Selina Cheng, the newly elected president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, spoke to media in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal She refused her superiors’ request to withdraw from the election for the leadership post.
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Canice Leung/AP
HONG KONG — The new chairman of Hong Kong’s leading media professional body was appointed on Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal She refused her superiors’ request to withdraw from the election for the leadership post.
Selina Cheng told reporters at a press conference that a senior editor told her she was being fired from her job due to restructuring, but Cheng said she believes the real reason is related to her boss’s request about three weeks ago to withdraw from the election for president of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, a trade union of journalists that advocates for press freedom.
She also said her boss asked her to step down from her position as director of the association, a position she has held since 2021. When she refused, she was told it was “incompatible with her duties.”
“I am appalled that at my first press conference as the new chairman of the Hong Kong Daily Association, I have to announce that I have been sacked for taking up a position in the press union,” said Cheng, who was elected as the new chairman in June.
Dow Jones, which publishes the paper, confirmed on Wednesday that it had made “some personnel changes” but declined to comment on individuals.
“The Wall Street Journal “We have been and will continue to be a fierce and vocal advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world,” the group said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press.
Once seen as a bastion of media freedom in Asia, Hong Kong has seen dramatic political change shrink the scope of its journalists’ activities.
Beijing imposed National Security Act of 2020Two local media outlets known for reporting critical of the government: Apple Daily and Stand Newswas forced to close Arrests of senior executivesinclude Apple Daily Publisher Jimmy Lai.
In March, Hong Kong Another Security Act The bill targets offences such as espionage, leaking state secrets and “colluding with external forces” to carry out illegal acts, raising concerns among many journalists that the bill could lead to a further decline in press freedom.
Less than a week after the bill was passed, the U.S. provided funding. Radio Free Asia has announced that it has closed its Hong Kong bureau. This is due to safety concerns under the new law.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association has come under criticism in recent years from local authorities and pro-Beijing media.
In June, Security Secretary Chris Tan said the association lacked legitimacy and accused it of siding with protesters during the 2019 protests.
The Wall Street Journal The company has also faced pressure from the government: Last July, it received three letters of complaint from Tang over editorials and opinion pieces.
In May, the US media company told staff it was shifting its regional “centre of gravity” from Hong Kong to Singapore, resulting in some staff losing their jobs in the Chinese financial hub. Chen, who was in charge of China’s auto and energy sectors, was not affected.
He said his boss told him this after he refused to withdraw from Hong Kong’s parliamentary elections last month. The Wall Street JournalIts staff should not be seen as advocating for press freedom “in a place like Hong Kong” because such claims would create conflict when the media reports on cases related to press freedom in Hong Kong.
Chen said the media has supported his colleagues. Evan Gershkovich arrested in Russia on espionage charges He, his employer and the US government vehemently deny this.
“That’s why I’m deeply shocked that the newspaper’s senior editors are actively violating the human rights of their employees by obstructing WSJ journalists from asserting the press freedom they rely on for their work,” said Chen, who worked as a video news assistant for The Associated Press in Hong Kong in 2014.
She claimed her former employer was a negative influence on Hong Kong’s deteriorating press freedom.
In a statement, the Hong Kong Association said: The Wall Street Journal By pressuring employees not to take part in independent journalism, it risks hastening the decline of what space remains for independent journalism. The association’s other elected directors have also come under pressure from their employers to step down, the association said, without providing details.
In Reporters Without Borders’ latest World Press Freedom Index, Hong Kong was ranked 135th out of 180 countries and territories.
