Germany’s industrial decline is taking a painful toll on communities that have long relied on local manufacturing titans for jobs, prosperity and a sense of a secure future.

Among the places affected by the downturn is Ludwigshafen, a company town of chemical giant BASF, which has shed thousands of jobs while shifting its focus to China.

“The mood is obviously not good,” Sinischa Horvat, chairman of BASF’s works council, which represents staff interests, told AFP during a visit to the city of about 175,000 people.

“The entire market is currently so weak. When you watch the news, you hardly hear any positive messages.”

BASF is among Germany’s manufacturing heavyweights in sectors ranging from autos to steel and factory equipment that have been cutting back in their domestic markets.

They are battling surging energy costs, fierce competition from China, and weak demand at a time when Europe’s biggest economy is mired in a long stagnation.

Some 2,500 jobs have been axed since 2022 in Ludwigshafen, which is dominated by sprawling chemical plants that stretch along the river Rhine, and more cuts are set to come.

A recent decision to sell off thousands of company-owned apartments, many occupied by current and former workers, has added to unease.

“The sale of these apartments sends a signal to the city and to the people who live here and, in some cases, work at BASF — BASF is scaling back its operations,” Patrick Thiel, who lives in one of the apartments and works at the firm, told AFP.

“There is growing concern that this won’t stop at the apartments but will also affect the main plant,” added the 29-year-old, who also ran as a candidate in recent local polls for far-left party Die Linke.

China push

Horvat said having BASF staff in the properties helped created a “symbiosis” between company and community.

“This has fostered an understanding of chemistry and shaped the relationship with BASF in the city,” he said.

BASF — a supplier of base inputs to the agricultural, automotive and pharmaceutical sectors — says the proceeds will go to bolstering its core businesses, but acknowledged that the sale had “raised uncertainties”.

A company spokeswoman however insisted that it would handle the sale responsibly, adding: “No one has to fear losing their home.”

“We will continue to see ourselves as an integral part of the local community in the future,” she said.

Underlining its commitment to Ludwigshafen, where the group has over 30,000 employees — around a third of its global workforce —  BASF has agreed to hold off on compulsory redundancies there until at least 2028 and continue investing.

But as it cuts back at home, the world’s biggest chemical firm is investing heavily overseas, last month inaugurating a vast 8.7 billion euro (US$10 billion) complex in China, its biggest ever single investment project.

It insists that building up its presence in China, the world’s biggest chemical market, is crucial.

Job losses

BASF is far from the only German company suffering.

Last year industrial companies cut 124,000 jobs, around double the figure in 2024, with hefty losses in particular found in the struggling auto sector, a study by consultancy EY showed.

Germany’s manufacturing sector shrunk to a share of 19.5 percent of the country’s economy in 2025, according to official figures — its lowest level for many years.

“The loss of industrial jobs in Germany has accelerated in the past two years,” Marcel Fratzscher, president of the DIW economic institute, told AFP.

“Companies that used to be the pride of Germany are suffering.”

Areas that have already suffered industrial job losses see greater social problems and offer fertile ground for fringe parties, such as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), to pick up support, experts warn.

Still, Fratzscher said that Germany had undergone economic upheavals before, and urged politicians and companies to try to ensure the economy emerges stronger.

The current economic transformation should be seen “as an opportunity to move into sectors that have better margins, better jobs,” he said.

“The biggest mistake we can make is to try to cement the status quo, to keep all companies exactly the same. That would lead to a much bigger deindustrialisation.”

By Allison Jackson and Joy Chiang

Taiwan said Saturday it is an “independent” nation, hours after US President Donald Trump warned the democratic island against declaring formal independence.

Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday where Chinese President Xi Jinping had pressed him not to support Taiwan, which China claims is part of its territory.

Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying out its threat to annex the island by force.

Taiwan “is a sovereign and independent democratic nation, and is not subordinate to the People’s Republic of China”, Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry also insisted that US arms sales were part of Washington’s security commitment to Taiwan, after Trump said it “depends on China” and was a “very good negotiating chip for us”.

Taiwan’s statements came after Trump issued a warning to the island against making a declaration of independence.

“I’m not looking to have somebody go independent. And, you know, we’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I’m not looking for that,” he told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier”.

“I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down,” Trump said.

“We’re not looking to have wars, and if you kept it the way it is, I think China’s going to be OK with that.”

But Trump added that “nothing’s changed” on US policy towards Taiwan.

