Foreign correspondents in Hongkong were warned by Beijing over their questionnaires

September 5th, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong released the results of a survey of its members of media practitioners, which found that the large majority of respondents felt uncertain about the boundaries of media coverage under the National Security Law. The working conditions for journalists in Hong Kong have deteriorated across the board.

On the same day, the Foreign Ministry’s Office in Hong Kong issued a rare statement criticizing the FCC for “wanton attacks on Hong Kong’s national security law and press freedom in Hong Kong.”

Since Beijing issued the national Security Law in Hong Kong last June, dozens of non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations have announced their disbanding, including those representing media professionals. The Hong Kong Journalists’ Association is struggling to stay afloat after being repeatedly criticized by the secretary for Security since September.

Over the past 25 years, the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Association and Amnesty International Hong Kong have jointly organized the Annual Human Rights Press Awards to honor outstanding reporting in the field of Human Rights. But all three are now in crisis.

The Hong Kong branch of Amnesty International has announced its closure, the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association has been attacked and a vice president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Association has left after being denied a Hong Kong visa.

“I expect the current criticism of the [FCC] internal investigation to be a prelude to a warning about the human rights journalism award,” Francis Moriarty said, the former executive Committee member and senior journalist of Hong Kong Foreign Press Association. “It will be a devastating blow to human rights reporting in Asia.”

He said the human rights journalism prize was “almost certainly in jeopardy” and that the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club and the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association should decide its future immediately.

The Hong Kong Foreign Press Conference is an important platform for foreign and local journalists to communicate with each other in Hong Kong.

Past guests have been invited across the political spectrum, including former Hong Kong chief Executive Donald Tsang; pro-democracy politician Anson Chan; Tiananmen student leader Wu Er Kai Xi; and pro-Beijing legislator Regina IP, who was invited a few months ago. In 2018, the FCC was censured by Beijing for inviting Chan Ho-tin, an advocate of Hong Kong independence, to speak.

The FCC was founded in 1943, during the Japanese occupation of China during World War II. Its first base was in Chongqing province, controlled by Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, and as the KMT civil war raged, it later moved to Nanjing and Shanghai. The FCC moved to Hong Kong after the founding of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, has been moved several times and is now housed in a listed historic building in central on Hong Kong Island.

The FCC’s findings received widespread international and local media attention. It said the survey was “designed to gauge our members’ confidence in Hong Kong’s media environment following the introduction of the National Security Law”.

The survey was conducted between the end of August and the end of October 2021 among the organization’s members of journalists and journalists. A total of 99 responses were received, representing about 25% of the total questionnaire. Of the responses, 70 were from foreign correspondents and 29 were from local journalists.

According to the survey, 84 percent believe the overall working environment for journalists has worsened since the law was enacted, particularly citing sources’ reluctance to be quoted and the need for journalists to self-censor articles or photos. Fifteen percent said there had been no change, and one respondent said things had gotten better.

Another important result was that respondents felt uncertain about the definition of “sensitive topics”.

About half (48%) said they did not know where the “red line” was. Respondents who said they were confident of defining a “red line” gave a markedly different answer. Some point to the issue of Hong Kong independence, others to the issue of mainland China or the broader issue of Tibet, Xinjiang and Taiwan.

In addition, many respondents agreed that the changing definition of sensitivity forced them to be more cautious.

“The definition of sensitive content has expanded from the specific political sphere to include the work of civil society, the media, trade unions and cultural organizations. There is no indication that this process of expansion will stop, “the FCC said in its investigation.

The FCC survey also showed that a significant number of respondents said they were self-censoring or had experienced censorship within their agencies.

When asked “To what extent do your self-censor your writing, either in terms of content or simply avoid covering certain subjects?” Forty-four percent said none at all, 40 percent said there was a little self-censorship and 16 percent said there was a fair amount of self-censorship.

One respondent was quoted as saying: “There are some topics we now have to think carefully about reporting in detail, especially those related to independence. “We will also now consider using non-Hong Kong channels to publish some stories to avoid potential legal or political danger to our colleagues in Hong Kong.”

Fifty-six percent said their news organizations had not experienced any public scrutiny of their coverage of sensitive issues; 36% said they had seen minor censorship; Eight percent experienced some level of scrutiny.

“Management doesn’t ‘officially’ block coverage of sensitive areas, but it makes it very difficult,” one respondent noted.

Other findings include:
About half of the respondents were considering or already planning to leave Hong Kong
About half of respondents said they were not aware of what was allowed when taking photos or videos of sensitive subjects
76% of respondents are “very concerned” about a possible press law in Hong Kong
More than 70 percent of respondents were concerned about the risk of being arrested or prosecuted for reporting or writing opinions

The findings came on the same day that China’s foreign Ministry office in Hong Kong issued a rare statement warning the FCC to “immediately stop slandering the rule of law in Hong Kong in the name of press freedom”.

Its spokesman accused the FCC of “abandoning professional ethics, producing an unrepresentative and uncredible ‘report’ through a few so-called ‘questionnaires’, smearing Hong Kong’s press freedom and advocating a’ chilling effect ‘”.

“There is no absolute freedom of the press above the law in the world. It is a general international practice for all countries to regulate the media operating in their own countries in accordance with the law. Foreign journalists engaged in journalism in the HKSAR must strictly abide by the laws of China and the HKSAR and voluntarily accept legal supervision.”

Asked about the issue at a news conference on Friday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Wenbin said, “As long as foreign media and journalists in Hong Kong report in accordance with the law, their legal rights will be fully protected.”

Wang also pointed out that as of April 2021, there were 628 foreign staff with work visas stationed in Hong Kong, an increase of 98, or 18.5 percent, from the same period last year.