It might but it should not. There are enough open minded prospective PhD supervisors. Just apply and do not think of it as basic hurdle.

Hello. I am not going to answer all questions as some of them I personally ask also :).

Absolutely no. I had my Master 10 years after Bachelor. Age does not play any role. 40 is not too old (I am above 40 and still think of a part time PhD).

First, I am thinking of doing exactly like you but I would try to answer anyway. Short answer, there is not that much time. 4 years is tight for full time students. For part time, would be tighter especially if motivation is lost.

I would say at least 5 hours with full concentration per week. Preferably 10 hours.

I am in the same boat like you. I wonder if I should really do it and sacrifice the valuable time to do it? Would it be wiser to spend that much time on improving at work or to develop a hobby? Is it anyway better to spend time to do a PhD other than just passing time for nothing? Difficult questions I ask myself. I wish you all the best.

A late reply but it might help. Yes, if the group is performing well and there is a few number of PhD student/postdocs in comparison with similar group, I would ring the alarming bells. Collaboration will definitely help. It might be insufficient but better than nothing. You can detect possible a**holes. Asking other lab member might help. They might be honest. The worst you can get is not getting info which is already the case now.
I heard of a group which was a "crazy" professor and only a single PhD student. I think you do not want this. Also one fast first class professor in my field was known to be an a**holes. Despite him being close to one of my favourite cities around the world, I would never consider working with him.

Thinking there are plenty of opportunities there because you have one is not helping. Believing that what happens to others cannot happen to you is wrong.
I would prefer to take a wider look of what is going there and what are my opportunities comparing myself with peers with equivalent qualifications and the available opportunities. Are the opportunities by any means in academia sufficient to accommodate well-qualified candidates? If someone stands as an average or slightly above average, he/she should be then very careful.

Hello. Do not feel sorry for yourself. It is the cruel academia not you. You definitely deserve better. Keep on applying for real positions in academia and everywhere else. The only way to get out of this is to apply everywhere and keep applying until you have a "real concrete" job offer that somehow satisfies your goals. I wish you all the best.

Ok. Now the situation is completely different. If you have two offers, absolutely, it is wise to compare. Put also in comparison the prospective supervisors. If possible, try to see review about them not only their research output but also how they deal with PhD students.
If you feel that you deserve your offer and you are grateful at the same time, then you have the right attitude. I just warn you because I have seen some PhD students who think they are the gift of heaven to the lab. I do not want you to fall in this trap. Appreciating what you have and still feeling qualified for it is a difficult but a helpful mixture.
If I were you, I would go with my gut feeling. The difference in money does not matter much if you would be able to pay your bills. The reputation of the lab will not make a big difference. The project, supervisors and your personal gut feeling are more important especially for people who passionate and emotional. I personally follow my gut feeling and passion and recommend everyone to do this unless it is really crazy.
Whatever your decision is, do not regret it and close the page of the rejected offer and move on.

Hello. You may have to set priorities first. Which is more important? moving to the West or carrying your research and obtain a PhD?
In my opinion, it is not impossible to have a PhD from Hong Kong and find a post in Europe. Although in continental Europe finding a Postdoc is ways difficult than finding a PhD.
Do you plan to live in Europe forever? are you looking for a "new" home country? If this is the case, I would recommend you to research the prespectives in all your destination countries and check whether you really need a PhD or not. Also take care of what residence permit opportunities available if you want to pursue MPhil.
If you want to go for an nice couple of years adventure in Europe, then you can finish your PhD and then look for opportunities.

Hello. I do not like normally to be hard but unfortunately, I have to be.
You don't get how the way life is. Thinking that you always deserve better is wrong at the first place. There is a narrow borderline between being ambitious and being ungrateful. Life does not owe anyone anything. No one gets the dream project in his/her dream city. A good PhD position in a nice city is a dream of many qualified graduates. I know personally Master graduates who sent tons of applications to get a PhD in a close related field and they were not successful.
Regarding the lab and the supervisors, if you quit, you won't bother them at all. They are enough qualified PhD students waiting for your chance. If you quit now, it is even better for them.
Now comes my advice. First appreciate what you have. Start your PhD. Work and finish it. But if you start feeling you do it for the sake of pity to the lab or you feel you are sacrificing for them, there will be nothing good coming out of this.

Again, sad but still normal. Promises made by academics do not count. As said by rewt, funding is the key. No funding means no PhD. Is your topic good enough for them to sepend their funding? Be carefull when professors have "real" funding, they sometimes change their minds and decide to advertise for a PhD to choose from many candidates rather than accpeting one. THey say many things but when it comes to money, everything can change.

Hello. From my own experience and experience of aquantances who apply for PhD, it is not unusual. Any reply you get from them, might be the last communication and he might not reply again forever. Scary? yes but unfortunately true. This is typical. If you are their student, this behaviour is going to change a little. At least you can come to their office. But now is the real problem to convince them to supervise you "in real actions" not just nice words. Of course funding plays the dominant role here. They might see you as a good candidate but not good enough to spend their fund, if they have any.
In conclusion, just wait. Continue sending follow up mails but without getting hopes high. Try with other professors in same or another university.
I am usually optimistic but I do not want to give you a false hope. This is how academia is. Finding someone who is interested to supervise you is good. It means you have a good CV and a good chance to advance in your career either getting a PhD or work somewhere else. But getting a real paid PhD position is completely different thing.
I wish you all the best. Just try and follow up and do not give up.

First, I would encourage you to go ahead with both decisions. You know it. There is no perfect time to have a baby.
Second, Some universities hire you as a research assistant and you have a double status as an employee and a student. Do you have already an offer? If so, you can ask directly. There is no shame about it. The other case is that you are a student and get a stipend. Usually stipends are less money.
I think you will not be the first person to do this. One year gap is reasonable and should not affect your return. It is very unlikely that this causes administrative problems but some supervisors may not like it but it is your decision at the end.

Congratulations for the yayyy part. Did you send them a reminder so they replied or they did alone?
Let us hope you will not need to send any reminder this time.

I had a Master by research. In my case, the external did not reply for two months then uni has to assign a new external. After two months, you start to worry. It is still too early

I agree with pm and TQ. I personally did not have the courage to quit and ended up spending 5 years without PhD at the end.
Quitting now is better than tomorrow. The early you do it, the less you have to explain to prospective employers.
I tell myself, if I have even quitted after 3 years, it would have been better than 5 year.

I am sorry to hear that. You should see a career advisor. What are the reasons for rejections after the interview? technical, personal qualities? 17 interviews and no jobs is really worrying. On average you could get a job in 5 interviews. Your writing applications seems fine but focus to develop your weaknesses in interviews