The United States recognises only Beijing and does not support formal independence by Taiwan, but historically has stopped short of explicitly saying it opposes independence.

Under US law, the United States is required to provide weapons to Taiwan for its defence, but it has been ambiguous on whether US forces would come to the island’s aid.

Xi had begun the summit with a warning on Taiwan, whose President Lai Ching-te considers the island already independent, making a declaration unnecessary.

The Chinese leader told Trump that missteps on the sensitive issue could cause “conflict”.

Taiwan’s Presidential Office noted Saturday the “multiple reaffirmations from the US side, including President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that the consistent US policy and position toward Taiwan remain unchanged”.

“Taiwan looks forward to continuing to work with the US under the firm commitments of the Taiwan Relations Act,” spokeswoman Karen Kuo said in a statement.

US weapon sales

Ahead of the summit, Trump had said he would speak to Xi about US arms sales to Taiwan, a departure from Washington’s previous insistence that it would not consult Beijing on the matter.

Taiwan’s parliament recently approved a US$25 billion defence spending bill that will be used for US weapons.

Lawmakers have said the funds will cover nearly US$9 billion of the US$11.1 billion arms package announced by Washington in December and a second phase of arms sales — not yet approved by the United States — worth more than US$15 billion.

Speaking to reporters on Friday en route to Washington, Trump said on arms sales: “I’ll make a determination over the next fairly short period of time.”

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said arms were “not only a US security commitment to Taiwan clearly stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act, but also a form of joint deterrence against regional threats”.

Tzeng Wei-feng of the National Chengchi University’s Institute of International Relations in Taipei said the Trump administration was “leaning to China’s position” on Taiwan in order to have better relations with Beijing and could “change the arms sale package a little bit to show their goodwill”.

Trump “overtly stating that arms are a bargaining chip is exactly what Taiwan didn’t want to hear,” Lev Nachman, a political science professor at National Taiwan University, told AFP.

“The hope is that arm sales were non-negotiable, because it’s part of the six assurances, and what Donald Trump is essentially saying is that one of those assurances no longer matters.”

The smell of smoke filled the flat as Mr and Mrs Wong brought home eight red-white-blue and IKEA bags filled with their belongings, retrieved from their old home, now charred and damaged by the fire.

Their daughter should have been overjoyed to have been reunited with her collection of storybooks, but all she could do was recoil from the smell of ash still lingering on the paperbacks six months after the fire at Wang Fuk Court last November.

The Wongs were among residents who returned to their fire-scorched flats to retrieve their belongings from mid-April to early May. On their allocated day, Wang Fuk Court residents made their way up the estate’s stairwells, racing against a three-hour time limit to retrieve what they could, reminisce in their former homes, and pay respects to the dead.

It was also a cathartic experience for some, as they struggled to pick up the pieces – literally and figuratively – in the wake of the deadly tragedy.

The inferno at the government-subsidised estate in Tai Po in November last year killed 168 people and has since displaced thousands of others. An inquiry hearing is under way to identify the cause of the fire – the city’s deadliest in decades – and hear testimony from residents, government officers, and others.

The Wong family was able to salvage some keepsakes and belongings, including the daughter’s books and birthday cards from friends, an old photo album, and a hard drive containing pictures and videos from the past decade.

“Some of the books were gifts from friends, and some of them she bought with her own pocket money. When she saw that the things in Wang Fuk Court had come back, she was so happy. But at the same time, all of those things smelled of smoke,” said Mrs Wong, who declined to disclose her full name for privacy reasons.

She recalled that her daughter, unable to withstand the stench, retreated to her room. “She said, ‘I have to hide in my room, the living room smells so bad!’”

Nearly six months after the fire, the nine-year-old girl is still reeling from the trauma. She “has become quite sensitive to certain smells and sounds, even the school bell,” Mrs Wong told HKFP in a phone interview this month.

The 38-year-old mother was worried that the smell of smoke – if it continued to linger – might bring up her daughter’s memories of the escape from the burning complex. Both she and her daughter have started seeing a psychologist to process the emotional fallout.

On the fateful day in late November, Mrs Wong was working at a local nursery when a neighbour called to tell her the estate was on fire. Her daughter and father-in-law were at home. Both Mr and Mrs Wong tried to call the grandfather multiple times, and luckily, the husband’s call went through.

The girl and her grandfather made their way down the 27 floors and exited the building through the back entrance – some 20 minutes after the fire broke out.

