Evening News on TV32 - Oct 31

RTHK - Oct 31, 2026

Top stories for Saturday, Oct 31, 2026 - Finance chief Paul Chan says Hong Kong could record its strongest full-year economic growth in five years. - Police arrest 58 people, including minors, in an anti-triad operation. - Halloween celebrations are in full swing, here and around the world.

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China narrows the path to elite official training scheme for citizens graduating overseas

China is further narrowing access to a key government recruitment programme for overseas-educated graduates, limiting their pathways into the country’s civil service and party-state system. More than a dozen provincial-level regions, including Beijing and Shanghai, opened applications for the 2027 xuandiaosheng recruitment rounds in September and October. Xuandiaosheng, or the “selected graduates” system, is designed to select and train university graduates to become elite cadres and officials...

China narrows the path to elite official training scheme for citizens graduating overseas

Chinese archaeologists set for hi-tech excavations with AI and deep-sea robots

Chinese archaeologists are set for a hi-tech turn, with the latest five-year blueprint aiming to deploy AI and deep-sea robots to trace Chinese history, decipher the origins of East Asian humans and expand the country’s cultural soft power. Scientists will develop technologies such as remote sensing, ancient DNA analysis, underwater archaeology robots and artificial intelligence (AI) models for virtual restoration of excavated artefacts, according to the 15th five-year work plan for...

Chinese archaeologists set for hi-tech excavations with AI and deep-sea robots

Soft power on display as China’s first lady Peng Liyuan hosts German counterpart

Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan hosted her German counterpart, Elke Budenbender, in Beijing on Friday for a tea reception in a bid to showcase Beijing’s soft power and foster closer bilateral ties. Peng stressed the rich cooperation with Germany in areas including education and culture, according to official news agency Xinhua. She also expressed hope that people from the two countries would “visit each other more often, continuously deepen mutual understanding and foster closer people-to-people...

Soft power on display as China’s first lady Peng Liyuan hosts German counterpart

Wine and Dine Festival vendors report Halloween boost in sales and footfall

Vendors at Hong Kong’s Wine and Dine Festival reported a stronger turnout and signs of improving business on Saturday as the annual event entered its first weekend, coinciding with Halloween celebrations and extended opening hours until 1am. Some exhibitors said visitor numbers had increased noticeably compared with the first two days of the four-day festival, while others expressed cautious optimism about sales amid a challenging retail environment. Henry Leung, a staff member at food and...

Wine and Dine Festival vendors report Halloween boost in sales and footfall

Is Beijing’s 2027 military milestone now a US readiness deadline over Taiwan?

America’s push for 2027 combat readiness in the Indo-Pacific is raising questions over whether a year that US military officials linked to a possible People’s Liberation Army attack on Taiwan has instead become a planning benchmark. The preparations come despite a US intelligence assessment published in March that mainland Chinese leaders “do not currently plan” to attack Taiwan in 2027, “nor do they have a fixed timeline for achieving unification”. General Ronald Clark, commander of US Army...

Is Beijing’s 2027 military milestone now a US readiness deadline over Taiwan?

With ‘Kissinger moment’ over, US and China urged to foster new ‘bridge builders’

Beijing and Washington have been urged to foster a new generation of talent to bridge gaps between the countries and strengthen people-to-people exchanges amid growing frictions and concerns about a lack of China expertise in the US. Academics and experts from the two countries gathered in Shanghai on Friday at the China-US Intergenerational Dialogue 2026. They were seeking a new crop of “bridge builders” like Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state who helped to engineer the historic...

With ‘Kissinger moment’ over, US and China urged to foster new ‘bridge builders’

China places former Sinopec and CNOOC boss Fu Chengyu, 75, under corruption probe

Fu Chengyu, the former chairman of leading oil giants Sinopec and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), is under investigation for corruption by the country’s top watchdogs. The Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) was investigating Fu for alleged “serious violations of discipline and law”, a euphemism for corruption, state news agency Xinhua reported on Saturday, quoting a notice posted on the commission’s website. He is “currently undergoing...

