Censorship in Hong Kong, which refers to the suppression of speech or other public communication, raises issues regarding the
freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
. By law, censorship is usually practised against the distribution of certain materials, particularly child pornography, obscene images, and reports on court cases which may lead to unfair trial.
Prior to the
transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong
Sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China (PRC) at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony. Hong Kong was established as a special admini ...
in 1997, Hong Kong boasted one of the highest degrees of press freedom in Asia. Since the handover to China, Hong Kong has been granted relative legal, economic, and political autonomy under the
one country, two systems
"One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
The constitutional principle was formulated in the early ...
policy. In contrast to the rest of China, where control over media is pervasive, Hong Kong's freedom of speech, of the press, and of publication are protected under Article 27 of the
Hong Kong Basic Law
The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is a national law of China that serves as the organic law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Comprising nine chapters, 160 ...
and Article 16 of the
Hong Kong Bill of Rights
The Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (HKBORO), often referred to as the Hong Kong Bill of Rights, is Chapter 383 of the Laws of Hong Kong, which transposed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights so that it is incorporated i ...
.
Observers have noted a trend of decreasing press freedom in the territory, including physical attacks on journalists, acts targeted at liberal media and against their owners, withdrawal of advertising revenues, and appointment of compliant pro-Beijing chief editors.
The decline in Hong Kong's ranking on the
Press Freedom Index
The Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders since 2002 based upon the organisation's own assessment of the countries' press freedom records in the previous year. It intends to ...
published annually by
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
has been vertiginous: it stood at 148th in 2022, having dropped 68 places from the year prior; it ranked 71st place in 2015.
[
In 2020, under the ]Hong Kong national security law
The Hong Kong national security law, officially the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a piece of national security legislation concerning Hong Kong. It ...
enacted by the Chinese central government, the Commissioner of Police was granted the authority to compel cooperation or the removal of content by service providers if deemed a threat to national security, while there are now prohibitions on the incitement of hatred against the government of China or Hong Kong.
Censorship after the handover
Despite guarantees of free speech, public surveys in 1997 showed increasing fears of self-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse. This is done out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities or preferences (actual or perceived) of others and without overt pressure from any specific party or insti ...
by journalists of writings critical of the Central Government,[ although a journalists indicated in a survey from the ]Hong Kong Journalists Association
The Hong Kong Journalists Association ( Chinese: 香港記者協會) is a Hong Kong association that represents journalists in Hong Kong. Established in 1968, the association acts as a trade union for journalists by seeking to improve work ...
that they overwhelmingly did not hesitate to publish criticisms of China, and that actual instances of direct pressure from the Chinese government to change news were very rare. Since the handover, Hong Kong newspapers (and especially English-language media) have increased their use of a self-declared editorial independence as a marketing tool towards international audiences.
In 1998, there was a controversy about remarks made by magazine publisher Xu Simin
Tsui Sze-man (, 3 July 1914 – 9 September 2007) was a pro-Beijing loyalist and magazine publisher based in Hong Kong. He was nicknamed "Big Cannon Tsui" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial views. He was known as a staunch suppor ...
alleging anti-mainland bias from the government-funded broadcaster RTHK
Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econom ...
. Although pro-RTHK commentators saw Xu's comments as coming from Beijing, Central Government representatives distanced themselves from his comments. In 2001, the HKJA expressed concerns that government's and Tung Chee-hwa's "shrill rhetoric n vilifying Falun Gongthreatens open debate by encouraging self-censorship".[
Hong Kong's ranking on the ]Press Freedom Index
The Press Freedom Index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders since 2002 based upon the organisation's own assessment of the countries' press freedom records in the previous year. It intends to ...