The Wongs are now living in a rented flat in Tai Po, the same district as their old home. Smoke from incense at a nearby traditional temple and sirens from a fire depot have also become triggers for the young girl.

For herself, Mrs Wong recovered some clothes that her mother-in-law had tailored to fit her. The family is still searching for an SD card containing 10 years’ worth of photos, including those of her daughter’s birth, hoping it will still be intact in the wreckage.

Mrs Wong told HKFP that she wept as she climbed all the way up to the 27th-floor flat at Wang Tai House, the second block at Wang Fuk Court that caught fire, earlier this month. To her surprise, their flat appeared to be largely untouched by the flames, though the intense heat from above and below her flat had mangled the ceiling and floor.

Before heading back to their old flat, she had resigned herself to the possibility that it might also be her last chance for a farewell. “What I wanted was to properly say goodbye to the flat,” Mrs Wong said.

Hong Kong authorities are set on a plan to buy out seven blocks at Wang Fuk Court for HK$6.8 billion and one tower largely unaffected by the blaze for another HK$1 billion, as well as to tear down the estate and turn it into a park or community facility.

“Every time I thought of going back, I would cry. I would worry about crying so hard that I wouldn’t have time to pack,” she said. “But I couldn’t let myself do that. I had to steel my nerves and pack up.”

Mrs Wong also brought flowers to pay her respects to her neighbour who died in the fire. “Looking at the other badly burnt units, I was reminded of all the people who left us,” she said.

Unfortunately, she did not have time to say proper goodbyes because she had to get back to packing.

The 27-storey slog up and down the building left the Wongs pressed for time. They were told to leave almost 30 minutes before their three hours were up to account for the time it would take to move all their things downstairs.

“I had hoped I would have some time to sit down and let things sink in, but I couldn’t even have that,” she said. To the family’s relief, the government has said residents will have a second chance to return to the estate. “Given a choice, I would pack up the entire place with me,” she said.

Carbon Yip, who lived in a sixth-floor flat in the neighbouring Wang Cheong House, the first block that caught fire, is planning his second trip back to the estate.

“I’ll take every single opportunity to go back,” said Yip, who spent almost three decades of his life at the estate. “The last time I was home was when I left for work that day, and now we’re back.”

Yip and his wife, Karen, moved into their flat after they got married, in the block neighbouring the tower where his childhood home was. “It wasn’t just property, it was the place where I grew up,” he said about Wang Fuk Court.

“Even if we’re done packing up, if we are allowed back, I’d still want to go back, even if it’s just to sit.”

The couple, along with his older brother and father, returned to Wang Fuk Court last month, donning hard hats and name tags. They packed up their lives at the estate into about 30-odd bags, most of which have been placed into a storage unit in a nearby industrial district.

The family first went to Carbon Yip’s home and days later to his father’s flat in Wang Tai House.

They returned to the flats weeks after the father, Yip Ka-kui, also known as Sdanni Yip, gave a moving testimony before an independent committee investigating the cause of the fire and its rapid spread.

At the hearing, Sdanni Yip, who repeatedly reported potential fire hazards at the estate to authorities, accused the government of “evading responsibility.” He also gave a heartfelt tribute to his late wife, Pak Shui-lin, who spent her final moments knocking on doors to notify other residents of the fire.

The Yip family’s designated social worker showed them photos of the flat before they returned so they would have a better idea of what to look for. However, even then, Carbon Yip couldn’t prepare himself for the weight of stepping back into his home.

“I had to collect myself before I could start packing, because the emotions were overwhelming,” he said, recalling the trip back to Wang Cheong House. “I don’t think anyone could accept seeing their home looking that way.”

Carbon Yip, 36, lost much of his Gundam and Digimon figurine collection to the fire. He discovered the models had melted and fused into a single unrecognisable lump of plastic. He had to throw out a large part of his Pokémon card collection, including limited anniversary-edition cases that warped and melted in the fire.

However, he managed to salvage a commemorative crystal block made to remember their pet dog, who died early last year after about 16 years with the family. The memento was stashed away in a box, which shielded it from the worst of the fire.

Returning home reminded him of his late mother. Pak took care of their late dog, whom she called her “granddaughter,” while he and his wife worked.

“’Your daughter isn’t eating again!’ – she used to tell me whenever [the dog] was being a picky eater,” Carbon Yip said.

Carbon Yip, his wife, and his father have moved in with the elder brother. Seven family members are crammed into a three-bedroom flat, just a 15-minute walk from Wang Fuk Court.