China places former Sinopec and CNOOC boss Fu Chengyu, 75, under corruption probe

Halloween revellers told to avoid Lan Kwai Fong as crowds pack streets

Hong Kong’s inaugural “Halloween Month” has been a boon for businesses, with bar and restaurant operators in Lan Kwai Fong expecting big sales on Saturday, but by 7.30pm police were urging revellers to celebrate elsewhere as the area was packed. With Halloween falling on a weekend this year, businesses were expecting a bumper turnout as the Tourism Board’s inaugural campaign for the celebrations wrapped up. Operators noted a surge in visitors from mainland Chinese cities in the Greater Bay...

Halloween revellers told to avoid Lan Kwai Fong as crowds pack streets

Hong Kong may raise GDP forecast as growth headed for 5-year high: Paul Chan

Hong Kong’s annual economic growth may hit a five-year high, the finance chief has said, raising the possibility of an upward revision to the current forecast of 3.5 to 4.5 per cent for 2026. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Saturday that coming third-quarter figures indicated sustained momentum, noting the economy grew by 5.1 per cent in the first half over a year earlier. “Although the third-quarter figures have not yet been released, I can share that exports remained very strong in...

Hong Kong may raise GDP forecast as growth headed for 5-year high: Paul Chan

Once shunned, prisons become sought-after facilities for local communities

Prisons, once widely regarded as undesirable facilities, are now drawing competition from local governments seeking to revive shrinking communities and struggling economies. Seven municipal governments are competing to host four new correctional facilities as part of the Ministry of Justice’s first nationwide competitive bidding process for prison sites. The ministry launched a nationwide call for applications on Aug. 28, marking the first time it has used a competitive bidding process to select sites for new correctional facilities. Previously, sites were chosen through consultations between the ministry and local governments. Under the new system, municipalities must seek residents' input and obtain approval from their local councils before submitting bids. The four planned facilities will each have a capacity of 1,000 inmates and employ around 250 staff members. Seven local governments have joined the race, including the counties of Yeongyang, Cheongsong, Yeongdeok and Uiseong in North Gyeongsang Province, the city of Jecheon and Boeun County in North Chungcheong Province and Jeongse

Once shunned, prisons become sought-after facilities for local communities

Korea expands benefits for retired working dogs to help them find forever homes

Korea is stepping up its efforts to help retired working dogs find forever homes by building a comprehensive, state-funded safety net designed to ease the steep financial burden on adoptive families. Under an expanded initiative led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the government is introducing direct medical subsidies, discounted veterinary care, and dedicated hospice facilities to ensure these canine public servants are cared for after their service ends. Roughly 1,100 working dogs currently serve across six government bodies, including the military, police, fire services, customs and quarantine inspection. Among them, the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency alone operates approximately 70 specialized detector dogs at key international travel hubs. For years, private adoption for retired working dogs faced steep hurdles. Specialized breeds like beagles, Labradors, and Malinois typically retire around age 8 after six to eight years of active duty. Upon retirement, adoptive owners are left with high medical costs for joint issues, dental problems and chronic ailment

Korea expands benefits for retired working dogs to help them find forever homes

'Assume everything is being recorded': Korea's Gen Z rewrites the rules of office life

"Whenever you talk to an employee in their 20s, it's probably best to assume the entire conversation is being recorded." It is a warning increasingly shared among Korean managers in their 40s and 50s as they try to make sense of a generation of young employees whose workplace habits can seem baffling — and sometimes unsettling — to their bosses. Some older managers see low loyalty to the company and a lack of respect for senior colleagues. Gen Z workers, however, see something very different: a desire for clear communication, boundaries between work and private life and relationships based less on hierarchy. From recording conversations with bosses and avoiding unnecessary apologies to skipping team lunches and continuing to use honorific speech even with close colleagues, young Koreans are quietly rewriting some of the unwritten rules that have long governed the country's offices. Why record a conversation with your boss? For some middle managers, discovering that a young employee is recording a conversation without saying anything can be uncomfortable. Some even wonder whether the em

'Assume everything is being recorded': Korea's Gen Z rewrites the rules of office life

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