Deterioration of Press Freedom in Hong Kong

Article thumbnail of protesters outside the Hong Kong Space Museum aiming laser pointers at a newspaper, 07/08/2019, courtesy of Wikipedia Commons

Pressure from the Authorities

Media workers and human rights watchdogs across the globe have been shocked by the past week’s drastic deterioration in Hong Kong’s freedom of press. On 17th June, 2021, 500 policemen raided the office of Apple Daily, the most prominent pro-democracy news outlet in Hong Kong. Over 40 computers containing news content materials had been confiscated, five directors were arrested and three companies under Next Digital, had their assets frozen in order to prevent further ‘endangering of national security’, according to Chief Executive Carrie Lam. As a result of lack of funds, Apple Daily announced its closure within a week on 24th June, merely four days after it celebrated its 26th anniversary on 20th June. 

Next Digital Limited, a media company founded by Jimmy Lai, had long been the Hong Kong government’s target ever since protests broke out in the summer of 2019. The movement had escalated from only protesting against the proposed extradition bill, to fighting for universal suffrage, and now even to the independence of Hong Kong and the end of one-party rule in China. Commentators argue that the recent purge of Apple Daily was the government’s effort to appease the Chinese administration ahead of 1st July, which would mark the 24th year since Hong Kong’s handover back to China from British colonial rule in 1997. 2021 coincidentally also marks the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) establishment. 

The Hong Kong government’s encroachment on media freedom has become more explicit and rapid since anti-government protests broke out in 2019. Founder of Next Digital and Apple Daily Jimmy Lai, was born in Guangzhou, China, and arrived in Hong Kong as a stowaway at the age of 12. He is a prominent critic of the Chinese Communist Party, as a result he had long been a thorn in the pro-Beijing camp’s side. Following the Chinese government’s imposition of the National Security Law (NSL) bypassing Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on 30th June 2020, Lai was arrested in August 2020 for alleged collusion with foreign forces and fraud. He is now serving his sentence in prison whilst facing additional risks of being charged with more alleged violations of the NSL. Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), a public media outlet that long had a reputation for its production of documentaries and talk shows that addressed socio-economic problems and political controversies in a truthful, professional manner, has also been targeted. Its nature as a government agency and the imposition of the NSL meant that RTHK was subject to new production guidelines that would require them to censor topics the government deems too ‘sensitive’ to be covered. In March 2021, the  government appointed a new Director of Broadcasting, Patrick Li, who was known to be pro-Beijing. Immediately ten RTHK documentary episodes were censored, a talk show known for ridiculing Hong Kong and Chinese politics with dark humour had been terminated and its former host, Tsang Chi-ho, was fired on 18th June, 2021 without any prior warning. 

A New Era of Censorship and an End to Plurality

Today in Hong Kong, only the voice of mainstream pro-establishment newspapers would remain. The closure of Apple Daily and the end of RTHK’s productions on politically sensitive topics realistically marks the end of press freedom in Hong Kong. As a result, the new press landscape in Hong Kong would be completely skewed towards the government, symbolising the end of plurality among media outlets. More alarmingly, the purge of Next Digital and Apple Daily could create a slippery slope and encourage acts of self-censorship. In the status quo where subscribers of Apple Daily have been warned by officials that they might potentially be subject to prosecution, smaller pro-democracy media outlets resort to self-censorship to avoid crossing the red line and risk following the footsteps of Apple Daily. Stand News, which was seen as an alternative news outlet to Apple Daily, had announced measures on 27th June, 2021, to lower the risks of its chief directors, employees, authors and subscribers from being prosecuted for alleged violations of the NSL. These measures include collective resignation of all chiefs, removing all contents published before May 2021, ending subscription and renewing contracts with all employees. 

Ideally in a free state, the media serves as the best checks and balances to monitor the policies and behaviour of the government, but journalists in Hong Kong are no longer given the freedom and space to play such roles. However, the oppression of Apple Daily has inspired new types of media to recruit former staff members of Apple Daily. Chapman To, a pro-democracy Hong Kong artist now based in Taiwan, has started his own multimedia platform ‘Late Show’, recruiting media workers that had lost their jobs as a result of the government’s oppressive measures. One of these is Bao Choy, who was charged with two counts of breaching the Road Traffic Ordinance when searching about vehicle licence plates online for an episode of RTHK’s ‘Hong Kong Connection’ that centres on the events of 21st July, 2019 in Yuen Long. Former employees of Apple Daily have also been scouted to To’s media platform. Although these kinds of news bring hope to Hong Kong citizens in the midst of being censored and silenced, it remains questionable how many journalists could end up working under a like-minded host, and could these new platforms last long given the ambiguous and generally applicable terms of the National Security Law.  

A New Political Reality in Hong Kong  

Immigration trends are drastically increasing, as parents flee with their young children to other states, near and far, that promise freedom, democracy and uncensored education. Since the opening of British National Overseas (BNO) visas for Hong Kongers born before 1997 was announced by Boris Johnson’s government in January 2021, more than 34,000 applications have been received and processed. Canada and Australia also opened immigration applications for Hong Kong citizens, as well as other Asian states such as Taiwan and Japan. 

Hong Kong has entered a new era where citizens are no longer fully entitled to constitutional rights entrenched in the Basic Law (Hong Kong’s constitution), which were recognised by the British and Chinese leaders at the handover of 1997. The National Security Law imposed by Xi Jinping’s government overrides Hong Kong’s legislative procedures and other legal precedents, including the Basic Law. Currently the freedom of assembly, a constitutional right, had been curtailed in the name of pandemic control, but realistically the NSL has forbidden Hong Kongers from taking the streets again to voice any anti-government demands and slogans.