DATELINE HONG KONG            MAIN

Face-saving finale to seven years of stagnation

Macau's success sealed chief executive's fate

Asia Hits The Jackpot

Blackjack in Singapore? Poker in Pyongyang? Casino operators are hoping to cash in on gambling’s new frontier

Battling the new millennium bug

This Virus Won't Stop

Dead Air

Cough up

I.T. Takes a Village

Hong Kong's plan for a new cyber-tech center looks to many like an old-fashioned, cozy property deal

Richard Li's 'Killer App'
The deal's real appeal: broadband

Overseas Chinese series

The Invisible Powerhouse of Asia

Fuzhou

THE six Chinese police banging at the hotel room door on Saturday night were clearly not out to improve their English.

The Most Cosmopolitan Of Chinese Communities

Hong Kong

If it weren't for the empty polystyrene noodle lunchboxes, it could have been a mining site in deepest darkest Pilbara.

Booming On The Front Line

Xiamen

WHEN your government decides to hurl missiles from your back yard, it's no surprise that the neighbours expect an explanation.

Flexibility A Chinese Key To Success

Ipoh

"Beautiful Alice Springs: for a little touch of Aussie!" Illustrated by hectares of green pastures and gambolling kangaroos, the roadside hoarding hawking a new housing development outside the old Malaysian tin-mining centre of Ipoh promoted an image of Australia not immediately obvious to most Australians.

Bad Debt Good News For Doctor Doom

Hong Kong

Hong Kong's Doctor Doom, Marc Faber, must be the only person in the world who's bullish about North Korea.

Sinister Role for China's News Agency

For the past few years Hongkongers have been bopping to a cheeky song titled "Queens Road East". A catchy rhythm from the usual clean-cut songster, the tune seems no different from the hundreds of jingles that crank out of the colony's awesome Canto-pop machine.

The Addiction that Threatens Asia

Molotov Chen of Taipei is in no doubt what poses the biggest threat to Asia's future. North Korea's Kim Il Sung threatening nuclear Armageddon on South Korea? Exploding stockmarkets? China's Balkanisation?

Hong Kong's Bumper Prices Drive Business Away

If any evidence were needed that Hong Kong has become a market not of this particular capitalist world, look no further than this car parking space. The space, about the size of the average Australian suburban living room, was recently sold for $HK4 million - almost $800,000.

Rear Window in Hong Kong

The biggest noise heard in Hong Kong this week is neither the rattling of China nor the rehearsals for the dual fireworks spectaculars marking the transfer tonight and tomorrow.

Rear Window in Hong Kong

What is the definition of optimism in Hong Kong? Try the change of colour at Jardine Matheson, the oldest and most hated of the Hong Kong trading companies.

Rear Window In Hong Kong 

The partying that marked the world's biggest Chinese take-away is drawing to a close, after last night's massive karaoke party (pictured right) and Tuesday's departure of the Perfidious Poms.

Seventy-six And Not Out For An Old China Hand

Pukka Pillars Come Tumbling Down

HONG KONG'S POWERBROKER IS OUR BENEFACTOR

In theE rarified air of his art gallery, it's difficult to imagine Hong Kong billionaire Tsui Tsin-tong, Gordon Gekko-immaculate in braces and starched white shirt, rummaging through the back alleys of a sweaty Hong Kong flea market.

Suzie Wong in Plastic

Whatever a reporter does in the daily line of work, it's best not to announce that you're undertaking an article about the blow-up -PVC-doll-and-sex-gadgets industry.

The Only Place To Cash In Your Chips

Imagine a bank that won't bounce your cheques, that issues unlimited credit and doesn't ask for references or repayment; a bank that doesn't charge fees and whose manager always says yes. Welcome to the Bank of Hell.

Shades Of Yesteryear Lure Wok 'n' Roll Stars

The young Hong Kong taxi driver dressed in streetwise clothes and Ray-Ban sunglasses looks the epitome of cool. But the dated music pumping from his stereo would bring a grin to Australia's new wave of entrepreneurs.

Botha denies reports that he complained about blacks on flight

South African Foreign Minister Roelof (Pik) Botha has denounced as "vicious lies and malicious propaganda" reports of a skirmish on a recent Cathay Pacific flight in which he allegedly sought to eject black Nigerian men from the plane's first-class section.