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監製：Diana Wan
RTHK's English-language current affairs programme that takes "The Pulse" of Hong Kong ... and the world around it.
"The Pulse" is presented by locally and internationally known journalist and writer Steve Vines.
Its focus? The latest events and trends that affect Hong Kong - from the corridors of power and business boardrooms, to the streets and dai pai dongs.
"The Pulse" is politics. What's happening in the Legislative Council and on the streets right now.
"The Pulse" is the media, informing us how well or badly our press and broadcast organisations diagnose and reflect the society around us.
"The Pulse" is insightful, in-depth reports and interviews on current issues - examining those issues in depth, looking behind and beyond the news.
Its focus is on the timely. The Now.
Keep your eye ... and your finger ... on "The Pulse".
If you want to discuss anything you've seen in "The Pulse", or anything in the public eye right now, or just to talk about the show, why not join in the debate on our Facebook page, RTHK's The Pulse.
The programme is aired every Saturday on RTHK 31 & 31A at 18:00, and a repeat on Sundays at 06:30.
Archive available later after broadcast. ** Please note that the programme air-time on TV is different with webcast time.
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最新
LATEST
06/07/2019
Monday was the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s 22nd anniversary, but it wasn’t exactly a day of full-throated celebration. Facing guerrilla-style protests against the extradition bill this year’s ceremony was moved indoors on the pretext of possible bad weather. Chief Executive Carrie Lam made her first appearance in two weeks since apologising for the way the bill was handled. She said she had learned a lesson and would reform her style of governance. Her words didn’t resonate with the half a million protesters who took to the streets later in the day arguably even less so with a harder core of younger protestors who gathered around the legislature.
The leading pollster Robert Chung set up a new institute on July 1st, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute following his departure from the University of Hong Kong. We’ll be talking to him and about his new venture and how for the past 28 years his work has been the bane of those who would rather tell us what the public thinks than listen to it.
That’s it for this week and in fact for this season. The Pulse will take a summer break, but we’ll be back at the end of September. Goodbye.
重溫
CATCHUP
05 - 07
2019
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Be Water Movement; HKUPOP & PORI polls: discussion with Robert Chung
Monday was the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s 22nd anniversary, but it wasn’t exactly a day of full-throated celebration. Facing guerrilla-style protests against the extradition bill this year’s ceremony was moved indoors on the pretext of possible bad weather. Chief Executive Carrie Lam made her first appearance in two weeks since apologising for the way the bill was handled. She said she had learned a lesson and would reform her style of governance. Her words didn’t resonate with the half a million protesters who took to the streets later in the day arguably even less so with a harder core of younger protestors who gathered around the legislature.
The leading pollster Robert Chung set up a new institute on July 1st, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute following his departure from the University of Hong Kong. We’ll be talking to him and about his new venture and how for the past 28 years his work has been the bane of those who would rather tell us what the public thinks than listen to it.
That’s it for this week and in fact for this season. The Pulse will take a summer break, but we’ll be back at the end of September. Goodbye.06/07/2019收看 -
Police use of force: discussion with Amnesty Int'l Roseann Rife & Kenneth Leung; HK teachers teaching in China
This week, as world leaders assemble in Osaka for the G20 Summit, Hong Kong protesters are taking the opportunity to alert the world to what’s happening here. On Wednesday protestors went to petition some consulates from G20 nations. Also this week, a crowd-funded campaign raised more than HK$6 million in less than 12 hours to advertise in international newspapers in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. Beijing however insists that it “will not allow” the G20 to discuss the Hong Kong issue. Meanwhile in Hong Kong itself, questions over the policing of protests remain high on the agenda. With us in the studio are Roseann Rife, East Asia Research Director of Amnesty International and Kenneth Leung, legislator and former member of the Independent Police Complaints Council.
