takaichi, a heavy metal drummer in her youth and an admirer of Margaret Thatcher, became Japan's fifth prime minister in as many years in October.

This followed a string of calamitous elections for the once-mighty LDP, leaving it short of a majority in both houses of parliament.

With ordinary Japanese, especially younger ones, Takaichi has enjoyed sky-high popularity ratings, becoming something of a fashion icon and a hit on social media.

Her tough talk on immigration appears, for now, to have slowed the sharp rise of the populist "Japanese first" Sanseito party, which did well in upper house elections last year.

Immigration screening "has already become a little stricter, so that terrorists, and also industrial spies, cannot enter easily," Takaichi said on Saturday.

"We must properly examine whether (foreigners) are paying taxes, whether they are paying their health insurance premiums," Takaichi said.

She added that she wanted "a Japanese archipelago where, no matter where you live, you can live safely, where you can receive the medical care and welfare support you need, where you can receive high-quality education, and where proper workplaces and jobs exist."

"But in order to do that, we have to make the economy stronger. Healthcare costs money. Welfare costs money. Education also requires investment. So we must build a strong economy," she said.

"STRONG MANDATE"

Surveys ahead of the election indicate - with some caution due to undecided voters - that the LDP will easily win more than the 233 seats needed to regain a majority.

Together with the LDP's coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), Takaichi's ruling bloc could even win a two-thirds majority.

The last time this happened was in 2017 under assassinated ex-premier Shinzo Abe - Takaichi's mentor.

The new Centrist Reform Alliance of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) and the LDP's previous partner Komeito could shed half of their 167 seats.

"I came just to have a look at her. I think she is amazing," said Yuka Ando, 17, a high-school student who came with her mother to the rally despite the cold weather that has dumped heavy snow across northern Japan.

"As she is the first woman PM, it makes her look special, too. Thanks to her, I became interested in politics," Ando told AFP.

Jeff Kingston, professor of history at Temple University Japan, told AFP he expects Takaichi's gamble of calling elections to pay off.

"She will gain a strong mandate and probably a standalone majority that will help her enact an ambitious array of economic and security reforms," he said.

CHINA WATCHING

China though, will be watching.

When she was barely two weeks in office, Takaichi suggested that Japan would intervene militarily if Beijing sought to take self-ruled Taiwan by force.

China has never ruled Taiwan, but Beijing claims the island as part of its territory and has not ruled out force to annex it.

China summoned Tokyo's ambassador, warned its citizens against visiting Japan and conducted joint air drills with Russia around the archipelago. 

Takaichi's economic policies, including a US$135 billion stimulus package, have also worried investors.

Last month, yields on long-term Japanese bonds hit record highs after Takaichi pledged temporarily to exempt food from a consumption tax to ease the pain of inflation on households.

BEIJING: Hong Kong's commerce chief on Friday (Feb 6) summoned the Panamanian Consul General in the city to condemn a court ruling that annulled Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison's contract to operate two ports at the Panama Canal.

The move came after China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office warned Panama of "heavy prices" to pay over the decision earlier this week.

Hong Kong's Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Algernon Yau Ying-wah, expressed "strong dissatisfaction and opposition" to the Panama Supreme Court's decision during a meeting with the Panamanian Consul General, Jose Ramon de Jesus Varela Fabrega, according to a post by the bureau on Friday.

Yau said the company had made large investments and created jobs in Panama over many years. He criticised Panama for "destroying its national credibility" in a move that he said would cause far-reaching damage to the country's business environment and economic development and seriously undermine international trade rules.

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He urged the Panamanian government to respect the spirit of the contract and provide a fair and just business environment for companies lawfully operating locally.

"Hong Kong companies operating and investing in Panama should receive fair and reasonable treatment and protections," Yau said.

CK Hutchison has moved to challenge the ruling, with its Panama Ports Company unit launching international arbitration proceedings.

Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday called the court's decision definitive and said he didn't expect the situation to escalate.

"Panama is a dignified country and will not allow itself to be threatened by any country on earth," he said.

China's central bank extended its gold buying spree for a 15th month in January, data from the People's Bank of China (PBOC) showed on Saturday (Feb 7).

The country's gold holdings rose to 74.19 million fine troy ounces by the end of January, up from 74.15 million the previous month.

The value of China's gold reserves increased to US$369.58 billion at the end of last month from US$319.45 billion a month earlier, according to the PBOC.

