Forbes magazine, which once infamously cited the “Death of Hong Kong” on its cover and later apologized for it, has again struck its poisonous pen into Hong Kong this time at its judiciary.
With the black hand of the Doughty Street Chambers in London, the “international legal team” for Jimmy Lai written all over it, the article likened Lai’s trial to “multiple Kafkaesque trials for fighting for freedom of speech and democracy in Hong Kong.” The author, Dr Ewelina U. Ochab was referring to the trial of Josef K., who was arrested and prosecuted by an incomprehensible legal system without ever knowing the charges against him, as depicted in a book by Franz Kafka, from Prague in the early 1920s.
This is an insult to Hong Kong’s judicial system. Hong Kong practices the common law system, similar to all British Commonwealth countries and the US. In fact, Hong Kong’s legal system is well regarded and in the 2024 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, Hong Kong remained unchanged as it continued to rank sixth in the East Asia and Pacific region and came 23rd out of 142 countries and jurisdictions globally. The judges hearing the Lai trial were recommended by the Chief Justice as being the most experienced in handling national security laws. The legal system is comprehensible, and Jimmy Lai is fully aware of the charges made against him, which includes sedition and collusion with foreign forces.
Ochab made numerous reference to Lai being held in solitary confinement. If she had done her own homework and not rely on the word of the Doughty Street Chambers, she would know that Lai asked to be in solidarity and did not wish to mix with the other inmates. As a devout Catholic he attends mass every Sunday and receives holy communion. As for his health, yes, he is aging and is diabetic. But his local legal team told the court that he receives regular medical treatment and is provided with the necessary medications. The lawyers said they were satisfied with the treatment Lai receives while in custody.
She refers a survey by Doughty Street Chambers that was “chilling” to note that 12 prisoners who died during 2014 – 25 “closely match Mr Lai’s profile, being older, male diabetic prisoners. The most recent death of a diabetic prisoner was on June 28, 2025, of a man aged 74.” And that it was “deeply disturbing” to reveal a significant number of deaths of older prisoners and diabetic prisoners in circumstances where there “appears to have been a failure to identify a person’s deteriorating health condition in prison and a failure to transfer them to hospital in time for life-saving treatment.” This is a load of rubbish, again from the Doughty Street chambers. With a total prison population of 10,184 inmates, it is not surprising that some died of old age. It should also be noted that all penal institutions in Hong Kong have on-premises hospitals and are staffed by qualified healthcare personnel. In collaboration with Medical Officers from the Department of Health, round-the-clock basic health care services are provided in all institutions. Those in custody who need further treatment and investigations are referred to visiting medical specialists or public hospitals for follow-up.
This so-called survey appears to be unpublished but was given exclusively to Ochab for her article by Doughty Street chambers.
The public relations spin Doughty Street chambers has given to Jimmy Lai’s detention has proven effective with practically all western media having fallen for the “innocent” line to a man facing near treason charges. One can only imagine the tone of the coverage once the verdict is delivered.
And it continues. Only recently, Security Secretary Chris Tang wrote to The Economist condemning an article headlined “Jimmy Lai’s trial raises questions about how justice now works.” Similar letters were dispatched since the start of the trial to outlets including CNN, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post . Total fiction appeared in most of the reports. If they were published in Hong Kong, they could be charged with contempt of court as would be the case in any other country.
Mark Pinkstone
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
As Hong Kong has been developing in leaps and bounds, so has its medical services increased to meet local demands.
And with planned new hospitals in the Northern Metropolis along with current expansion and construction development, expertise is expected to increase and the dreaded waiting times for patients will be considerably reduced.
Hong Kong is poised to be the medical centre of Asia.
Currently, Hong Kong has about 36,000 beds in 43 public hospitals and 14 private hospitals. And already they are overcrowded, aided undoubtedly by an increasing aging population. Patients have to wait up to two hours for a consultation in public hospitals and up to a year or more for onward specialised bookings for appointment.
But that is about to change. Opening on December 11 in Tseung Kwan O will be the 400-bed Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong run by the Baptist University under the umbrella of the Health Bureau of the government and not to be confused with the Hospital Authority which runs all public hospitals and clinics in Hong Kong.
This is a major breakthrough for Chinese medicine (CM) to be fully integrated with research into western-Chinese medicines while serving the community. It will be the flagship for the 18 Chinese medicine clinics already operating in all districts in Hong Kong.
In its first year of operation, it will provide only outpatient 25 beds and day-patient services and six specialised CM services – internal medicine, external medicine, gynaecology, paediatrics, orthopaedics and traumatology, and acupuncture and moxibustion. It will also provide 12 special disease programs including those for elderly degenerative diseases and stroke rehabilitation.
Inpatient services will start from late next year, with other services expanding year by year, including the remaining 11 special disease programs. It is expected that by the end of 2030, the hospital will provide full inpatient services with its 400 patient beds, as well as outpatient services of 400 000 annual attendances.
Construction is also well underway and above the foundations for the North District Hospital (NDH) extension in Sheung Shui. The expansion of NDH mainly covers the construction of a new hospital block, refurbishment, alteration and addition to existing hospital building, and the provision of associated internal roadworks as well as external and landscaping works. Upon completion of the expansion project in about 2028, the hospital will provide about 1,500 additional beds, atop of its 680 existing beds.
And then comes the mother of all hospitals: The Northern Metropolis Hospital in Ngau Tam Mei, south of Yuen Long, is developing a new integrated medical teaching and research hospital which will become the flagship hospital of the Northern Metropolis with about 3 000 beds, providing comprehensive healthcare services for the new population in the area.
Last year in his policy address, the Chief Executive John Lee announced plans for developing a new integrated medical teaching and research hospital which will become the flagship hospital of the Northern Metropolis, providing comprehensive healthcare services.
The area is a goldmine for development. Representing about one third of Hong Kong’s total land area, existing agricultural land and fishponds will be turned into a massive hub for international scientific and technical research and development.
In the First Hospital Development Plan, there are three projects in two clusters, including the expansion of North District Hospital, the redevelopment of Prince of Wales Hospital, and the extension of Operating Theatre Block for Tuen Mun Hospital. It is anticipated that a total of 1 950 additional beds and other hospital facilities will be provided by 2031 in the New Territories after the completion of the three projects, bringing the physical bed capacity in the east and west clusters in the New Territories to about 12 000 beds.
Most importantly on the backburner is a decision by the Chief Executive in Council (ExCo) last year that a site of about two hectares be reserved in the San Tin Technopole (between Yuen Long and Sheung Shui) for healthcare facilities “which may include private hospital use.”
A private hospital in the New Territories opens up many possibilities, including medical tourism.
The Chinese medical hospital will draw in many tourists from the mainland and Asia seeking medical help through traditional Chinese and western medicine methods. A tourism hospital situated along the Chinese boundary will boost tourism figures ten-fold.
A case in point is the Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. It is a classic example of how the private sector can benefit in healthcare. Founded in 1980, Bumrungrad International Hospital has been a global pioneer in providing world-class healthcare services and international patient support for nearly four decades. The hospital is an internationally accredited, multi-specialty hospital listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand since 1989. It is, perhaps the largest private hospital in Southeast Asia, caring for more than 1.1 million patients annually from more than 190 countries.
