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THE WANG REPORT · Friday, September 4, 2026 · HONG KONG
HK Pulse | PULSE 39 SUBDUED | MOOD 54 | HKD 7.8406 peg 9 | mood 40% · peg 30% · HSI 30%


From the desk · Daily take
CK
Tai Po Fire Block Sells: 76% Say Yes To Buyout

Seventy-six percent. That's the number of Wang Fuk Court owners who've now signed off on selling their flats back to the government. You need way less than that to force it through, so this thing is basically done. 156 people died in the fire at the tower in November. The building is coming down, and the families who lived there are about to get a cheque instead of a home.

Here's the part that actually matters for the people in it: nobody's arguing about the price anymore, they're arguing about how fast the cheque clears. RTHK reported this week the government is pressing ahead with the Wang Chi buyout on the same logic, same playbook, different block. When almost everyone says yes to the same number, that's not a negotiation. It reflects families who want to stop living next to where it happened.

Permalink → All takes →
FROM THE HK DESK · WEEKLY COLUMN
CK
No Cap On Companies, Hard Cap On Seats
Hong Kong says there's no cap on ride-hailing licences, but a 10,000-vehicle ceiling means the real fight is over who inherits a black market that already exists.
The Watch-ListFull wire →
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On the Record
OPEN
Uber and/or Didi will submit completed ride-hailing platform licence applications to the Transport Department before the mid-September taxi/ride-hailing combined exam is first sat.
Cheung Kwok Keung · made Aug 30 · horizon mid-September 2026 · In print →
OPEN
The government's 10,000-vehicle ride-hailing permit cap will not be raised despite platform operators arguing for closer to 30,000.
Cheung Kwok Keung · made Aug 30 · In print →
OPEN
The Transport Department will not disclose an allocation method (priority to existing Uber drivers vs. first-come-first-served) for the 10,000 ride-hailing vehicle permits before the mid-September 2026 combined taxi/ride-hailing exam begins.
Cheung Kwok Keung · made Aug 30 · horizon 2026-09-15 · In print →
OPEN
No ride-hailing or taxi operator will be fined for unlicensed operation before August 2027, when full penalties take effect.
Cheung Kwok Keung · made Aug 30 · horizon 2027-08-01 · In print →
OPEN
Sterling I's second batch registrations will fall well short of 47,000 if China Resources shrinks the discount from the first round.
Cheung Kwok Keung · made Aug 23 · horizon Sterling I second-batch sale, within weeks of 2026-08-23 · In print →
OPEN
The Development Bureau's September blueprint will not include a household-level date by which people on the current public housing waiting list will receive a key.
Cheung Kwok Keung · made Aug 16 · horizon 2026-09-30 · In print →
OPEN
The Housing Department will not announce any review of transfer priority for flagged neighbour disputes as a result of the Upper Wong Tai Sin Estate stabbing.
Cheung Kwok Keung · made Aug 9 · horizon 2026-09-09 · In print →
OPEN
The Huanggang crossing will not open to commuters by the previously floated September 2026 target.
Cheung Kwok Keung · made Aug 2 · horizon 2026-09-30 · In print →
Calls this desk has made in print, against a named horizon. Each is owned, confirmed, or eaten in print when the horizon arrives.
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