UK considers FOI clampdown as requests soar Moves to tighten system likely to be met with resistance from campaigners

‘UK considers Freedom of Information clampdown as requests soar’ @financialtimes.com | giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

A new documentary history of Hong Kong 1945–1997 Published in The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs and Policy Studies (Vol. 114, No. 3, 2025)

Pleased to read this positive review by Stephen Vines of our edited volume 𝘈 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘋𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘒𝘰𝘯𝘨: “At a time when Hong Kong’s history is under siege [...] a book which helps to preserve the record is to be welcomed.” doi.org/10.1080/0035...

My thesis is now available to view in full and open access here etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/38...

Thank you, Andrew! I am, of course, including everyone at Churchill Archives Centre amongst those to whom I am grateful!

Matthew Hurst holding his PhD thesis in front of a bookshelf.

I have passed my PhD viva with no corrections for my thesis, ‘Hong Kong People and the Sino-British Joint Declaration’. I am grateful to my supervisors, examiners, funders including WRoCAH and the dozens of people who have helped and supported me on my PhD journey.

On 5 March, I will present a new paper at @cammbhw.bsky.social titled 'Racism and Imperial Retreat', examining the impact of British anti-non-white immigration sentiment on the Conservative government's negotiation of HK nationality rights. For more info, sign up to lists.cam.ac.uk/sympa/info/h...

Jimmy Lai jailing: UK opens door to 1000s more Hongkongers London has opened the door for thousands more Hongkongers to move to Britain in light of the jailing of media tycoon Jimmy Lai.

London has opened the door for thousands more Hongkongers to move to Britain in light of the jailing of media tycoon Jimmy Lai. In full: buff.ly/xhNFtqu

America is learning from the Chinese model of inflating box office numbers for patriotic films by organising mandatory viewings for government/SOE employees.

In more promising HKU news, the School of Chinese is also launching a new Master of Arts in Hong Kong Culture Studies.

It is "the first postgraduate programme devoted to HK Cultural Studies, emphasizing humanities disciplines such as language, literature, cinema, media, and creative industries."

Hong Kong shareholder activist David Webb dies aged 60 | Hong Kong Free Press HKFP By Holmes Chan David Webb, a Hong Kong activist investor who campaigned for market transparency and democratic accountability, died on Tuesday aged 60, according to a statement posted on his social media....

David Webb, a Hong Kong activist investor who campaigned for market transparency and democratic accountability, died on Tuesday aged 60, according to a statement posted on his social media. In full: buff.ly/1WFZY7N

Printed thesis titled: 'Hong Kong People and the Sino-British Joint Declaration, 1978-1984'.

Screenshot showing a thesis having been uploaded.

Today, I submitted my PhD for examination. Across 1,206 days, innumerable individuals have supported me with conversations, archival access, interviews, funding, opportunities and supervision - I thank you all. Following viva and corrections, the final version should be available later this year.

... (Closure extended cont'd) FCO 40/1855, FCO 40/1856, FCO 40/1857, FCO 40/1858, FCO 40/1861, FCO 40/1884, FCO 40/1890 and FCO 40/1895
(3/3)

Opened: FCO 40/1823 and FCO 40/1841
Closure extended: FCO 40/1836, FCO 40/1837, FCO 40/1838, FCO 40/1839, FCO 40/1840, FCO 40/1842, FCO 40/1843, FCO 40/1844, FCO 40/1845, FCO 40/1846, FCO 40/1847, FCO 40/1853, FCO 40/1854...
(2/3)

Each new year brings a tranche of record openings at The National Archives. However, following reassessment in 2025, most of the files pertaining to the future of Hong Kong that had been scheduled for 1 Jan 2026 release have been given extended closure periods, all but one withheld until 2049.
(1/3)

The Commissioner considers it unacceptable for a government department’s compliance with the timeliness obligations of FOIA to be so far removed from the law set by parliament and his minimum expected standard for compliance, as well as the average performance for that sector. As the data in Annex 4 demonstrates the FCDO’s performance has been at such a level for a number of years and the Commissioner’s previous interventions and engagements with the FCDO have not led to sustainable improvements, but have demonstrated that better performance has been possible when sufficient focus has been applied to this area. The Commissioner agrees with recent comments by the First-tier Tribunal that compliance with the statutory timetable is vital and that “Significant delays can cause real difficulties to applicants, who often need information within a particular period of time for important reasons”.