“Being able to get these things back, our home can now feel a little bit more complete,” Carbon Yip said.

US President Donald Trump on Friday warned Taiwan against declaring formal independence after concluding his visit to China, whose leader Xi Jinping had pressed him not to support the self-ruling island.

Trump ended the state visit claiming to have made “fantastic” trade deals, although the details were vague, and he did not appear to secure any breakthrough with China over his stalemated war on Iran.

Trump invited Xi for a reciprocal visit to Washington in September, signalling both sides will likely seek stability in the often turbulent relationship between the world’s two largest economies.

On a key issue for Xi, Trump made clear he opposed a declaration of independence by Taiwan and appeared to question why the United States would defend the island in case of attack.

“I’m not looking to have somebody go independent. And, you know, we’re supposed to travel 9,500 miles to fight a war. I’m not looking for that,” he told Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier.”

“I want them to cool down. I want China to cool down,” Trump said.

“We’re not looking to have wars, and if you kept it the way it is, I think China’s going to be OK with that.”

The United States recognizes only Beijing and does not support formal independence by Taiwan, but historically has stopped short of explicitly saying it opposes independence.

Under US law, the United States is required to provide weapons to Taiwan for its defence, but it has been ambiguous on whether US forces would come to the island’s aid.

Xi had begun the summit with a warning on Taiwan, whose President Lai Ching-te considers the island already independent, making a declaration unnecessary.

Xi told Trump that missteps on the sensitive issue could cause “conflict”.

Referring to comments by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said US policy toward Taipei was unchanged, Taiwan’s foreign ministry thanked the United States for showing “it supports and values Taiwan Strait peace and stability”.

No details on ‘fantastic’ deals

On Friday, Boeing confirmed that China had made an “initial commitment” to buy 200 aircraft, a deal previously announced by Trump. The company said more orders could follow.

Trump also said Beijing would buy American oil and soybeans.

“We’ve made some fantastic trade deals, great for both countries,” he said after a walk with Xi in the gardens of Zhongnanhai, a central leadership compound next to Beijing’s Forbidden City.

“We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve,” Trump added, without providing specifics.

Xi promised to send Trump rose seeds for the White House Rose Garden and said it was a “milestone visit”.

But beyond Boeing, there were no other formal announcements from companies or from China on trade deals.

The reserve on the Chinese side echoes the tone of the summit as a whole, where Trump’s overtures to Xi — whom he described as a “great leader” and “friend” — were met with a more muted response.

“Trump got the optics he was looking for and the Chinese were happy to give them to him,” said Jacob Stokes, a senior fellow at the Centre for a New American Security.

Little on Iran

Trump had delayed the trip once due to the war in Iran, which has rebuffed his appeals for a peace agreement and retaliated by exerting control over the key Strait of Hormuz, sending global oil prices soaring.

Trump said Xi had assured him that China was not preparing military aid to Iran. Israel has alleged that Beijing has provided key missile technology to Tehran.

The Chinese foreign ministry on Friday released a statement on Iran saying “shipping lanes should be reopened as soon as possible”.

Trump also acknowledged that he could not persuade Xi to free Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon whose cause is broadly backed in Washington.

“He told me, Jimmy Lai is a tough one for him to do,” Trump told reporters.

Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the German Marshall Fund’s Indo-Pacific program, noted that Trump had already sounded half-hearted in his public comments on Lai.

“My sense is that the Chinese see that this is not a top priority for the United States,” she said.

“What Trump seems to want most is purchases of American products — that appears to be his highest priority.”

The two leaders had been expected to discuss extending the one-year tariff truce that paused their frenetic 2025 trade war, struck during their last meeting in October.

But Trump told reporters on the way home that it “wasn’t brought up”.

Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested that imprisoned Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai is unlikely to be released, US President Donald Trump said Friday.

Asked about the fate of political prisoners in China following a high-stakes summit in Beijing, Trump said that Xi would “strongly” consider the release of a pastor of an underground church, but that freeing Lai was a “tough one for him to do.”

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One, Trump said of Lai’s fate: “I did bring him up, it’s a tougher one for him, it’s a tougher one.”

Trump added: “He told me, Jimmy Lai is a tough one for him to do.”

Lai, the 78-year-old founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty in December on charges of foreign collusion and seditious publication and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

The sentence was the harshest penalty doled out so far under a national security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing after widespread pro-democracy protests in 2019 and received international condemnation.