Gold, long seen as a safe-haven asset to hedge against political and economic risks, saw a wild run in a speculative buying spree in January that took it to a record near US$5,600 per ounce.

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But the bull run in spot gold quickly fell apart after the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the US Federal Reserve at the end of January, plunging as low as US$4,403.24 per ounce on Monday.

Gold is now being traded at around US$4,960 an ounce.

China's gold consumption dropped for a second consecutive year in 2025, however, dipping 3.75 per cent to 950 metric tons, the state-backed China Gold Association has said.

But purchases of gold bars and coins, representing safe-haven demand, have jumped for a second year, to stand up 35.14 per cent in 2025, and account for more than half of total gold consumption.

The PBOC halted an 18-month-long gold buying streak in May 2024, but resumed purchases six months later.

BEIJING: China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a Canadian official told AFP on Friday (Feb 6), in a possible sign of a diplomatic thaw as Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to boost trade ties with Beijing.

Schellenberg was detained on drug charges in 2014 before China–Canada ties nosedived following the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.

That arrest infuriated Beijing, which detained two Canadians - Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig - on espionage charges that Ottawa condemned as retaliatory.

Then, in January 2019, a court in northeast China retried Schellenberg, who was 36 at the time, sentencing him to death while declaring that his 15‑year prison term for drug trafficking had been too lenient.

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The court said he had been a central player in a scheme to ship narcotics to Australia, in a one-day retrial that Amnesty International called "a flagrant violation of international law".

Schellenberg has denied wrongdoing.

The Canadian official requested anonymity in confirming the decision by China's highest court to overturn Schellenberg's death sentence.

Carney, who took office last year, visited China in January as part of his global effort to broaden Canada's export markets to reduce trade reliance on the United States.

"Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is aware of a decision issued by the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China in Mr Robert Schellenberg's case," foreign ministry spokesperson Thida Ith said in a statement sent to AFP.

Ith said the ministry "will continue to provide consular services to Mr. Schellenberg and to his family", adding: "Canada has advocated for clemency in this case, as it does for all Canadians who are sentenced to the death penalty."

NEW PARTNERS

Key sectors of the Canadian economy have been hammered by US President Donald Trump's tariffs, and Carney has said Canada can no longer count on the United States as a reliable trading partner.

Carney says that despite ongoing tensions, including allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian elections, Ottawa needs a functioning relationship with Beijing to safeguard its economic future.

When in Beijing last month, Carney met Chinese President Xi Jinping and heralded an improved era in relations - saying the two countries had struck a "new strategic partnership" and a preliminary trade deal.

Global Affairs Canada did not comment on whether diplomacy during Carney's visit related to Schellenberg's case impacted the Chinese court decision.

"Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be provided," Ith said.

Meng, who had initially been charged with scheming to evade US sanctions on Iran, was freed in September 2021.

Spavor and Kovrig were released the same month.

SEOUL: South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said on Saturday (Feb 7) it had accidentally given away more than US$40 billion worth of bitcoins to customers as promotional rewards, triggering a sharp selloff on the exchange.

Bithumb apologised for the mistake, which took place on Friday, and said it had recovered 99.7 per cent of the 620,000 bitcoins, worth about US$44 billion at current prices. It had restricted trading and withdrawals for the 695 affected customers within 35 minutes of the erroneous distribution on Friday.

The exchange had planned to distribute small cash rewards of 2,000 Korean won (US$1.37) or more to each user as part of a promotional event, but winners received at least 2,000 bitcoins each instead, media reports said.

"We would like to make it clear that this incident is unrelated to external hacking or security breaches, and there are no problems with system security or customer asset management," Bithumb said in a statement.

Bitcoin prices briefly slumped 17 per cent to 81.1 million won on Friday evening on Bithumb, charts from the exchange show. It later recovered and last traded at 104.5 million won.

Bithumb trails Upbit, a dominant player in the South Korean crypto space.

TAKAICHI RIDES WAVE OF POPULARITY

WHY THE WEATHER COULD BE A PROBLEM 

FOREIGN POLICY IN FOCUS

COST OF LIVING LOOMS LARGE 

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s separate same-day calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and United States President Donald Trump were a calculated move by Beijing to assert its centrality as great power geopolitics returns to the fore, analysts told CNA.

The back-to-back calls on Wednesday (Feb 4) came a day before the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the US and Russia lapsed - heightening uncertainty over strategic stability and lending fresh urgency to high-level engagement among major powers.

