The convictions Thursday of two Hong Kong journalists who led a now-shuttered online news outlet have deepened concerns of media groups and foreign governments over the city’s press freedom, though local officials say there are no restrictions when journalists stick to the facts.
Stand News former editor-in-chief Chung Pui-kuen and former acting editor-in-chief Patrick Lam were found guilty of conspiracy to publish and reproduce seditious publications, with the judge saying their outlet had become a tool for smearing the government. Their sedition trial was Hong Kong’s first involving media since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Here are some of the reactions from governments and media groups
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller wrote on X that the convictions were a “direct attack on media freedom” and undermined the city’s international reputation for openness.
“We urge Beijing and Hong Kong authorities to restore and uphold rights guaranteed in the Basic Law,” he said, referring to the mini-constitution which adopted by China to govern Hong Kong after its handover from Britain in 1997 and which was aimed at preserving the territory’s capitalist system and way of life until 2047.
Britain
“Journalism is not a crime,” Britain’s Indo-Pacific minister, Catherine West, wrote on X, adding that Chung and Lam were convicted “for doing their job.”
She urged Hong Kong authorities to “end politicised prosecutions of journalists and uphold press & publication freedoms” as spelled out by the Basic Law.
The European Union said in a statement that the conviction is another sign of the dwindling space for press freedom, guaranteed in the Basic Law.
“The ruling risks further inhibiting the pluralistic exchange of ideas and the free flow of information, both cornerstones of the economic success of Hong Kong,” it said.
Hong Kong Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan said the government respects press freedom, as guaranteed by the law. He said when journalists conduct their reporting based on facts, there won’t be any restrictions on such freedom.
“Criticizing the government is not something that is banned,” he said.
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders condemned the verdict, saying it set a “dangerous precent” and dealt another blow against the city’s shattered press freedom.