published annually by Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
was 18th in 2002. Since then, a number of factors, particularly self-censorship, and high-profile incidents affecting the media have pointed to increasing erosion of journalists' ability to report the news in an objective manner. In 2011, Hong Kong Journalists Association Chairwoman Mak Yin-ting () commented on self-censorship due to growing business ties between Beijing and media owners, asserting that "Now, more than half of Hong Kong media bosses or high media management have been absorbed by the Communist government... They may consider whether reporting on some issues will affect the relationship between their bosses and the government." That year, Hong Kong's ranking on the Press Freedom Index dropped twenty places to 54th place. In a report published alongside the index, it was noted that "arrests, assaults and harassment worsened working conditions for journalists n Hong Kongto an extent not seen previously, a sign of a worrying change in government policy." Hong Kong's ranking in the index, which stood at 61st in 2014,[ gave up nine further places in the 2015 report. "Police misconduct" was cited as a factor.] Journalists have complained about sensitive news stories critical of the government that they have been under undisguised pressure to change or soften.[ PEN Center believes that the controversy surrounding CY Leung's dealings with UGL were seriously under-reported in some media outlets.][ An increasing incidence of physical violence against journalists has been recorded, with the police being implicated in some of these, namely the Hong Kong Journalists Association noted that there were at least 28 attacks on journalists covering the ]Umbrella Revolution
A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014.
The protests began after th ...
.[ All told, the incidence of censorship, political pressure to self-censor and intimidation is increasing, according to PEN American Center, International Federation of Journalists.][AFP (27 January 2015)]
Hong Kong media 'manipulated': report
''China Post''.
During the two-and-a-half-month protests in 2014, the patchy coverage of events and viewpoints on traditional media turned young people to social media for news. ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' described the protests as "the best-documented social movement in history, with even its quieter moments generating a maelstrom of status updates, shares and likes." People placed greater reliance on alternative media
Alternative media are media sources that differ from established or dominant types of media (such as mainstream media or mass media) in terms of their content, production, or distribution.Downing, John (2001). ''Radical Media''. Thousand Oaks, C ...
, some of which were launched during the protests. Even the recently defunct ''House News
''House News'' () was a Hong Kong news website, content aggregator, and blog founded by Simon Lau, Tony Tsoi, Leung Man-tao, Simon Lau and Greg Sung, which featured columnists and various news sources. The site offered news, blogs, and origin ...
'' resurrected itself, reformatted as ''The House News Bloggers''.
Notable examples
''South China Morning Post''
Since Robert Kuok acquired the ''South China Morning Post
The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...
'' in 1993, there have been concerns over the forced departures, in rapid succession, of several staff and contributors who were considered critical of China or its supporters in Hong Kong. Before the handover, their popular cartoonist Larry Feign
Larry Feign (born December 5, 1955) is an American cartoonist and writer based in Hong Kong. Feign is best known for his comic strip '' The World of Lily Wong''.
Education and early career
Feign is from Buffalo, New York.
He attended the Univ ...
, humour columnist Nury Vittachi
Nury Vittachi (born 2 October 1958) is a journalist and author based in Hong Kong. He has written the novel series ''The Feng Shui Detective'', as well as non-fiction works and novels for children.
Journalism career
Vittachi started his career ...
were dismissed. Since 1997, there have been numerous departures of China-desk staff, namely 2000–01 editorial pages editor Danny Gittings, Beijing correspondent Jasper Becker; China pages editor Willy Lam departed after his reporting had been publicly criticised by Robert Kuok.[Freedoms eroded to please Beijing: report]
, '' The Standard'', 2 July 2001 Gittings complained that he "repeatedly came under pressure to tone down coverage of politically sensitive issues". Editor-in-Chief Wang Xiangwei was criticised for his decision to reduce the paper's coverage of the death of Li Wangyang on 7 June 2012. Wang reportedly reversed the decision to run a full story, and instead published a two-paragraph report inside the paper; other news media reported it prominently. A senior staff member who sought to understand the decision circulated the resulting email exchanges, that indicate he received a stern rebuff from Wang. Wang is mainland-born, and is a member of the Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...
in Jilin; the paper has since stepped up coverage of the death and aftermath as major news stories. Reporter Paul Mooney, whose contract with the paper was not renewed in May 2012, said that the Li Wangyang story was not an isolated incident.
''Apple Daily''
The liberal ''Apple Daily
''Apple Daily'' ( zh, link=no, 蘋果日報) was a popular tabloid published in Hong Kong from 1995 to 2021. Founded by Jimmy Lai, it was one of the best-selling Chinese language newspapers in Hong Kong. '' has been under sustained pressure. In 1997, reporters were denied permission to cover a Hong Kong reception organised by the Chinese Foreign Ministry due to their history of criticising China. It has been subjected to advertising boycotts, its reporters have been assaulted, its owner attacked, and its premises fire-bombed. Its support of the Umbrella Revolution earned it unprecedented cyber-attacks; copies of its paper have been spoilt by masked thugs.[ It suffered a physical blockade which disrupted its logistics for almost one week.] On 17 June 2021, its headquarter was raided, the assets were frozen and six executives were arrested. The paper announced its closure on 23 June.
