PRESS DIGEST - Hong Kong - Sept 5
HONG KONG, Sept 5 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
-- Some senior mainland cadres believe it would be wrong to grant Hong Kong universal suffrage unless tight restrictions are imposed and that the decision in 2007 to allow "one man, one vote" in 2017 was unwise, a local source familiar with Beijing's policies on Hong Kong says. (http://bit.ly/1rP7lDn)
-- Taiwanese activists helping the Occupy Central movement have vowed to push the island's legislature to speed up deliberations on a bill that would offer political asylum to any Hongkongers persecuted because of their fight for democracy. (http://bit.ly/1rP7eaI)
-- The central government published a list of shipyards that will be given preferential policy treatment in the severely oversupplied industry. China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings, which has just suffered a fresh order cancellation from a Greek shipowner because of delivery delays, was one of those on the list. (http://bit.ly/1lKBukT)
THE STANDARD
-- Workplace discrimination levels in Hong Kong are alarming and the most common form is ageism, says a study authorized by the Equal Opportunities Commission. (http://bit.ly/1txjj4d)
-- Tobacco tax must rise by at least 57 percent if Hong Kong is to achieve a single-digit smoking rate in under a decade. That is the call from anti-smoking lobbyists and Hana Ross, managing director of the American Cancer Society's International Tobacco Control Research. (http://bit.ly/1qinJcZ)
-- The Securities and Futures Commission issued a license to China's largest credit rating agency, allowing the firm to practice in Hong Kong. Dagong Global Credit Rating (Hong Kong) is bracing itself for the booming rating demand amid the popularity of dim sum bonds as China-related trade grows, chief executive Brian McCullough said. (http://bit.ly/WiegWS)
HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL
-- About 1,200 new flats were sold in Hong Kong in August, generating HK$13.6 billion ($1.75 billion). Both figures were down 28 percent as compared to July. Of which Sun Hung Kai Properties sold HK$2.16 billion worth of new flats in August, Cheung Kong generated HK$2.07 billion and Sino Land was at HK$1.6 billion.
MING PAO DAILY NEWS
-- Hong Kong-based jewellery group Prince Jewellery & Watch plans to trim its network in Hong Kong amid weak luxury spending, closing three shops in tourist areas in Causeway Bay and Tsimshatsui in upcoming future, and expected to save HK$4 million ($516,115) in rent a month, according to Chief Executive Jimmy Tang.
APPLE DAILY
-- Hong Kong Federation of Students has urged all university and college students in the city to boycott classes for a week beginning Sept. 22 to fight for democracy.
For Chinese newspapers, see............... (1 US dollar = 7.7502 Hong Kong dollar) (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