Set against sharpening rivalry, mounting nuclear risks and a fraying global order, Beijing was projecting itself as a major power with options, leverage and clearly defined priorities, experts said.

“Xi is flexing,” Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and also a non-resident scholar at Carnegie China, told CNA.

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“(Xi) is showing that he is central to key developments,” he said, providing “some degree of assurance to Putin that he can manage Trump” and signalling to Trump that he has other options.

“Beijing sees itself in a position of strength with both the US and Russia,” Chong said.

“China is a pivotal major power,” said Ren Xiao, a professor at Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies (IIS) in Shanghai, who pointed to the order of the calls. Xi held a virtual meeting with Putin before speaking with Trump later that evening.  

“The order of the calls reflects close coordination and communication between Beijing and Moscow,” he said.

China was underscoring the re-emergence of great-power politics, with Washington, Beijing and Moscow once again dominating global calculations, experts said.

DIVERGENT MESSAGES

Official readouts from Beijing, Moscow and Washington underscored sharply different priorities.

According to reports published by Chinese state media outlets, Xi and Putin held a virtual meeting on Wednesday that was broadcast from the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and the Kremlin in Moscow respectively.

“Xi extended New Year greetings to Putin and the Russian people … Putin wished Xi and the Chinese people a happy Spring Festival, vibrant energy and immediate success in all endeavours,” read a report by the Xinhua state news agency.

“Xi said China and Russia should work together to maintain global strategic stability as the international situation has become increasingly turbulent since the beginning of the year,” the Xinhua report read.

Putin “expressed full confidence in Russia-China relations”, the report said, also adding that “both sides should continue to support each other steadfastly in safeguarding their national sovereignty and security”.

Russian state media reports framed Xi and Putin’s exchange as warm and friendly - with Putin describing the China-Russia relationship as being “in an eternal bloom”.

“Xi sees Putin as a good friend and is ready to move dialogue between the two forward,” TASS, Russia’s state news agency, reported.

According to TASS, Putin had called cooperation between the two countries exemplary while Xi said China and Russia were “successfully defending global justice and relations are entering a new stage of development”.

Later that evening, Trump hailed “very positive talks” with Xi. Writing on Truth Social, Trump said the call was “all very positive” and that his relationship with Xi is “extremely good”.

“We both realise how important it is to keep it that way,” he added. 

Both leaders had also discussed a wide range of issues including Taiwan and soybean purchases ahead of Trump’s expected visit to China in April.

STRATEGIC CHOREOGRAPHY

It remains unclear which leader initiated each call, with state media reports offering no indication.

But analysts noted that the choreography carried strategic significance.

“It is rather rare for top leaders of such calibre to talk to each other on the same day,” said Zhang Xin, an associate professor at the School of Politics and International Relations at East China Normal University in Shanghai, adding that it highlighted the growing urgency for dialogue among major powers.

“There is (also) an increasing sense of urgency that China, together with Russia and other international actors, needs to prepare for the management of an increasingly abusive and irresponsible US and consequent chaos,” he said.

The calls also underscored that no major security or diplomatic recalibration could take place without China at the table, Chong said.

“It shows that China has options and is not restrained by any other actor,” he added.

“Hedging is for the weak”, said Chong, arguing that Xi and Beijing were acting from a position of strength - keeping channels with Washington open while maintaining alignment with Moscow. 

For Beijing, the back-to-back calls sent a clear message of resolve, analysts said, particularly on issues it defines as core interests.

In Chinese state media reports, Xi struck a steadying tone on US-China relations while issuing a pointed warning on Taiwan and arms sales, as Trump’s account highlighted a more transactional agenda - agricultural purchases and his expected April visit to China.

Beijing doubled down on its Taiwan red lines a day after the call.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said the issue lies at “the core of China’s core interests” and constitutes the first red line in China-US relations that must not be crossed.

At a regular briefing on Thursday, spokesperson Chen Binhua said President Xi’s remarks had set out China’s firm position on Taiwan and provided clear guidance for policy towards the island.

The US, Chen said, should adhere to the one-China principle and the three bilateral joint communiqués, and handle Taiwan-related issues with extreme caution.

Beijing is pressing Washington to curb arms sales to Taiwan, but is not signalling any corresponding reduction in its own military pressure - reinforcing that stability, from China’s perspective, does not imply concession, Chong said.