TVB
Since 2009, TVB
Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) is a television broadcasting company based in Hong Kong SAR. The Company operates five free-to-air terrestrial television channels in Hong Kong, with TVB Jade as its main Cantonese language service, and TVB ...
has drawn criticism on Internet forums for apparent pro-establishment bias. That year, its news department downgraded coverage of the 20th anniversary of the 4 June Incident. The reporting, thought by many internet forum users as an act to gain the favour of the Central Government, was likened to CCTV
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
and earned it the portmanteau "CCTVB".[ During the 2014 protests, TVB's broadcast of footage of seven police officers beating a protester on 15 October resulted in significant internal conflict during the broadcast.][Lau, Kenneth; Siu, Jasmine (16 October 2014)]
"Reporters voice anger at TVB"
. ''The Standard''. The pre-dawn broadcasts soundtrack which mentioned "punching and kicking" was re-recorded to say that the officers were "suspected of using excessive force". TVB director Keith Yuen questioned what grounds lead the footage to say "officers dragged him to a dark corner, and punched and kicked him"? The assistant supervisor of the news-gathering team responsible for the footage was immediately demoted to Chief Researcher, a post with only a part-time subordinate. Many journalists expressed their dissatisfaction with the handling of the broadcast, and some 80 TVB staff from all departments objecting to the handling sent a petition to management. After several of its reporters were assaulted by activists attending a pro-Beijing rally, over 340 station employees put their names to a petition condemning the violence. A director of production in the non-drama department ordered all petitioners to a meeting with their supervisors, where the employees were asked to remove their signature or jeopardise their year end bonuses. In March 2015, Luk Hon-tak, former director-general of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), became the managing editor of TVB News in charge of political news stories. However, in 2015, the video, entitled "Suspected Police Brutality Against Occupy Central Movement's Protester", was declared the Best TV news item at the 55th Monte Carlo TV Festival; it was praised for its "comprehensive, objective and professional" report. It also won a prize at the Edward E. Murrow Awards in the Hard News category.
CLO interference in the 2012 Chief Executive election
During the Chief Executive elections in 2012, the pro-Beijing ''Ta Kung Pao
''Ta Kung Pao'' (; formerly ''L'Impartial'') is the oldest active Chinese language newspaper in China. Founded in Tianjin in 1902, the paper is state-owned, controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central Government after the Chinese Civil War ...
'' dedicated its entire front page on 24 March 2012 to attacking former underground communist Florence Leung, who authored a book in which she alleged CY Leung only became the Secretary General of the Hong Kong Basic Law Consultative Committee
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Consultative Committee (BLCC; 香港基本法諮詢委員會) was an official body established in 1985 to canvass views in Hong Kong on the drafts of the Hong Kong Basic Law.
Background
The f ...
in 1985 through having been an underground Communist Party member.[Lee, Colleen (19 March 2012). "Ex-Communist raps Comrade C.Y.", ''South China Morning Post''.]["料行會有黨組織滲入 林瑞麟屬一員 梁慕嫻:梁振英是地下共產黨 "](_blank)
''am730'', 19 March 2012. Archived fro
the original
on 23 March 2012 Local press avidly reported on efforts of the central government's Liaison Office to rally support behind CY Leung, but said reports have been creating discomfort for officials. Albert Ho relayed complaints he has received about attempts by the Liaison Office to intimidate editors and media bosses.[''Ming Pao'' (22 March 2012)]
"何俊仁:有報道觸怒中聯辦"
Yahoo! News. Archived fro
on 22 March 2012. Media widely reported that Richard Li
Richard Li Tzar-kai is a Hong Kong businessman and philanthropist. The founder and chairman of the private investment group Pacific Century Group (PCG), Li started his career in the 1990s with the founding of STAR TV, a pan-Asian television ...
had received calls from CLO propaganda chief Hao Tiechuan () dissatisfied at the reporting at his ''Hong Kong Economic Journal
The ''Hong Kong Economic Journal'' (HKEJ). is a Chinese-language daily newspaper published in Hong Kong by the Shun Po Co., Ltd.. Available in both Hong Kong and Macau, the newspaper mainly focuses on economic news and other related, usuall ...