Trump added Friday that Xi promised “He’s going to strongly consider the pastor,” referring to Jin Mingri, the founder of a prominent Chinese underground church detained in October in a sweeping national crackdown.

Jin founded the unregistered Zion Church in 2007 in Beijing. It grew to 1,500 members before shuttering in 2018 under pressure from Chinese authorities.

But the church maintained an online presence that flourished during the Covid pandemic, amassing a following across 40 Chinese cities.

Jin was arrested on October 10 on “suspicion of the illegal use of information networks.”

Eric Lai, senior fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law, said that while it was clear that Jimmy Lai’s case was not a priority at the summit, it was still significant that Trump raised it.

“Obviously, the CCP does not compromise on its perception of regime security and they have never changed their attitudes and positioning towards Jimmy Lai and his imprisonment,” he said referring to China’s Communist Party.

“That said, it is also evident that international attention and internal pressure in US society remains essential to the US government keeping an agenda on Jimmy Lai alongside other political prisoners in China,” he added.

What role the Legislative Council (LegCo) should play in our executive-led system continues to spark controversy.  Lawmakers themselves are discussing the issue, which is a healthy sign. 

Central authorities have also spoken indirectly on LegCo’s role.

On January 26, the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office head Xia Baolong pointed out that executive-led government in Hong Kong means that each branch – executive, legislative, and judicial – performs its “own role and cooperates and coordinates with each other.”

According to Article 64 of the Basic Law, LegCo’s role includes holding the government to account. This means asking questions, asking for justification of government action, investigating government actions and inactions, and, when necessary, sanctioning government officials for policy failures.

According to the Powers and Privileges Ordinance (Cap 382), enacted in 1985, with the select and investigation committee system, as well as the system of policy panels, LegCo has the capacity to fulfil its “own role.”

It is precisely how to understand LegCo’s “own role” that has sparked controversy.

First, may LegCo use the tools it has to hold the government to account? The central authorities have condemned the way the opposition in LegCo used these tools after 2010. They call it abuse, citing filibustering and other tactics that delayed legislation.

The record is clear: the fourth- and fifth-term Legislative Councils passed far fewer bills than either before or after. The sixth-term LegCo was heading in the same direction until the government disqualified some opposition lawmakers, and most of the rest resigned.  

Moreover, both the central and the city’s authorities accuse the opposition of abusing LegCo’s powers to investigate, and to summon and inquire – precisely those powers legislators still have and need to hold the government to account.

In this view, the abuse dates from after 2010 when the opposition and representatives of the central government negotiated a deal over political reform in Hong Kong. It has been downhill ever since, according to Beijing. 

From 1985 to 2010, LegCo convened six select or investigation committees, which focused on issues of public concern: the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) operations and staff loyalty, the chaotic Chek Lap Kok airport opening, short piling in public housing, SARS, misselling Lehman-Brothers minibonds, and conflicts of interest in the post-retirement employment of civil servants.

The result: the government changed course and made improvements in public policy.

For example, authorities introduced the Principal Officials Accountability System (POAS) in 2002, which is still with us today. LegCo’s work and the results of an expert committee investigation on the SARS outbreak in 2003-04 better prepared us for the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. These positive results are undeniable. 

Even in the post-2010 period, pressure from LegCo to investigate sometimes had positive results. In 2015, for example, responding to public concern expressed in the legislature, the government established a commission of inquiry into lead in drinking water in some public housing estates. Again, the government changed course. 

Second, authorities tell us that executive-led government means that LegCo and the executive should “cooperate” and “coordinate.” Does this mean that legislators may not criticise government policy? Reporting indicates that many LegCo members perceive this to be the case. 

Remember Chief Executive John Lee’s harsh rebuke of LegCo member Paul Tse’s criticism of government policy in the first “patriots-only” seventh-term LegCo? The chief executive deemed such criticism “dangerous,” similar to the “soft resistance” of the much-criticised opposition and must be “stamped out.”

The few government critics in the seventh-term LegCo all left the body in 2025. 

More recently, consider the Hospital Authority’s (HA) rebuke after LegCo members Gary Chan, Rebecca Chan, and David Lam expressed concerns that residents might not have collected their HA-provided medication because of increased charges. (A sidenote: Rebecca Chan served as a political assistant in the Food and Health Bureau from 2012 to 2017.)

The legislators drew attention to the very figure disclosed by the Health Bureau: that 26,000 public hospital prescriptions were uncollected after the new fee regime was introduced in January. However, rather than listening and investigating, the HA said the remarks were “untruthful.”