The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was released in February. One of its proposals is to develop the area as an education and talent hub, including allowing teachers from Hong Kong and Macao to teach in Guangdong. A month earlier, China’s Ministry of Education stated that residents of Hong Kong can apply to take the primary and secondary school teacher certification exams previously meant only for mainland Chinese. However, differences between educational models and pay in the two places are significant.29/06/2019收看 -
Extradition bill protests: allegations of HA leaking patients' information to the police & discussion with Willy Lam
As a former British prime minister Harold Wilson famously said - a week in politics is a long time, well, the past week in Hong Kong demonstrates how true that is. Few people believed that it would be possible to exceed the size of a one million strong demonstration, but last Sunday an estimated two million people took to the streets to protest against the government’s extradition legislation. There may be some dispute over the numbers but no one seriously doubts that this was Hong Kong’s largest ever protest. Carrie Lam, her administration, and the police emerged as being the focus for anger over the way this crisis has been handled. Mrs Lam’s attempts at apology have done very little to dampen the fires of criticism either from protesters or indeed from pro-government lawmakers who previously defended the legislation.
Earlier this week, legislator Pierre Chan revealed that the police can access the Hospital Authority’s system to check details of injured protesters who were admitted into the public hospital system, without using any special logins. Also with us in the studio is Willy Lam, Adjunct Professor of the Centre for China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong to talk about the China factor in the extradition bill controversy.
That’s it for this week. We’ll end with a look at last Sunday’s historic march: where as many as one in four of the population were out on the streets, walking, chanting and even singing hymns in ways that only happen in Hong Kong.22/06/2019收看 -
Extradition massive protests & discussion with Margaret Ng
There has been, as everyone must now know, an unprecedented level of criticism aimed at the government’s proposed extradition law amendments. Most unusually it is coming from local and international business organisations, foreign governments, plus legal experts, human rights organisations and people from all walks of life.
Last Sunday, Hong Kong witnessed its biggest ever street protest. And it’s not just Hong Kong that’s wary of the mainland’s judicial system. On Tuesday, a New Zealand court blocked a Korean-born murder suspect’s extradition to China, saying that his human rights could not be guaranteed in the Chinese legal system. China’s foreign ministry has been busy denouncing foreign interference in Hong Kong affairs. State newspapers blame external forces for stoking the fires of opposition. Commenting on the protests on Wednesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam characterised protestors as unruly children who should not be allowed to have their way.
With us to talk about the issue is barrister and former legislator Margaret Ng.15/06/2019收看 -
Extradition bill: discussion with Law Society Mark Daly & 30th anniversary of June 4th
Last Thursday, in the hope of reducing public opposition to its controversial extradition bill, the government announced three main changes. Two of them were in response to proposals from the business community and pro-Beijing lawmakers. Secretary for Security John Lee says these are the final concessions. The Chief Executive Carrie Lam insists that she won’t withdraw the bill because so much work has been done on it. Meanwhile, former governor Chris Patten said in a video statement that the government’s claim that the proposed bill plugged a “legal loophole” was “absolute nonsense”. He also said the changes will “strike a terrible blow against the rule of law”, against Hong Kong’s stability and security, and diminish its status as an international trading hub. With us to talk about the matter is Mark Daly, council member of The Law Society of Hong Kong and well known human rights lawyer.
In the run-up to the 30th anniversary of the June 4th crackdown in 1989, mainland activists, and the Tiananmen Mothers, were forced to take vacations and put under heavy surveillance, and the internet was even more severely censored. The current official line is that the crackdown was a “correct policy” to end “political turbulence”. The Global Times described it as a “vaccination” for Chinese society, an “immunity against any major political turmoil in the future”. In Hong Kong, former Tiananmen Square protest leader Feng Congde was barred from entering the SAR thus preventing him from attending the candlelight vigil. Beijing wants the world to forget; Hongkongers want the world to remember. Organisers say there was a massive turnout of 180,000 people for the candlelight vigil in Victoria Park this year.08/06/2019收看 -
EU UK elections: discussion with Philip Cowley & reporting in South East Asia
Last week, around 51 million people across the European Union went to vote for their representatives in the European Parliament. The elections are held every five years, and across most of Europe the turnout was the highest in two decades, at more than 50%. The results are being seen as an indicator of whether the far-right populist surge has abated. And the conclusions are mixed depending which countries you look at. Overall though, the centre-right and centre-left have come under attack as the Greens and the far-right have gained significant ground. In the UK, which had a lower election turnout at just under 37%, the results provided a short sharp shock for both the Conservative and Labour parties. With us is Philip Cowley, Professor of Politics of Queen Mary University of London to talk about the election results.