'' (HKEJ).[Siu, Phila (23 March 2012)]
"Vow to fight any poll pressure"
. ''The Standard''. The Hong Kong Journalists Association, which noted that the ''HKEJ'' had received complaints about its coverage from central government's liaison office, and condemned the "open violation" of the one-country two-systems principle. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) confirmed these allegations and expressed its concern. Johnny Lau, who authored a critique of both Henry Tang and CY Leung during the Chief Executive elections for the ''Sing Pao Daily News
''Sing Pao Daily News'' () is one of the oldest Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong, first published on 1 May 1939 by the Sing Pao Newspaper Company Limited () under Ho Man-fat. It was initially published every three days, later becoming a daily.
...
'', in which he opined that neither Tang nor Leung were worthy of support nor sympathy, saw his piece changed to endorse Leung. Ngai Kai-kwong, editor-in-chief of the journal, who denied censorship or pressure from the liaison office, instead blamed "carelessness" in editing.
Commercial Radio
In late 2013, as a prelude to the renewal of its broadcasting licence, Commercial Radio Hong Kong
Commercial Radio Hong Kong (CRHK, , aka Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company Limited is one of the two commercial radio broadcasting companies in Hong Kong along with Metro Radio Hong Kong. CRHK provides an array of entertainment, includ ...
replaced outspoken critic of CY Leung who hosted an influential prime-time morning talk show. Lee Wai-ling, long despised by the pro-establishment camp for her vocal criticism of the government, was abruptly shunted to a less prominent evening show. She was replaced by station chief executive himself, Stephen Chan Chi-wan, who denied political motivations. However, a former media executive said that it was "an open secret" that media operators are under considerable political pressure at the time of licence renewal, and some outspoken programme hosts disliked by the government are made to leave. On 12 February 2014, CRHK announced immediate termination of Li's employment contract, refusing to make any comment on the matter.
''Ming Pao''
In January 2014, Kevin Lau, chief editor of the liberal ''Ming Pao
''Ming Pao'' () is a Chinese-language newspaper published by Media Chinese International in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, ''Ming Pao'' established four overseas branches in North America; each provides independent reporting on local news and colle ...
'', was abruptly replaced by Chong Tien Siong, an inexperienced Singapore-based Malaysian journalist who, according to ''The Economist'', is widely regarded as pro-establishment.[Hong Kong news editor Kevin Lau improving after attack](_blank)
BBC News, 28 February 2014
''The Daily Telegraph''. 26 February 2014.[Law, Fiona (9 January 2014)]
"Editor's Removal Sparks Worries About Press Freedom in Hong Kong"
China Realtime – ''The Wall Street Journal''["Beat the press"]
''The Economist''. 1 March 2014 As a result of Lau's dismissal, thousands of people attended a protest rally. Lau, known for his tough reporting on China, was brutally stabbed on 26 February by an assailant riding pillion on a motorbike.[ While the police suspect the attack was carried out by the ]Wo Shing Wo
Wo Shing Wo or WSW () is the oldest of the Wo Group triad societies, and is the triad with the longest history in Hong Kong. According to the Hong Kong police, the triad is involved in extortion, drug trafficking, gambling and prostitution. triad, it is widely believed to have been reprisals for his paper's investigative contribution to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Inc. (ICIJ), is an independent global network of 280 investigative journalists and over 140 media organizations spanning more than 100 countries. It is based in Washington, D.C. with pe ...
(ICIJ) report on the offshore assets of China's leaders, including relatives of Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
, former Premier Wen Jiabao
Wen Jiabao (born 15 September 1942) is a retired Chinese politician who served as the Premier of the State Council from 2003 to 2013. In his capacity as head of government, Wen was regarded as the leading figure behind China's economic policy ...
, and several members of the National People's Congress
The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China.
With 2, ...
