Former top Hong Kong official says he took payoff from Beijing

Hong Kong’s former chief secretary Rafael Hui told the territory’s high court on Tuesday that he had secretly received a HK$11 million (RMB8.709 million) payment “from Beijing” in 2007 via an intermediary, Reuters reported, citing local public broadcaster RTHK. He told the court that the payment had been facilitated by Liao Hui, former head of China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing. Hui said he’d declined Liao’s request in 2007 that he stay in his post longer, saying he’d prefer a higher-paying private sector job. Hui said he was told around half a year later by former stock exchange official Francis Kwan that “someone from Beijing” had made money available, which he accepted.