When the Chinese reclaimed control of Hong Kong from Britain on July 1, 1997, thousands of soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army marched across the border from China. Many journalists expected that the troops would engage in a bloody crackdown on Hong Kong politicians, journalists and other democracy advocates who did not accept the wisdom of Chinese Communism.
The bloody crackdown never happened, but some 17 years later, it is becoming clear that the Chinese are tightening the screws on democracy in Hong Kong and that means freedom of the press is in harm’s way, two leading Hong Kong political figures told a gathering at the Asia Society on March 31. The event, featuring Martin Lee, founding chairman of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong, and Anson Chan, the former Chief Secretary under both the British and Chinese, was co-sponsored by the Asia Society’s ChinaFile Center on U.S.-Chinese Relations and the Overseas Press Club. British journalist Isabel Hilton moderated.
“There is increasing concern about freedom of the press,” said Chan, often described as Hong Kong’s “Iron Lady.” “Beijing is tightening its grip on the media. Freedom of expression is being subverted both overtly and covertly.”
One covert tool the Chinese are using is economic pressure against media organizations that do not toe the official line. Organizations like the scrappy Apple Daily newspaper are experiencing advertising withdrawals, allegedly at the instigation of China’s so-called Liaison Office in Hong Kong. And an outspoken radio talk show hostess, Li Wei-ling, was fired without warning or reason from her job at Commercial Radio Hong Kong on February 11. She said she was fired because her radio station was worried that the current pro-Beijing government in Hong Kong would not renew its broadcasting license.
The most shocking case may have been the machete attack on Kevin Lau, formerly chief editor of Ming Pao, a Chinese-language paper known for its investigative reporting. He was replaced by an editor viewed as pro-Beijing before he was attacked in broad daylight by two men, also in February, who hacked at the back of his legs around his knees. Lee, who visited Lau in the hospital, said the injured journalist believes the nature of his injuries were intended to send a signal to others. “Because of the way I was attacked, behind my knees,” Lau was quoted as saying, “the guys who did this wanted me to never be able to stand again. “
Police have arrested nine men in the case and say it was not a crime aimed at silencing a media critic, but that position worries Lee. “The police say this has nothing to do with freedom of the press, but the mastermind has yet to be found,” Lee said. “How do they know it has nothing to do with freedom of the press?”
Lee and Chan say they are fighting to persuade Beijing to fulfill its original promises to allow true democracy in Hong Kong, but Beijing has appointed a rigged nominating committee that will name only pro-Beijing candidates when a new chief executive is chosen in 2017. Any election would be a sham. Maintaining a high degree of press freedom, they said, is key to keeping alive their hopes of greater democracy and continued rule of law. “If there is no more freedom of the press,” Lee said, “no other freedom is safe.”