.[ The journal came under pressure to downgrade the importance of a report on the ]1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
.[
]
Attack on University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fi ...
was under attack by CY Leung, who used the occasion of his 2015 policy address to strongly criticise the students' union magazine ''Undergrad'' for publishing an essay within a recent issue in which Leung said "Hong Kong should find a way to self-reliance and self-determination". He objected to it on the grounds that "the statements, the remarks, are not in line with our constitutional status"; a book entitled ''Hong Kong Nationalism'' also came under his attack. He denied he was attacking free speech, but implied that there ought not to be such discussions on "crucial constitutional issues". Following Leung's attack, three large bookshop chains under pro-Beijing Sino United Publishing
Sino United Publishing (Holdings) Limited () is Hong Kong's largest integrated publishing group, formed in 1988 from the integration of some of the historic publishing agencies. Its business includes publishing, distribution, retail, printing, RF ...
delisted the title.[Lam, Jeffie (8 March 2015)]
"Hong Kong book giant in censorship row after returning title"
''South China Morning Post''. ''Wen Wei Po'' used the contents of a leaked University Grants Commission report in an attempt to derail the candidature of Johannes Chan
Johannes Chan Man-mun (陳文敏) SC (Hon) is an Adjunct Professor, former Chair Professor of Law (–2021) and former Dean of the Faculty of Law (2002–2014) at the University of Hong Kong. He specialises in human rights, constitutional and ...
, a prominent member of the pro-democracy movement, for pro-vice-chancellor of the university.[HKU law faculty falls short in research field]
. ''The Standard'', 27 January 2015. According to an article written by Kevin Lau in ''Ming Pao'', "parties close to the government" applied pressure on committee members behind the scenes to block Chan's appointment,[Lau, Kenneth (13 February 2015)]
"Leung denies torpedoing uni selection"
. ''The Standard''. and the finger was said to be pointed directly at the office of the Chief Executive.
RTHK
Chan Ka-ming and Shiu Ka-chun
Shiu Ka-chun (; born 1970) is a Hong Kong social worker and activist, and a former lecturer at Hong Kong Baptist University. He was one of leaders in the 2014 Hong Kong protests. In 2016, he was elected to the Legislative Council of Hong Kong thr ...
, two presenters of Radio Television Hong Kong whom were prominent in Umbrella Revolution were dismissed. The broadcaster denied political motives. In 2020, RTHK suspended the satirical show '' Headliner'' after government demanded apology for "insulting" police. In 2021, former host for ''Headliner'' Tsang Chi-ho was fired from the RTHK Radio 2 talk show. A few days later, a veteran journalist Allan Au was sacked from hosting a phone-in radio programme ''Open Line Open View''.
Other political pressure
At a ballet premiere in November 2014, local media reported that one scene that contained images from the Cultural Revolution was cut; the production company blamed it on a "technical error".[
To publicise its involvement in the 2015 Hong Kong marathon, Puma posted an image of a facsimile runner's identification tag bearing the number "D7689" onto its Facebook page. One supporter of the Loving Hong Kong movement objected to the number, writing to the global CEO of the manufacturer saying that it was disrespectful to chief executive ]CY Leung
Leung Chun-ying (; born 12 August 1954), also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor, who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference since Ma ...
and threatened to initiate a mass boycott of the company's sportswear.[ The complainant explained that "689 is the code of the current CE of HKSAR well understood by HK people. D7 has the similar phonics in Cantonese as the 'F***' word".] The company declared its political neutrality, and deleted the post. Lampooning the complaint, members of the public scoured the city and found many examples of innocent occurrences of the irreverent number. MTR staff were warned after one such example found, of a carriage bearing the "D689" marking, posted to their unofficial MTR Service Update page on Facebook.[
]
Democratic Party confiscations
The Democratic Party saw a consignment of novelty toilet paper confiscated without reason by mainland customs. Various types of paper tissue, including 7,600 toilet rolls and 20,000 packets of tissue bearing likeness of CY Leung and destined for sale at a New Year's market were seized in Shenzhen.[ Such items were hot sellers at the New Year's market a year earlier.]
