Hong Kong's laws contribute to the decline of press freedom

Press freedom in Hong Kong is at its lowest level in at least 11 years, according to the Hong Kong Journalists Association's latest survey of its members and the public.

One of the biggest factors in the decline was the introduction of Article 23 this year, which criminalizes anything considered sedition or outside interference, the association, known as the HKJA, said.

The law imposes “stricter restrictions on the media” than before, Selina Cheng, chair of the HKJA, told VOA. It provides for significantly tougher penalties for sedition, which Cheng called “the most important law used against free speech and media work since the passage of a new national security law in 2020.”

The findings are part of an annual survey conducted by the HKJA in collaboration with the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute. The journalists' association sent questionnaires to 979 members and the research institute collected opinions from 1,000 randomly selected telephone interviews.

Both groups surveyed were asked to rate press freedom in Hong Kong. The 250 journalists who took part in the survey gave it a score of 25 out of 100, with 100 being the highest score. It is the lowest rating since the annual survey began 11 years ago. The public rating was 42.

The poll's results came the same week that Hong Kong denied journalist Haze Fan a work visa. The Bloomberg News reporter was arrested in Beijing in December 2020 on alleged national security charges and held for about 13 months. Bloomberg has announced that Fan will be transferred to its London office.

In the HKJA survey, 92 percent of journalists surveyed said that press freedom had been “significantly” impaired by the National Security Protection Ordinance (Article 23).

The law, passed in March, prohibits treason, secession, sedition, subversion and theft of state secrets and prevents foreign political organizations from operating in Hong Kong or establishing links with local political bodies.

Under the new law, the penalty for incitement to hatred has been increased from two to seven years, and even to ten years if foreign forces are involved.

Authorities insisted that journalists were safe while carrying out their “legitimate” reporting, but critics say the vaguely worded legislation creates uncertainty for journalists.

Cheng said the law's reference to state secrets is also broad, which could be a cause for concern.

According to Human Rights Watch, the law adopts Beijing's definition of state secrets.

Article 23 defines a state secret as “ [a] a pretty broad range of things, including information about business, technology, society and so on,” Cheng said.

“It could be that the government considers the findings of a think tank or an academic institution to be a state secret, in which case that would be a crime against national security,” she said.

China's Foreign Ministry responded to the HKJA's findings by saying that Hong Kong's national security laws are not intended to target journalists who do not break the law.

Cheng pointed out that only about a quarter of HKJA members participated in the survey this year, which could be a sign of the decline of the media landscape.

“The response rate is not particularly high and reflects a kind of self-censorship, even when it comes to discussing or reporting reporters' views on press freedom,” she told VOA.

“For some organizations that are considered to have more pro-Beijing or pro-government reporting, the contacts we have at those organizations are concerned about whether they might face retaliation if they [the] HKJA questionnaire. I think people are afraid of it because they fear retaliation,” she said.

Cheng believes she was personally subjected to retaliation because of her association with the HKJA. Her contract with The Wall Street Journalwhere she covered the auto and electric vehicle industries, was fired in July. She said the move was related to her election as chair of the HKJA.

In a statement released at the time, Cheng said her supervisor had told her that she magazine Staff advocates for press freedom would create conflicts of interest as the newspaper reports on related issues, including the ongoing trials of Hong Kong journalists and media organizations.

The magazine confirmed to VOA at the time that there had been personnel changes, but said they could not comment on “specific individuals.”

Journalists also stressed that journalists were openly urged to be cautious in their reporting.

In a message to columnists of the pro-Beijing Ming Pao Editor-in-chief Lau Chung-yung urged people to be “prudent” and “law-abiding” in their writing. His comment was posted on social media by one of the newspaper's columnists on August 15.

Eric Wishart, standards and ethics editor at Agence France-Presse in Hong Kong, said such comments worry journalists.

The Ming Pao Note, he said, “is another example of the chilling effect recent developments have had on journalism in Hong Kong.”

Johan Nylander, a Swedish journalist in Hong Kong, said it was no surprise that press freedom had reached a new low.

“The national security law and Article 23 have created an atmosphere of insecurity and self-censorship among many reporters and media outlets,” he told VOA.

“It is very clear where the trend is going. The situation regarding press freedom in Hong Kong is very depressing and there is no indication that the situation will improve any time soon.”

Media groups such as the HKJA have been criticized by authorities and Chinese state media for alleged links to activist organizations.

However, Wishart said it was important that the HKJA continue.

“It is important that the HKJA and other organizations continue to monitor the state of press freedom in Hong Kong and that media professionals continue to respond to these surveys,” he said.

Hong Kong's ranking in the World Press Freedom Index has declined rapidly since the passage of the national security law in 2020.

Currently, Hong Kong ranks 135th out of 180 in Reporters Without Borders' index, with 1st place representing the best conditions. In 2019, before the national security law came into force, Hong Kong ranked 73rd.