The ICO has issued an enforcement notice against the FCDO because of its persistently "unacceptable" delays in processing FOI requests and its failure to improve properly, despite the ICO's previous more limited interventions.

Good - the FCDO's track record on FOI is terrible.

Matthew Hurst delivering a lecture

Matthew Hurst delivering a lecture

Delivered a guest lecture to students at @ucl.ac.uk based on my recent paper, ‘Hong Kong Colonial Government Migrated Archives at Hanslope Park’, published open access in @jich.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The British Academy's response to the Autumn Budget The British Academy has responded to the Autumn Budget (26 November 2025)

"Today’s Budget was an opportunity for the government to offer further detail and clarity on the state and finances of the higher education sector, building on the recent White Paper."

Read our response to the Autumn Budget in full: https://bit.ly/4rs7bCc

Two full PhD scholarships in Hong Kong history at the University of Bristol:
www.hkhistory.net/2025/11/17/h...

I had the privilege of speaking to Points Media 棱角 about the 88,000 colonial-era Hong Kong Government files that remain withheld by the UK Government points-media.com/%e9%a6%99%e6...

Based on my recent paper published open access in @jich.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/0308...

Restricted Records: How Hong Kong Communities Lose Out When Archives Stay Closed Britain colonised Hong Kong in the 19th century through two treaties, which lasted in perpetuity, and a lease, set to expire in 1997. Much research into Hong Kong’s colonial history relies upon rec…

In today’s post, Matthew Hurst explores Hong Kong’s colonial history and ongoing challenges accessing archives. This post is written in conversation with two previous posts by June Chow.

Hong Kong diaspora communities are inhibited in accessing their city’s colonial history, I argue in my blog post for @activehist.bsky.social activehistory.ca/blog/2025/11...

Based on my paper in @jich.bsky.social (open access) doi.org/10.1080/0308...

1,000+ views in less than 4 weeks!

Delighted to see that my paper ‘Hong Kong Colonial Government Migrated Archives at Hanslope Park’ has reached over 1,000 views just 26 days after its publication.

Published open access in @jich.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/0308...

Weekly Wanderings: October 26, 2025 Thanks for joining me this week. Recommendations China Stories Chris Buckley, “In China, a Forbidden Question Looms: Who Leads After Xi?” Control over history has been exercised to an even greater …

“What’s the Trump Administration’s End Game for the National Parks?” This and other stories—on succession questions in China, the accessibility of Hong Kong's colonial archives, an Indonesian national cookbook, and more—in today's Weekly Wanderings post.

Memory Exiled Matthew Hurst explores the 'politics of forgetting' through the missing files of the Hong Kong colonial archive.

In 2011 the British Government was forced to release tens of thousands of secretly held colonial documents from its archives. But 88,000 files on Britain's last colony remain withheld from the public.

Matthew Hurst (@mrmhurst.bsky.social) on Hong Kong's colonial archive.

My piece for @historyworkshop.org.uk reflects on the politics of forgetting, detailing how Hong Kong’s displaced colonial archives have exiled memory to the metropole www.historyworkshop.org.uk/empire-decol...

Based on my paper in @jich.bsky.social (open access) www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

“officials often destroyed or doctored countless files in an effort to uphold the Empire’s glorious image…. One former British colony has, however, remained absent from the literature: Hong Kong”

- @mrmhurst.bsky.social

@jich.bsky.social

imperialglobalexeter.com/2025/10/16/d...

In my post for Imperial & Global Forum (@exeter.ac.uk), I compare how different colonial governments handled records towards the end of the British Empire imperialglobalexeter.com/2025/10/16/d...

Based on my paper in 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 (OA) doi.org/10.1080/0308...

'Once they are made public, these Hong Kong records will be invaluable to historians of Hong Kong, China and the British Empire. This cannot come soon enough.'

This is a fascinating article, full of detail, for anyone interested in access to government records and processes for their preservation

Hong Kong Colonial Government Migrated Archives at Hanslope Park Following the revelation in 2011 that the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office was sitting on the migrated archives of dozens of colonial governments, almost 20,000 files were transferred from s...

Just released and #OpenAccess, have a read of the article 'Hong Kong Colonial Government Migrated Archives at Hanslope Park' by Matthew Hurst: doi.org/10.1080/0308...