Up Publications returns controversy
In March 2015, Up Publications, a small independent publishing house, complained that it was suddenly and unexpectedly faced with a large and unexplained number of returns from the three main subsidiaries of Beijing-friendly Sino United Publishing. Twenty titles were affected by the returns, to the serious detriment to the finances of Up Publications; many of the titles returned were not politically themed. The publisher was allegedly told by a bookshop source that its stance in the 2014 occupation and its publishing of books supportive of the Umbrella Movement
The Umbrella Movement () was a political movement that emerged during the Hong Kong democracy protests of 2014. Its name arose from the use of umbrellas as a tool for passive resistance to the Hong Kong Police's use of pepper spray to dispe ...
were responsible.[ Although no reason was given for the returns, two of the delisted books about the occupation were strong sellers at independent bookshops.][
]
Disappearances at Mighty Current publishing
Mighty Current, a company that publishes politically sensitive books – those critical of mainland leaders and discloses their personal secrets – and sells them at a bookstore named Causeway Bay Books, was marred by near-simultaneous disappearance in October 2015 of four people linked to it.[ Two of the men were last seen in Shenzhen, one in Hong Kong, and one was last heard from in Thailand.]["銅鑼灣書店老闆員工「被失蹤」?香港警方已介入"]
Yahoo!News Taiwan 17 November 2015 The news shocked the local publishing industry, and vice-chairman of the said that it was "hard not to associate the disappearance of the four people with Beijing's suppression of banned books".
In December 2015, a fifth member of the company, Lee Bo, also mysteriously vanished. He was last seen at his warehouse in Chai Wan in the early evening, preparing an order he had received for several books. Lee Bo's wife later received a telephone call from him from a telephone number in Shenzhen, uncharacteristically speaking in Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language of ...
. The fact that his home return permit
The Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents, also colloquially referred to as a Home Return Permit or Home Visit Permit , is issued to Chinese nationals who are permanent residents of or settled in Hong Kong and Macau as the ...
was left at home led many fearing that he may have somehow been abducted by the mainland public security bureau
A Public Security Bureau (PSB) () of a city or county, or Public Security Department (PSD) () of a province or autonomous region, in the People's Republic of China refers to a government office essentially acting as a police station or a local ...
and renditioned to Shenzhen.[銅鑼灣書店第5人失蹤 股東內地電話報平安 稱自己能處理]
. ''Ming Pao'', 31 December 2015 According to Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, the latest disappearance is linked to the imminent publication of a book on the life of Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
which includes details of his intimate life.
Gui Minhai, the first man to disappear, was ostensibly set free on 17 October 2017. On 19 January 2018, Gui was pulled from the train by a group of plainclothes men. In early February, Gui again appeared in a second confession before reporters from pro-establishment news outlets including the ''South China Morning Post''.
Victor Mallet controversy
In August, a controversy erupted in 2018 when the FCC hosted a lunchtime talk with convenor Andy Chan on 14 August. Veteran ''Financial Times'' journalist Victor Mallet chaired the session. The event was opposed by the governments of China and Hong Kong, because the issue of independence supposedly crossed one of the "bottom lines" on national sovereignty. Upon returning to Hong Kong after a visit to Bangkok, Mallet was denied a working visa by the Hong Kong government. Mallet was subjected to a four-hour interrogation by immigration officers on his return from Thailand on Sunday 7 October before he was finally allowed to enter Hong Kong on a seven-day tourist visa.
Mallet's visa rejection was widely seen to be retribution for his role in chairing the Andy Chan talk which the FCC refused to call off.[ The Hong Kong Journalists Association, which has for years lived under the pressure of self-censorship, immediately warned of the "death knell of freedom of speech".] Secretary for Security John Lee John Lee may refer to:
Academia
* John Lee (astronomer) (1783–1866), president of the Royal Astronomical Society
* John Lee (university principal) (1779–1859), University of Edinburgh principal
* John Lee (pathologist) (born 1961), English
...
insisted the ban on Mallet was unrelated to press freedom, but declined to explain the decision.[
]
Bao Choy Convicted for making false statement
Prior to the one year anniversary of the 2019 Yuen Long attack, television producer Bao Choy
Choy Yuk-Ling (), better known as Bao Choy, is a journalist and television producer in Hong Kong, best known for her work on and subsequent arrest for Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK)'s ''Hong Kong Connection''. In the making of the investigativ ...
led the production of the documentary ''7.21 Who Owns the Truth?'', which aired in the programme ''Hong Kong Connection
''Hong Kong Connection'' (), formerly ''The Common Sense'', is a long-running news documentary television programme produced by Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK. It mainly covers Hong Kong politics, economics, education, disadvantaged, environme ...
'' in July 2020 for public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong
Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service in Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Econom ...
