The Hongkong News Online, printed on the abandoned presses of the South China Morning Post, offers  an unfiltered view of the voice and mindset of the Japanese administration during the occupation of  Hongkong. It started publication on December 31, 1941, six days after the Christmas Day surrender of the British Crown Colony and lasting until August 17, 1945, the day the Shōwa Emperor’s rescript ordered Japanese forces to surrender to the Allies.

This collection comprises over 5,000 full-text-searchable pages from the SOAS (University of London) holdings, tracing Japan’s trajectory from imperial overlord to abject defeat while covering large-scale internment, wartime propaganda, assurances of certain victory, and Japan’s specific vision for a Japanese-led East Asia, providing a rare, "unvarnished" look into the Japanese administration’s mindset.

The collection begins with volume 30; the first 29 volumes likely never existed or have not survived, as the newspaper initially functioned as a "shell publication" prepared in anticipation of the imminent Japanese occupation from September 1941.

Noted: Access is limited to viewing files only during the trial.

Expiry date: 31 May 2026