The government apparently prefers to send legislators “warm reminders” on many issues of public concern, in effect telling them to shut up. Precisely because no lawmaker spoke up when LegCo deliberated the bus seatbelt issue in September 2025, the policy resulted in a fiasco. 

The public needs a legislature that is engaged, open, and responsibly critical of government action – this is the minimum required to perform its “own role.”

Of course, LegCo should cooperate and coordinate with the government, but to do so should not compromise the legislature’s “own role.”  

Hong Kong needs a middle way for LegCo – somewhere between the dysfunction seen from the 2014 Umbrella Movement through the 2019 protests and a rubber stamp.

We have experienced a middle way, for example, from 1985 to at least 2010.

At the time, as noted above, LegCo investigations played an important role in improving public policy. Hong Kong people value this kind of LegCo role. It benefits the government and the community, building trust and legitimacy. 

Authorities should trust their own gatekeeping in selecting patriotic LegCo members. Many LegCo members seem to understand that they should play a more active role.

The government should realise that it cannot do everything alone. Effective governance is co-produced.

Authorities need to recognise the legitimacy of a middle way, a more authentic role for LegCo. We will all benefit.

A New Zealand passenger from the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship is in hospital quarantine in Taiwan, Taiwanese health authorities said Friday.

The person, who has tested negative for the rare disease and is showing no symptoms, arrived in Taiwan on May 7 after disembarking the cruise ship in Saint Helena on April 24.

Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was informed by New Zealand authorities on Wednesday that the person was in Taiwan, CDC spokeswoman Tseng Shu-hui told AFP.

The person was admitted to hospital the same day and will remain there until June 6, Tseng said.

Tseng declined to provide details about the person’s age, gender or current location in Taiwan.

“At present, we believe their probability of developing the disease is relatively low,” Tseng said.

“Their last exposure with the other passengers was on the 25th (of April), which is about 20 days ago.”

See also: Hong Kong urged to step up rodent checks despite no local residents on hantavirus-hit cruise ship

The virus has a potential incubation period of 42 days.

CDC director-general Lo Yi-chun told reporters that the person did not return to New Zealand after leaving the cruise ship, but he would not provide information on the route they took to Taiwan.

New Zealand’s de facto embassy in Taipei declined to comment.

Health authorities have repeatedly emphasised that the broader risk to public health from the outbreak of the Andes strain of hantavirus — the only one known to spread between people — is low.

Globally, the death toll remains at three.

The ship set sail from Argentina on April 1, charting a course across the Atlantic Ocean.

No vaccines or specific treatments exist, but health officials have said the risk is low and have dismissed comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hong Kong media outlets should “make contributions” to national development by telling “good stories” of the city and China amid geopolitical uncertainties, Chief Executive John Lee has said.

Speaking at the annual Hong Kong News Awards ceremony on Friday, Lee said media practitioners in Hong Kong should aspire to contribute not just to the city’s progress, but also to China’s national development.

He made reference to the “Three Deeds to Immortality,” an ancient Chinese philosophy, and urged media workers to establish “virtue,” “contribution,” and “teaching.”

He said promoting national and city interests should be the core values of those in the media industry, especially amid uncertainties in global politics.

See also: Explainer: Hong Kong’s press freedom under the national security law

“Journalism has great influence and therefore comes with great responsibilities,” Lee said in Cantonese. “Such responsibilities include being impartial, not using news for personal gain, and reporting on accurate and high-quality information for residents.”

Lee said the government is working on Hong Kong’s first five-year blueprint in tandem with China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, a set of policy initiatives outlined by the Chinese Communist Party that has set the stage for the country’s social and economic development since the 1950s.

The 15th Five-Year Plan, announced in March, proposes expediting the development of a “Chinese narrative system,” and enhancing the country’s image on the global stage, Lee said.

“Excellent media workers… should assist Hong Kong in serving the country, connecting to the world, and contributing the power of the news to society and people’s wellbeing,” he said.

Lee has called on Hong Kong’s media sector to tell good stories of the city since he became Chief Executive in 2022. He has made similar remarks during past speeches at the Hong Kong News Awards ceremony, thought this was the first time he directly urged media workers to contribute to China’s development.

Hong Kong has plummeted in international press freedom indices since the onset of the 2020 and 2024 security laws. Watchdogs cite the arrest and jailing of journalists, raids on newsrooms and the closure of around 10 media outlets including Apple Daily, Stand News and Citizen News.