HONG KONG, Aug 5 (Reuters) - These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
-- Academics have warned that efforts to root out graft could trigger a backlash from corrupt "tigers" who might be prepared to "fight to the end". The warning was contained in a series of articles about the anti-graft campaign written by a group of 13 academics, published in the People's Tribune, a magazine affiliated with People's Daily. (http://bit.ly/1ugMlm1)
-- Media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has maintained close ties with right-wing politicians in the United States, according to documents leaked to the media. The documents, mostly email exchanges between Lai's top aide Mark Simon and others, were sent to major news outlets on Monday by the same person who last month leaked information about Lai's donations to Hong Kong politicians. (http://bit.ly/1zP6DWO)
-- The rise of mainland cities and Beijing's opening up of the capital account does not spell doom for Hong Kong, says Norman Chan Tak-lam, chief executive of Hong Kong's de facto central bank. (http://bit.ly/1tPSbNN)
THE STANDARD
-- A change in procedures intended to speed up applications for Canadian citizenship could see a huge rise in the number of Hong Kong residents wishing to migrate, a consultant said. Under the new immigration law, which came into effect on Aug. 1, the processing time for citizenship applications to Canada will be reduced to less than a year from two to three years by the end of 2015. (http://bit.ly/1ugNlXr)
-- Turnover of Hong Kong home sales soared 70 percent to HK$57.1 billion ($7.37 billion) last month from June and 172.1 percent from a year earlier, government data showed. The Land Registry received 7,792 sale and purchase agreements for residential units, up 30.7 percent from June and 95.5 percent higher than a year back. (http://bit.ly/1o7BD1J)
-- China's local government debt reached 11 trillion yuan ($1.78 trillion) by June 2013, of which 2.4 trillion yuan is due by the end of this year, data released by the National Audit Office showed. (http://bit.ly/1ugNTwn)
HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL
-- Jewellery retailer Hong Kong Resources Holdings Co Ltd said its talks on cooperating with a movie and television production company has been terminated and the proposed cooperation will not proceed.
-- Longfor Properties Co Ltd maintained its annual sales target at 57 billion yuan this year, and the company has so far only achieved 42.5 percent of the full year target, according to Chief Executive Shao Mingxiao.
HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES
-- Chinese menswear retailer Fujian Nuoqi Co Ltd, which said earlier that it was unable to contact its chief executive, announced that the company is unable to make the payment of a final dividend as originally scheduled to be distributed on Aug. 5, and the dividend payment is under review.
For Chinese newspapers, see............... ($1 = 7.7497 Hong Kong Dollars) ($1 = 6.1780 Chinese Yuan) (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
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