In Reporters Without Borders latest World Press Freedom Index, the Asia Pacific region is described as one of the world’s deadliest regions for journalists to work. It’s the region, says the report, with the biggest number of “Predators of Press Freedom”, as journalists try to work under some of the world’s worst dictatorships, authoritarian governments and military rulers. Conditions for journalists in the Philippines are acutely bad as a result increasing efforts by the government to control the media, using a compromised judiciary imposing which has shown itself willing to impose fines and prison sentences on journalists who do not toe the government line. The Philippines is also literally a life threating place for journalists. The situation in Malaysia is less acute but journalists are well aware of the knife edge on which they operate.01/06/2019收看 -
Extradition laws controversy: discussion with James Tien & animal welfare consultation
In April, the government launched a three-month consultation on improving animal welfare in Hong Kong. We’ll look at whether the proposals go far enough to prevent animal cruelty.
The government might give the public three months to comment on animal welfare but a mere 20 days’ worth of consultation was deemed to be sufficient for changing extradition laws for places where there is little or no human rights protection.
Meanwhile –and to no one’s great surprise - Beijing says it fully supports the HKSAR on this matter, adding that people who spread “made-up” fears over the extradition laws are doing so “with an ulterior motive”. With us to discuss the extradition laws controversy is James Tien, Honorary Chair of the Liberal Party.
Many people keep pets for more than just good company, they are also part of the family. A study released in 2016 estimated that 289,000 Hong Kong households have pets. Census and Statistics Department figures also indicate animal ownership has risen 72% over the past decade. The department expects the number of dogs and cats in Hong Kong to reach 545,600 this year. But in a city as crowded and space-restricted as Hong Kong the quality of life for animals, whether as pets, wild animals, or livestock, is far from guaranteed.25/05/2019收看 -
Chaos in Legco Fugitive Offenders Ordinance bills committee: discussion with Paul Tse & Alvin Yeung
Both the Hong Kong and Beijing governments are determined to get legislators to pass the amendment to Hong Kong’s fugitive offender laws. They’ve set a deadline of July to get it done. At the moment pro-government and pan-democratic legislators are deadlocked and unable to start scrutinising the bill. Initially, democrat James To presided over the first two meetings of the bills committee. However, he was unseated by the pro-government camp through a written vote arranged by Legco’s secretariat.
Last Saturday, tussles broke out when both sides held separate meetings to fight for control of the committee. On Tuesday, another scuffle occurred when both sides tried to start their own meetings. Former Legco president Andrew Wong, an expert on Legco’s rules and procedures, has challenged the legality of the secretariat’s involvement and the pro-government lawmakers’ action. On Friday we went to Legco to discuss these matters with legislators Paul Tse and Alvin Yeung.18/05/2019收看 -
The continuing Fugitive Ordinance debate: discussion with Christopher Gane of CUHK & Cedric Alviani of Reporters Without Borders
On the show this week, we continue to discuss the on-going debate of the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance. The highly controversial attempt to amend Hong Kong’s extradition legislation continues with concern centred on the rendition of suspects from the SAR to the Mainland’s judicial system. To discuss the issue are Christopher Gane, Dean of the Faculty of Law of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Cedric Alviani, East Asia Bureau Director of Reporters Without Borders.
11/05/2019收看 -
Interview with Kurt Tong, U.S. Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau
For months, the United States and China have been at loggerheads over issues of trade and technology transfer, highlighted by the controversy over the telecoms company Huawei. Now it looks as though the two countries could be about to announce a trade deal but neither side will officially confirm this. A Chinese delegation will arrive in Washington on Wednesday to ramp up the negotiations. Meanwhile, recent political events in Hong Kong, give rise to concern over whether the United States will still treat Hong Kong as an entity distinct from China under as specified in the Hong Kong Policy Act. On March 21st, the U.S. Department of State released its report on developments in Hong Kong since May last year. One of its key statements is that, “Hong Kong maintains a sufficient – although diminished – degree of autonomy under “One Country, Two Systems”. But the mood is changing and to gauge how far this is so we went to talk to Kurt Tong, the U.S. Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the proposed Fugitive Offenders Ordinance. Again, the difference in turnout estimates by the organiser and the police was huge: 130,000 and 22,800 respectively. There is however common agreement that this was the largest demonstration since the end of the Umbrella Movement three years ago.04/05/2019收看