. It won two awards in Hong Kong. She tried to discover the owners of a few vehicles suspected of supplied weapons to the attackers who launched an indiscriminate attack on scores of people. She checked a box to declare that the vehicle registration searches were for "other traffic and transport related matters". Other options available when accessing the database are "legal proceedings" and "sale and purchase of vehicle". Previously, however, journalists had been able to declare that their searches were for "other purposes". Choy was arrested on 3 November 2020, and her home in Mei Foo was searched by police. She was found guilty and given a HKD$6,000 penalty.
Pulling books from public libraries
In 2018, Children's books with LGBTQ themes have been moved to the "closed stacks" of Hong Kong's public libraries due to pressure from anti-gay-rights group. Books written by pro-democracy activists such as Joshua Wong
Joshua Wong Chi-fung (; born 13 October 1996) is a Hong Kong activist and politician. He served as secretary-general of the pro-democracy party Demosistō until it disbanded following the implementation of the Hong Kong national security law ...
and lawmaker Tanya Chan
Tanya Chan (; born 14 September 1971) is a Hong Kong politician who served as a Legislative Council of Hong Kong, Legislative Councillor representing Hong Kong Island (constituency), Hong Kong Island from 2008 to 2012, and again from 2016 to 2020. ...
disappeared a few days after national security law had been imposed in 2020. In 2021, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), is a department in the Government of Hong Kong. It reports to the Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau, headed by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism. It provides leisure and cultural ...
confirmed that they have suspended services relating to the nine books, saying the move was to "avoid breaking the law." This time book written by Chinese-American writer and activist Yu Jie
Yu Jie (), is a Chinese-American writer and Calvinist democracy activist. The bestselling author of more than 30 books, Yu was described by the ''New York Review of Books'' in 2012 as "one of China's most prominent essayists and critics".
Yu Ji ...
and Chinese dissident writer Liao Yiwu Liao may refer to:
Chinese history
* Liao (Zhou dynasty state) (蓼), two states in ancient China during the Spring and Autumn period in the 8th and 7th centuries BC
* Liao of Wu (吳王僚) (died 515 BC), king of Wu during ancient China's Spring a ...
were removed. ''Hong Kong Nationalism'' written by Undergrad, the editorial board of the Hong Kong University
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fir ...
Students’ Union was also no longer available.
Hong Kong national security law
In June 2020, the Hong Kong national security law
The Hong Kong national security law, officially the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a piece of national security legislation concerning Hong Kong. It ...
was enacted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state po ...
. Among its provisions, it was made illegal to incite hatred of the Chinese central government
The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the pre ...
and Hong Kong government, and the Commissioner of Police has the authority to control the dissemination of online content where there is "reasonable grounds" that there is a threat to national security, including compelling service providers to cooperate in investigations (including providing access to IP addresses or mobile phone numbers of users, and decrypting information), order the removal of such content, or restrict access to the platform. These laws are also asserted to be extraterritorial. After the law took effect, reports emerged that books containing pro-democracy
Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...
materials were being pulled from libraries (even if they were written before the current anti-extradition movement) to assess their contents' compliance with the law. Joshua Wong — whose writings have been among those targeted by these actions – argued that the bill had imposed a "mainland-style censorship regime" on Hong Kong. As a voluntary measure to avoid the use of anti-government subversions made illegal by the law, some protesters began to use deliberately blank signs as a symbol.
The FT wrote that "China’s imposition of a national security law aimed at quashing political protests in the territory has also sent a chill through Hong Kong’s once vibrant publishing and media industry."
Internet censorship
Since the commencement of the Hong Kong national security law, the Hong Kong government has blocked access to at least one pro-democracy site.
Film censorship
Before 1997, colonial HK was not free from British colonial film censorship. Censors changed their strategy in the 1970s and 80s from suppressing mainland Chinese films representing revolutionary China during the Cold War to inhibiting films that might offend China from screening in Hong Kong.
In June 2021, the Hong Kong Film Censorship Authority introduced a policy to stay "vigilant to the portrayal, depiction or treatment of any act or activity which may amount to an offence endangering national security".
See also
*Separation of powers in Hong Kong
The concept of separation of powers has been considered and disputed in Hong Kong and its various forms of government. Prior to the Handover of Hong Kong in 1997, the government of British Hong Kong did not have a Western-style separation of powers ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Censorship In Hong Kong
Mass media in Hong Kong
Law of Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
Human rights in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
Censorship in Hong Kong