CALIBRATING A NEW WORLD ORDER

Taken together, analysts said the calls point to a broader Chinese calculus about how power should be managed in a less orderly, more contested world - not by choosing sides, but by maximising room for manoeuvre as great-power politics hardens.

The risks, however, are not absent.

A perception in Washington that Beijing is overplaying its hand could provoke a backlash if Trump feels slighted, Chong from NUS said.

Even so, Trump’s own priorities - securing a high-profile visit to Beijing and maintaining a measure of stability in trans-Pacific ties - make a sharp response unlikely.

Moscow, meanwhile, is in little position to press Beijing for concessions, given Russia’s growing dependence on China amid its ongoing war in Ukraine, Chong said.

In that conflict, China is already signalling how far it is prepared to go and where its limits lie, said Zhang from East China Normal University.

Outcomes that risk nuclear escalation or extend NATO’s footprint into the Asia-Pacific would be unacceptable, Zhang added - underscoring Beijing’s preference for shaping conditions rather than brokering deals.

The same logic applies to global governance. Rather than abandoning the UN-centred order, China views emerging platforms such as BRICS as complementary mechanisms that can operate alongside existing institutions - allowing Beijing to work both within and beyond the current system, Zhang said. 

Beyond the calls, Beijing appears intent on shaping a looser, more flexible model of great-power interaction as traditional arms-control regimes lapse and US-led initiatives fragment.

In this emerging approach, China is not offering a blueprint so much as asserting a principle: stability, engagement and cooperation remain possible in a more contested world - but only on terms that reflect a redistribution of power, and only if Beijing remains firmly at the centre.

China’s top medical watchdog has ordered a nationwide review of the country’s psychiatric institutes following media reports that multiple hospitals in central China had locked up patients - including people who were not suffering from mental illness - as part of an insurance scam.

The National Healthcare Security Administration said on Wednesday (Feb 4) that its provincial bureaus should hold talks with directors of all psychiatric institutes in their area by Sunday.

They were also told to ensure that thorough checks into possible illegal activity were organised by Mar 15 and appropriate action taken.

Areas of investigation included whether institutes had caused people to be hospitalised for no good reason, faked medical conditions and treatment or forged documents.

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“They should submit a report and refund any illegally used medical insurance funds,” the statement said.

On Tuesday, the Beijing News reported that patients in multiple psychiatric institutes in Hubei province were being exploited to skim off subsidies under the national medical insurance scheme.

It alleged that hospitals often offered to admit patients for free and had sometimes fabricated diagnoses.

At one institute in Xiangyang, a reporter found more than 50 people had been admitted for free, many of whom did not appear to be suffering from mental illness.

A nurse told the reporter that some patients had been given false diagnoses, including over-70s who only wanted free care.

One caretaker said he had been given a false diagnosis of “alcohol-related mental and behavioural problems” so he could be listed as a patient.

Most of the patients had not received any psychological or behavioural treatment, even though their hospital bills charged these items to the national insurance scheme, the report said.

One caretaker told the reporter that medical staff fabricated treatment fees worth “around 130 yuan per day, totalling nearly 4,000 yuan (US$575) per month”, while another estimated that 100 patients could bring in 6 million yuan in medical insurance fees a year.

At the same time, the patients faced strict controls from the hospitals that required them to follow a daily schedule and move within designated areas, the report said, and failure to comply with rules led to physical abuse.

The reporter said they had witnessed staff at multiple hospitals slapping the patients, hitting them with a water pipe and tying them to the bed.

Some were kept in hospital for years, while contact with the outside world was cut off. One patient at a hospital in Yichang told the reporter they “felt like they were in prison”.

The report triggered a public backlash, with many questioning whether this was a common phenomenon across China and raised fears that hospitals were failing to treat those who needed it, while others were needlessly kept in hospital.

Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily called for an investigation, saying: “The hospitals treat the healthcare insurance fund as a cake to be taken and used as they please, converting patients’ health conditions into figures in their accounting books … It’s not only a blatant defiance of the law but also tramples the bottom line of morality.”

It called for stricter regulatory measures and coordination between government departments to expose those behind the scam in Hubei, adding that this would set a good example for a national crackdown.

This article was first published on SCMP.

TOKYO: Toyota Chief Executive Koji Sato will step down after just three years at the helm of the world's largest automaker, the company said on Friday (Feb 6), to be replaced by chief financial officer Kenta Kon.

The reshuffle, which will see Sato take on the role of vice chairman and chief industry officer, comes as the automaker has faced increasing scrutiny over a planned buyout of forklift subsidiary Toyota Industries, a deal that minority investors have criticised as lacking transparency and being greatly underpriced.

The management change was not widely expected. Toyota made the announcement together with the release of its third-quarter earnings, where it boosted its outlook for full-year profit by almost 12 per cent, helped by a weaker yen and cost-cutting efforts.

TAPPING FINANCIAL EXPERTISE

In their new roles Kon will focus on internal company management while Sato will focus on the broader industry - changes intended to accelerate decision-making at a time when Chinese rivals are disrupting the auto business with alarming speed.

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James Hong, head of mobility research at Macquarie, said that while product has always been the top priority for Toyota, the change likely reflected the automaker's awareness of the many more decisions to be made around the non-automotive businesses.

"Kon, I think he basically has more experience dealing with the financial issues of the company than Sato-san, who basically came from the product development side,” he said, noting that Kon was seen as the "mastermind" behind the buyout.

Kon told a press conference he was surprised when he was first approached about the job in the middle of last month.

At present, Kon is also in charge of finances at mobility technology subsidiary, Woven by Toyota, a background that is likely to prove helpful as Toyota tries to close the software gap with Chinese rivals.

Sato took over the top job from Akio Toyoda, the founder's grandson, in April 2023, at a time when Toyota was under fierce pressure over its laggard approach to battery EVs.

The automaker's contrarian bet on gasoline-electric hybrids has proved prescient, and helped underpin years of record sales, including last year when Toyota retained its crown as the world's top seller.

During Sato's tenure, Toyota's shares advanced 111 per cent, including dividends, outperforming a rough doubling in the benchmark Nikkei over the same period.

Yet Toyota also lost some market share during that time to more nimble Chinese rivals such as BYD in regions like Southeast Asia. It has also been dogged by criticism over governance, most recently around the Toyota Industries buyout.  

HONG KONG: Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai will be sentenced on Monday (Feb 9) following his national security trial, a court website showed.

The 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper was found guilty in December of foreign collusion under the city's sweeping national security law, which Beijing imposed following huge and sometimes violent protests in 2019.

He was also found guilty of one count of seditious publication, and could face life in prison.

Global leaders including US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have called for Lai's release, while rights groups say his trial is a death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong.

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Lai, a British citizen, has been behind bars since 2020, and multiple Western nations, including the United States and Britain, have called for his release.

"GRAVE NATURE"

Defence lawyers conceded in January the "grave nature" of the case, which found Lai guilty of calling for foreign sanctions.

He will be sentenced alongside eight co-defendants on Monday, including six Apple Daily executives.

All defendants except Lai pleaded guilty, while some testified against him, which would entitle them to shorter sentences, the lawyers said last month.

The judges wrote in their 856-page verdict in December that Lai "harboured his resentment and hatred of (China) for many of his adult years" and sought the "downfall of the Chinese Communist Party".

Prosecutors cited 161 items Apple Daily published in their case against Lai.

Those items were deemed seditious under a colonial-era law because they "excited disaffection" against the government.

Lai maintained that he never sought to influence other countries' foreign policies, saying Apple Daily represented Hongkongers' core values, including "rule of law, freedom, pursuit of democracy".

INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY

Lai's case has sparked condemnation internationally from journalism rights groups to global leaders.

Britain's Starmer, who visited Beijing in January, raised Lai's case with China's leader Xi Jinping, noting that the two did not see eye-to-eye on the issue.

UK-China relations plummeted in 2020 after Beijing imposed the sweeping national security law on Hong Kong, which severely curtailed freedoms in the former British colony.

Following Lai's conviction, Trump also said he had asked Xi to consider Lai's release.

"He's an older man, and he's not well. So I did put that request out. We'll see what happens," he told reporters at the time.

Meanwhile, the European Union said the conviction was "emblematic of the erosion of democracy and fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong since the imposition of the National Security Law".

Amnesty International added that the conviction marked a "death knell for press freedom in Hong Kong", while the Committee to Protect Journalists called it a "sham".

Beijing has hit back at international criticism it says amounts to a "smearing of the judicial system in Hong Kong", while Hong Kong's government says Lai's case "has nothing to do with freedom of speech and of the press".

Collusion offences "of a grave nature" can be punished by a prison term of between 10 years and life, while sedition comes with a maximum of two years.